Arriving at Compassion

In 1971 the British symphonic rock group, The Moody Blues, released their seventh album – Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. The band’s guitarist, Justin Hayward, described it as a ‘a kind of searching, seeking record.’ There are songs on the album that ask questions of themselves as band members, and also of the world around them.

One of those songs that asks questions of the world around them is the John Lodge penned One More Time To Live.¹ The lyrics of the song begin with the lines, ‘Look out of my window/See the world passing by.’ The impression given is that this is a song in which the writer observes the world outside them and tries to make sense of the desolation, annihilation, and pollution they see. The solution this observer finds is to go on an inner journey and find the riches within.

Another way of hearing the lyrics may be as a commentary on the history of the world from the beginning of time through to the present moment. When this song was written the knowledge of environmental damage was only just beginning to be recognised. The world’s first environmental political party was not formed until the following year. The song was highly prescient then and remains relevant today.

In the song Justin Hayward (the vocalist) recites a total of 21 words, all with a ‘…tion’ or ‘…sion’ suffix.

The words begin with Desolation, the state in which the Universe emerged from, followed by Creation and Evolution.

This new world then descends towards environmental destruction, presumably with the appearance of Homo sapiens, and Hayward sorrowfully sings of Pollution, Saturation, Population (growth), and Annihilation.

Next, we hear of how humanity attempts to fix this mess. Humanity tries Revolution (which fails to fix it) resulting in Confusion and Illusion. The Conclusion to this is Starvation, Degradation, and Humiliation.

But this Conclusion is not the future that the songwriter John Lodge wishes to see. So we hear Justin Hayward inspiring us towards Contemplation and Inspiration. If we take this inner journey, then there may be a chance that we realise an inner Elation which can be our Salvation.

Via the process of Communication, the Moody Blues finally arrive at…

Compassion…

which is the Solution.

John Lodge, Justin Hayward, and the other band members were correct more than half a century ago, and they are no less so today.

Compassion is the Solution. Compassion towards ourselves, compassion towards other humans, compassions to other life forms, and compassion towards Mother Earth.

Note:

1. A beautiful Youtube clip of this song can be heard here.

Five Environmental Songs (late 60s/early 70s)

There have been a number of songs with an environmental theme, but these five from the late 1960s-early 1970s are amongst the best. Coincidentally, the period in which these five songs were written was concurrent with the global transition from humanity requiring one planet to live on to requiring more than one. Overshooting the planet’s ability to restore what we extracted and to recover from the pollution we created globally occurred around the time these five songs were recorded.

The first three of the songs lament what was being lost, and the other two rejoiced in the pleasures that nature still had to offer us.

After The Gold Rush – Neil Young (1970)

Neil Young’s song encompassed a number of themes, although Young himself called it essentially an environmental song. The lyric ‘Look at Mother Nature on the run, in the 1970s’ was a particularly poignant observation on how nature was being exploited, ravaged, and abused by humans. After the turn of the century, whenever Neil Young played this song in concert he amended the lyric to, ‘Look at Mother Nature on the run, in the 21^st century.’

Nothing had changed in the 30 years following the original recording. Mother Nature is still on the run in late 2025.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Zf4D1tHdw

Where Do The Children Play? – Cat Stevens (1970)

When Cat Stevens was growing up he and his family were living in the midst of some of the bombed out areas of London following WW2. He recalled how the playground at his school was in the basement of the school building, because there were no playgrounds.

By the time he wrote and recorded his fourth studio album, Tea for the Tillerman, Stevens noted that there were still few areas for the children to play, and that nature was being encroached on so much that the question, Where do the children play? was begging to be asked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCJhNiKhFE

Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell (1971)

In the late 1960s Joni Mitchell visited Hawai’i for the first time and arrived in the evening, and booked into her hotel. When she awoke in the morning and pulled back the curtains she could see beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then she looked down. She was looking at a huge parking lot, and the adjacent hotel was building another parking lot just as big. ‘It broke my heart…this blight on Paradise’ she later stated. The jolting experience was to be the inspiration for one of her best known songs. ‘They paved Paradise, and put up a parking lot,’ she sang.

A further lyric from the song, ‘They took all the trees, put ‘em in a tree museum’ is likely to have been stirred by a trip to the Foster Botanical Gardens in Hawai’i where she had to pay an entrance fee to see the trees.

Nature is still be paved over and commodified.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2595abcvh2M

Mother Nature’s Son – The Beatles (1968)

This song features on the Beatles untitled double album – often referred to as the White Album (the cover was entirely white). Credited as being written by Lennon-McCartney, John Lennon said it was inspired by a lecture the Beatles listened to by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi whilst they were in India. McCartney says he was motivated by a Nat King Cole song called Nature Boy.

