Full Lyrics to Earth Song by Michael Jackson

Most people know that Michael Jackson did a lot of good for the children of the world and inspired other artists such as Alicia Keys to carry on this valuable work. I would guess that many do not think of MJ when they think of environmentalists and ecologists, but Mike's love of animals and compassion for suffering everywhere made him highly conscious of the damage humans have caused and are causing to this beautiful ball of blue, green and brown fun rolling through the sky.

Here are the complete lyrics to Michael's tune Earth Song.


Earth Song by Michael Jackson

What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things
That you said we were to gain.. .
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores?

Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah

What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son...
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine...
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
The crying Earth the weeping shores

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaah

I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far

Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah
Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah

Hey, what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can't even breathe
(What about us)
What about the bleeding Earth
(What about us)
Can't we feel its wounds
(What about us)
What about nature's worth
(ooo,ooo)
It's our planet's womb
(What about us)
What about animals
(What about it)
We've turned kingdoms to dust
(What about us)
What about elephants
(What about us)
Have we lost their trust
(What about us)
What about crying whales
(What about us)
We're ravaging the seas
(What about us)
What about forest trails
(ooo, ooo)
Burnt despite our pleas
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
Torn apart by creed
(What about us)
What about the common man
(What about us)
Can't we set him free
(What about us)
What about children dying
(What about us)
Can't you hear them cry
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
(ooo, ooo)
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about babies
(What about it)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
(What about us)
What about the man
(What about us)
What about the crying man
(What about us)
What about Abraham
(What was us)
What about death again
(ooo, ooo)
Do we give a damn


Online Tribute to Superstar Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson Influenced Many Musicians and Artists

After Elvis Presley passed away, Michael Jackson became the undisputed King of Pop, and his brilliant singing and dancing rocked the world for over four decades. As a kid I loved ABC, and as an adult Michael impressed me with tracks such as Human Nature, Thriller and Beat It, among many others

I would also like to add that I have never believed all the wicked things people like the Santa Barbara DA and Jay Leno have said or inferred about MJ, and that I have never seen anything remotely resembling evidence. Perhaps I am naive, but I believe that it is better to give people the benefit of the doubt when there is no real evidence to indicate otherwise. If Michael Jackson was a woman, people would have compared him to Mother Theresa. Jacko, you were a great man and the world is a sadder place without your sensitivity and humanity.

May your legacy of love and compassion carry on...

Slide show of Michael Jackson photographs on Huffingtonpost.com

Los Angeles Times confirmation of the death of Michael Jackson

wikipedia greatest selling music artists of all time

Full list of awards won by singer Michael Jackson

official website of king of pop michael jackson

Persian Uprising May Be First Major Revolution of 21st Century

My aplogies to any groups who have already achieved significant social change in the early years of the 21st Century, but the events of the past eight days in Iran indicate a fundamental change in the nation is taking place. What I like about the coverage is that the constant images of modern Tehran illustrate to North Americans and others that Iran is not some backwater of goat herders (nothing against you guys...goat's milk is the closest to human milk and ultra-nutritious) but rather a vibrant semi-industrialized country that is an early adopter of communications and other technologies, and there's the rub.

The very sophistication in wireless and Internet technology that creates such pride in nationalists and other patriots is the double-edged sword that lets the world look in on the events as if they were in a major USA or European city. Nobody knows where this thing goes but the possibility of a military coup that overthrows the Ayatollahs and declares new elections is certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

Think back to the early days of US troops entering Baghdad, and how unaware of the cradle of civilization they were. Museums filled with the treasures of antiquity, the evidence of some of humankind's earliest advanced communities, were ransacked and looted in the days that followed. Knowledge and even some of human dignity has been lost forever...yet think again how different it could have been had every sargeant and general been made aware of Babylonian history and which facilities to surround and protect. That war never should have happened, but the way it was carried out was in some ways worse than the actual decision to overthrow Saddam.

Now think about all the vitriol of recent years levelled against Iran; how many Americans understand the historical importance of Iran / Persia? Research over the past decade links the ancient Persian Empire with Egypt, Rome and Alexander the Great. Not only is the Persian Empire the ony rival to the Roman Empire for breadth and length of duration, in many ways Romans only carried on the work of Persians, in the job of unifying and ruling the world.

The New Testament Herodian family was patterned not only on Jacob and his sons and grandsons, but also on the Persian ruling elite who had themselves followed these Egyptian traditions. From the earliest days of Islam, Persians / Iranians were at the forefront of the faith, and the Shi'ite faith is to Muslims what Catholicism is to Christians, with Protestants equating to Sunnis.

Punk Rock To Align with Ecology Groups against toxic fuels

Having been there when punk rocked against racism and nuclear weaponry (late 70s, early 80s), it is clear to me that punk rock in the twenty-teenies and twenty-twenties will be about survival, and the fight against coal, oil and nuclear. Ya think I'm overstating the case? You probably also think that Bush's work for his Texan and Saudi backers had nothing to do with$140 oil and the near collapse of the global economy...

Anyways, I am inviting everyone with news of any environmental or social protests to post it here, especially if there is a connection to punk rock or other activist music (thinking Reggae, ska, folk, hardcore, world+++).

Here are some blogs I've been working on:

Best Green Stocks Online Guide




Geothermal Energy News Stocks Investing



Wind Power Stocks Investments




Green Energy Stocks Investing Mutual Funds




Top Photovoltaic Solar Energy Stocks




Green Realtor Environmental Realty List

Ben Johnson lookin' Still Alive and Well

Yesterday was a fun day for my wife Heather and I as our mid-afternoon breakfast (don't U sleep in on Saturday??) was highlighted by the arrival of Ben Johnson and his lady friend who sat at the table right next to us!

