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I first remember hearing this song 10 years ago when I was 13. I wanted to share my thoughts with you. Please add your own interpetations!!
Earth Song is one of Michael’s most unusual compositions. Even the title itself is striking. Most other songs tend to adopt one of their lines as a title, particularly making use of the chorus. However, Earth song fails to do so. The use of the word “song” also makes it stand apart. Perhaps, this was Michael’s way of telling us that this is a “song” like no other, or that it is more important. Maybe, it’s a song that belongs to “Earth”. Could the Earth have been responsible for its conception? Maybe, this is a real song. (Interpret that as you wish).
Regardless, it speaks to the pain of the Earth.
The piano intro is fragile, yet beautiful (rather like the writer himself). The melody is simple, deceptively so, and easily hummed. It has its moment and then the vocals begin. Strong and pure, it cuts through the emotion and rhetorically questions us.
“What about sunrise?”
“What about rain?”
The contrasting images run the entire gamut of “Earthly” moods. Earth “smiles” during a sunrise and “cries” during a downpour. Yet, Michael does not suggest one should exist without the other. He questions their survival equally.
“What about all the things that you said was yours and mine?”
Notice how he subtly links nature with humanity. Who is he talking to? Who is it that promised him all of these things? Was it Earth itself? Or a “mere” human?
Voice quivering with emotion, he asks us if we “ever stopped to notice, this crying Earth, its weeping shores?”
Again, he successfully personifies the Earth. It is striking that he chooses to describe it as “weeping”, as if it is capable of its very own emotions.
The transition to the “Ahhh” and “Ohhh” is one of the most powerful moments in the piece. Suddenly, it is no longer about a man singing about the pains of the Earth, it is the Earth itself singing. Michael’s voice is pure and stunning as he produces sounds that cannot be linked to human speech. They are just sounds. Yet the sounds seem awfully familiar. Haven’t we heard them countless times before? Are they not the sounds we make when we are hurt? Granted, they tend to be louder and uncontrolled as we scream in agony, but underneath they are the same. The tone has just been softened. The pain, however, is more defined. Hauntingly so.
The vocals are filled with such sorrow, yet they sound beautiful. The second note as he goes high is poignant and gorgeous. It takes over the entire space. The quiet atmosphere has changed entirely.
The Earth is crying and weeping. “Ahhhh“ ”Ohhhhh...”. Didn’t we ever stop to notice?
The singer has now become the song.
Earth’s song.
The mood returns to how it was before the Earth made itself heard. This time, desperation creeps into the voice.
“What about all the dreams that you said were yours and mine?”
Why have the “things” become “dreams?” Is hope dangerously low?
Michael then allows humans to have their say too. “Children” are dead from war and what about “the peace that you pledge your only son?” Notice how the sun from the “sunrise” has merged with the “son” we bore. It is not only the Earth suffering, it is the residents too.
It is interesting that throughout the first 2 verses, he talks to us “you”. But he switched to “we” when he asks us to “look what we’ve done”. It is us, after all, that have collectively caused the pain.
The song picks up tempo quickly and the instrumentation gives more urgency and power to the “ahhs” and “ohhs”. The chord changes build up the intensity.
Hope seems to have vanished as he tells us he used to dream, but now he doesn’t “know where we are”. We have “drifted far apart” as our goals have changed.
The gut wrenching chorus is one of the most powerful segments of music I have ever heard. Gone is the quiet, pure Michael (and piano) and in comes the angry, agonising vocals. He is screaming the words out, yet they don’t seem so loud. He is not screaming in loudness, but screaming with real despair and depth. It is coming from a different place. A deeper place. Perhaps, we are glimpsing the man’s very soul .
The constant repetition of “What about us?” after Michael sings a line feels somewhat like a battle. It seems like a competition. The others keep on drawing attention to themselves as they ask us to think of them, yet Michael draws attention to the plight of the Earth, of its innocent animals and children. They’re all begging for help, but it seems impossible that anyone can take care of everyone
Maybe he is saying that in order to help ourselves, we need to help others first? Or perhaps it is more intriguing and he is stating that it is not possible just to help others. Perhaps we need to think about ourselves in order to help them. Maybe by seeing the others and Earth as ourselves is the only solution. We need to see the problems within ourselves. They cannot be two separate things. This is further explored in the poem “That one in the mirror”.
Finally, after the brutal truth of “Do we give a damn?” the song returns to its chorus, yet it is no longer pure and innocent. It seems etched in human cruelty. The voices sound different. They sound human finally. The Earth is silent.