The simple lyrics evoke a pleasant day sitting by a stream in the mountains. ‘Sit beside a mountain stream, See her waters rise, Listen to the pretty sound of music, As she flies’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMMiXjwhODU

Nature – The Fourmyula (1969)

The Fourmyula were a band from New Zealand with several hits during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The biggest of their hits was undoubtedly Nature. In 2001 the song was voted as the best New Zealand song of the 20^th century by the Australasian Performing Rights Association.

The band’s guitarist/keyboards player, Wayne Mason, wrote the song, ‘in an hour on the front porch of my mum’s house, looking out on a beautiful day with trees and stuff. Bees were buzzing and my heart was fluttering.’ He was just 19 years old at the time.

The lyrics, including, ‘Up in a tree a bird sings so sweetly, Nature's own voice, I hear
Rustling whistling trees turning breeze to speech, Talk to me now, ease my mind’ evoke the ability of nature to soothe us and ease our stress levels.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB2EiHOB0Mw

Five Best Inventions

Coffee and art
combined

Last week’s blogpost was entitled Five Worst Inventions. So, this week I am offering my thoughts on the Five Best Inventions, lest I be accused of negativity. I did not go through as rigorous a process as last week; I came up with the five without previously determining the criteria by which I would decide. The only similarity with process was that I was walking on the beach again when I came up with these five.

What I found interesting when I arrived at my top five was that three of them related to our creative and artistic endeavours. That’s appropriate, I thought, because it is our creativity, and artistry that contributes hugely towards our sense of well-being and our pleasure in life. That last sentence may sound intuitively, and logically, correct, yet the connection has been studied by researchers. As an example, this study from Malaysia ‘demonstrates that creativity is beneficial to subjective well-being.’¹

Here are my contenders for Five Best Inventions, in no particular order.

Painting. One of the favourite activities of young children at home, in pre-school, or primary school is drawing. There seems to be something innate about the activity that young children are drawn to.

The earliest known example of a drawing/painting by a human is that of a red hand stencil in Maltravieso Cave in Spain and was made by a Neanderthal more than 64,000 years ago. The earliest known figurative paintings are in caves in Indonesia and Borneo and are dated at more than 40,000 years old.

All cultures appear to have invented painting in one form or another – whether on rock, on wood, or on our own bodies. Painting allows us to be creative and expressive, as well as being a medium for the communication of a thought, idea, or story.

Painting was possibly a precursor to carving which was initially etching like depictions upon rock – petroglyphs being the technical term. The oldest of these are found at Murujuga, Western Australia and are dated at 40,000 to 50,000 years old. The site was declared a World Heritage Site in July 2025.

Painting and carving have undergone many changes and evolved differently in different cultures. It has given us the elaborate masks of New Guinea, the beauty of the Sistine Chapel, and the intricacy of Māori wood and greenstone carvings.

Painting is a marvellous invention, and we don’t have to be children to continue to enjoy viewing it or creating it.

Writing. Writing may well have evolved from painting. Writing enables us to tell stories and keep accounts. In the last few millennia it has provided the means to some of the world’s great literature. In western cultures, would we have a Shakespeare, an Emily Brontë, or a Tolstoy if not for the invention of writing?

Sumerian is thought to be the oldest written language, dating from about 3400 BCE. Early writing from this culture was of a book-keeping style, and then the writing down of poems or sagely advice from one generation to the next. The world’s first written fictional story appears to be the Epic of Gilgamesh written probably about 2100 BCE and, in poetic form, tells the tales of a Sumerian king.

Today our reading options are immense; somewhere between one million and four million novels are published each year. All thanks to the invention of writing.

Drums. When we think of arts, then not only does painting, sculpture, and literature come to mind, but so too does music. The first musical instruments to be invented were undoubtedly percussion instruments. The first membranophone (a drum constructed using a stretched membrane) can be traced to China in the period from 5500 – 2350 BCE and using alligator skins. Because skins tend to degrade, earlier drums may well have been invented without leaving a trace in the archaeological record.

Drums and drumming greatly enhance one of our other (human) artistic forms – dance. Today, the variety of types of drums is immense. There are the drums of the symphony orchestra, conga drums, the many drums of Africa, and in our modern age the drum kit of rock bands.

Drums continue to beat out the rhythms of dancing, marching, and are used in various shamanic and in other ritualistic settings.

Bicycles. As a means to assist us getting around, the bicycle surely cannot be beaten. Its environmental impact is insignificant, and it enables us to keep fit.

In 1817 the Dandy horse was invented – a two-wheeled machine that could be sat upon, steered, and propelled by pushing along with the feet. The first bicycle to incorporate a mechanical crank drive and pedals came into being in the 1860s.

Today, there are more than one billion bicycles in the world. It is a popular form of transport and gave rise to the sport of cycling. The Tour de France cycling race (lasting three weeks) is considered to be the world’s biggest annual sporting event, and certainly the most watched cycling event.

Coffee. After water, coffee vies with tea for the second-most consumed beverage in the world. The number of cafés in the world reaches into the tens (or even hundreds) of thousands. Shanghai is believed to be the city with the highest number of cafés, with over 8,530 in 2024. Australia is home to 27,000 coffee cafés.

The exact date of the invention of the coffee drink is indeterminate. Legend tells of an Ethiopian goat-herder in the 6^th century, named Kaldi, noticing that his goats took a liking to the bean. By 1000 CE Arab traders were bringing the bean back and cultivating it. By boiling the beans they created a drink they called qahwa which meant that which prevents sleep. Qahwa appears to be where we get the word coffee from.

Today more than 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed every day globally. For many, coffee is one of the world’s most pleasurable inventions.

So, get on your bicycle, bike down to your local café for a coffee, perhaps write a letter or poem whilst there, draw or paint a picture of your surroundings, or listen to a busker playing the bongoes on the pavement outside the café. What could be better?

Notes:

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8305859/#sec15-ijerph-18-07244  accessed 21 October 2025

Landawariar Rituals

Last week I had the pleasure and the privilege of attending a performance by the Nordic band Heilung. Heilung speak of their music as amplified history. This is not modern history, it is history of the Viking era, and even earlier. Their music predates the Modern Era (M.E.) and gains inspiration from a number of Nordic and other European cultures, especially those of pagan origins.

Attending an Heilung performance is more akin to participating in a ritual: a ritual that acknowledges our roots in the Earth and our shared humanity.

Oftentimes those of us from a European background and heritage can feel lost and disconnected from nature, especially in comparison to the connections we see and hear within indigenous and nature-based cultures.

Heilung remind us that we too, do in fact encompass a spiritual connection with Mother Earth. We may have forgotten this. Through their music, performance, and ritual, Heilung wish to remind us of our historical and cultural roots.

One of Heilung’s songs – Anoana – lyrically and symbolically reminds us of this connection with the earth and our responsibility to the land. Anoana can be translated as ancestral grandmother, and the band’s promo video of the song personifies and illustrates that translation.

One of the lines of the song - ‘Athilr Rikithir Ai Landawariar Anoana.’ - mentions the word landawariar. Maria Franz (the band’s lead female vocalist) admits to not knowing the meanings of the other words in this line. However, she is clear that the meaning of landawariar is protector, or guardian, of the land. (Listen to Maria talk about the meaning of Anoana in this interview.)

As I listened to this song being sung last Thursday night in Sydney, I was struck yet again by the possibility of, yet the lack of, ritual around our human responsibility to act as guardians of the earth. That is, at least for those of us from a European heritage.

Perhaps one of the reasons that westernised (largely Christian) cultures have failed to recognise the responsibility to protect, care for, and act as earth guardians is a mis-reading of Genesis in the Bible.  

Genesis 1: 26-28 speaks of humans having dominion over the fish, birds, cattle, and all the earth. Western culture has mostly interpreted dominion to mean domination, subjugation, and exploitation.

Yet, the Hebrew word radah (translated as dominion), ‘…is not what we think of as forceful, but the kind of authority that enables the ruled things to develop and open as they should rather than that which uses them as resources for our own sakes.’¹

If westernised peoples are to renew our roles as guardians, protectors, and sustainers of life and the earth, then we must also re-acquaint ourselves with this understanding of dominion and our earth connection. It also suggests that we discover (and invent) rituals that remind us of this responsibility and obligation.

The music of Heilung is a start on that journey of renewal and invention.

Note:

1. Andrew Basden, Writings on Christian Topics, https://kgsvr.net/xn/discussion/radah2.html accessed 6 March 2023.

7 Great Anti-War Songs

Songs of protest have been with us for millenia.  Amongst that genre, anti-war songs are very prominent.  In our times the Vietnam War and, later, the Iraq War have spawned a number of great anti-war songs.  Here are seven of what I would call “Anti-War Songs Greatest Hits”.  Can you suggest three more to make the Top 10 Anti-War Songs?

#7.  “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag”.

Although recorded by Country Joe and the Fish, it was Joe McDonald’s solo acoustic version at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Arts Festival that brought the song world-wide attention.

Rousing the 300,000 odd festival goers with his infamous F chant Joe’s song was a no-holds-barred cynical exhortation to American parents to “be the first on your block to have your boy come home in a box”.

#6.  “Civil War”.

This song began as a Slash instrumental before Axl Rose added lyrics and together, Guns N’ Roses finalised it in Melbourne, Australia in 1990.  The song condemns war as “feed(ing) the rich and burying the poor”.

In an interview Axl Rose replies that the memory of attending a peace march with his mother when he was 4 years old helped meld the lyrics.  At the end of the song Axl Rose can be heard poignantly asking “what’s so civil about war anyway?”

#5.  “Peace Train”.

In 1971 this was Cat Stevens’ first US Top 10 hit and became one of his best known songs.  Stevens later converted to Islam, changed his name to Yusuf Islam and became a recluse.  However, during the Iraq War he commented that “Peace Train is a song I wrote; the message of which continues to breeze thunderously through the hearts of millions”.

Coming out of seclusion, Stevens performed the song live at the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

#4.  “Universal Soldier”.

Buffy Sainte-Marie supposedly wrote this song in a Toronto coffee house in 1964 and recorded it.  It was not until Donovan recorded and released it in 1965, though, that it gained any popularity.

With it’s claim that the universal soldier could be anyone of us, “a Catholic, a Hindu , an Atheist, a Jain, a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew”, Sainte-Marie’s song reminded us that we are all implicated in the machinery of war.  And so, we all have responsibility for seeing the end of war.

#3.  “Rachel”.

“Rachel?” I hear you ask, “what’s that song?”.  It’s not frequently played but I have put it at #3 because of it’s ability to bring the harsh realities of war right into our safe homes.  The song tells the story of a family gathering around to read a letter from their daughter.  Rachel is a nurse in a war (most interpretations assume the Vietnam War) and tells the sorry tale of her “bandag(ing) their blinded eyes, ma”, whilst around her men are “dying like flies” and children have “aching feet (and) nothing to eat”.

Written by an English song-writer (Roger Froggatt) it was the Australian, Russel Morris, who made it famous.  Morris’ version pulls at the heart strings, it is almost as if you are one of the family listening to the letter being read.  It is almost with familial relief that you hear Morris sing at last “Rachel’s coming home, Rachel's coming home”.

In a nice contradiction to the harsh realities mentioned in the lyrics the video of Morris singing this song chose to have him singing with a simple backdrop of flowers opening. 

#2.  “War”.

Simply titled, powerfully sung and orchestrated, this song was originally vocalised by The Temptations for Motown Records.  Motown kept getting requests for the song to be released as a single.  Norman Whitfield (one of the co-writers along with Barrett Strong) selected Edwin Starr as the vocalist for the release.

Starr’s vocals had much greater intensity than those of The Temptations and the song remained at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for three weeks in September and October 1970.

The song got a makeover in 1986 when Bruce Springsteen again took it to the Top 10.  Springsteen played it live for a few years.  He resurrected it in 2003 as a protest against the Iraq War.

Echoing the line in Country Joe’s song (#7) about a boy coming home in a box the song describes war as being “a friend only to the Undertaker”.  The writers and Starr repeatedly ask “War, what is it good for?” and end up with the simple answer “Absolutely nothing”.

#1.  “Give Peace A Chance”.

Number One because of it’s anthemic qualities.  With it’s simple lyrics and catchy tune “Give Peace A Chance” has been sung at countless anti-war marches and demonstrations around the world.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono.  Bed-in for Peace
 (Amsterdam and Montreal 1969)

Conceived during John Lennon’s and Yoko Ono’s famous honeymoon “bed-in” in 1969 the song is one of three Lennon songs included in the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”.

It has shaped history also.  Yet, without a simple question from a journalist the song may never have been written.  The journalist asked John what he hoped to achieve by staying in bed.  John’s answer became the line we all now know: “All we are saying is give peace a chance”.

Rhythm and Harmony

Last weekend I chanced upon a very encouraging sight and sound.  Strolling through Parramatta we came across a group of mainly young and a few older people about to start playing music.  Calling themselves Rhythms of Peace this was to be only their second public performance.
The group of a dozen or so were a mixture of South Asian and Middle East students and a few elders from the surrounding schools and area.  Two of them were only 8 years old.  Then the music started – magnificent.  Highly percussive with overtones of beautiful harmonies – instrumental and vocal.

The two youngest (a boy and a girl) contributed their dance movements (she, from her cultural heritage and he adding hip-hop moves to the music).  As we sat in the sunshine and listened and watched I thought of how this grouping was encouraging for the future.  The backgrounds of the group and the musical influences came from cultures quite geographically removed, now transported to Australia.  Yes, diversity yet bringing about harmony.  I thought of the title of my blog site.  Here before my eyes and ears was the rainbow personified.

The group itself is a project of SEVA International who have a vision of social cohesion with diversity.  The project has been funded by the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Later I learnt that a goal of SEVA was to “build understanding, acceptance and harmony through sharing of culture, experience and history”.  If the rhythms and harmonies I heard and saw in that sunny mall in Parramatta were anything to go by then SEVA are well on their way to building that. 

Well done to SEVA and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.  A special high five to the young people who brought their diverse musical styles together in a beautiful way.