We were driving out to a semi-rural car lot in Richmond Hill to look at a 2005 GMC Safari van that had only 55,000 km on it and was supposed to be available for $13,888. As that price seemed about $2,000 too low, I was anxious to see the condition of it, and maybe make plans to buy it.

On the way there I wanted Heather to enjoy the really good breakfasts available at a place I had recently brekkied at with my friend Steve (bassist from punk band Sudden Impact and fellow record collector / crate digger). We were settling in there nicely when about 10 minutes after we arrived Ben and his gal came in and sat right next to us. I nodded acknowledgement a couple of times but generally wanted the man to be able to eat and converse in peace... then after we had all been eating for awhile a local came up and blurted "you look like Ben Johnson, are you..?" to which Ben nodded and the guy stuck out his hand and exclaimed honourably "Very pleased to meet you!"

Ben smiled and gave him a firm handshake and the gent went back to his table, having met a man who was formerly the fastest on the planet. I once met Donovan Bailey at his photographer's place when I was picking up some proofs for Salome Bey, so Ben was about to be the second speedster I had met. We finished our breakfast before they did and as we were getting up to leave I mentioned to Ben and his lady that "on the night you won the gold, I was at Lulu's in Kitchener watching you with several thousand other people."

Both Ben and his friend mentioned they remembered the club, I introduced myself, and then was about to introduce my wife when I noticed she was already out the door of the restaurant (I hadn't told her in advance that I was about to stop and talk with Ben, but as she's painfully shy, she didn't mind), so I just said "Oh, looks like I better get going, it was nice meeting you" and headed out the door myself.

Ben looked in really great shape which was good to see; I'm sure he's still faster than 99% of men out there.

Anyways, after that we drove to the used car / van lot, which turned out to have a variety of Astro's and Safari's with more km on them, but the pristine beast with just 55,000km on her was nowhere to be found. The guy told us it sold "about a week and a half ago" but the way he asked "did u see it? did u see it?" two times when I first mentioned that van made me believe it was a plant, a lure, a shiny piece of candy that never existed.

Still, I was glad to have checked it because whether it ever existed or not, it wasn't available now so I had to cross it off my list and not even use it as any type of reference point, as it seemed a bit too good to be true in the first place. And, I met Ben Johnson, whose legacy is greater than many understand (every single runner who competed against him in the Olympic finals dash was later found to also have been on steroids).

Still looking for a Chevrolet Astro or GMC Safari made between 2003 and 2005. I have a 1997 Astro now but would like one made in the final 3 years of production, as there were a couple of enhancements on those models that improved handling, and these wonderfully versatile vehicles are no longer made.

  

Politics and Punk go hand in hand

Readers are invited to comment about what they'd like to see in these pages, and I'll be happy to oblige wherever possible. Meaningful punk survives and thrives and even though it's a billion dollar industry now, the train keeps a rollin all night long.

Feel free to post notices of protest concerts and benefit shows, particularly those featuring punk, reggae, ska, world and other rebel music. Here are some of my earliest punk influences:

Sex Pistols

DOA

The Clash

Subhumans

Dead Boys

Ramones

Demics

Young Canadians

Teenage Head

Damned

In Vancouver, I wrote and sang for The Reactors as Joey Power, and after moving to Toronto I formed Joe College and the Rulers with my friend Russ, a bassist known in punk circles as Menachem Begin! In Vancouver I was fortunate and honoured to open for the Subhumans, The Young Canadians and The Modernettes, and the tradition carried on in Ontario where we were able to rock the house with the likes of Teenage Head, DOA, and Crash Kills Five. 

True Canadian Hero and international punk pioneer Joe Keithley from DOA has written an intriguing book (I Shithead, A Life In Punk) that highlights that 79-81 era and I think it's a good read, as is the book by Buck Cherry of The Modernettes.

Keep me posted,

Joe College

Cleanup Time; ROCK AGAINST OCN promotes clean energy

Rock Against Oil Coal Nuclear Punk Protest set for 2010

I realize my ambitions are greater than most, but as my Yonge Street neighbor mentioned a couple of decades ago when he heard we were having triplets; That's Joe, he goes big or stays home!

So here are some ideas I feel we should be discussing to promote a strong economic future in Ontario:

1. Unity - It's ridiculous that progressive forces (humanists who believe in social justice and environmental integrity) are split among NDP, Green Party, Marijuana Party, Rhino Party etc when our nation needs us working together. If we can unite the Greens and the NDP and then invite fringe party members to join without asking them to disband their single issue groups, Canada will again have a strong 3rd party, perhaps stronger than ever before. We've been a fly in the ointment long enough; it's time for us to be the ointment, and Ontario is where the unification needs to begin.

2. Solarization - For both economic and environmental reasons, a move towards an infinite energy-based electro-hydrogen economy is a must. With a myriad of options such as offshore and land-based windpower, active and passive geothermal energy, flywheels / energy storage, fuel cells / hydrogen, conservation / energy efficiency, biodiesel / biofuels / biomass, silicon solar, thin film solar, concentrated solar and the list goes on, the timing is right for Ontario to lead Canada into the green powered 21st Century.

3. Culture of Contentment - The multi-decade swing to the right in the USA and resultant media brainwashing and shifting of the center has resulted in a schizophrenic political world south of our border that must be at all costs avoided here. The "greed is good" mentality that seeped from Wall St into Hollywoood and into American pop culture never really took hold here but the outlook has its advocates in the Reform Party wing of Harper's cabal. We need to maintain vigorous debate in Canada and quash doublespeak when it arises.

Galbraith wrote about the naval-gazing dangers of our modern insular world in his prophetic book The Culture of Contement, and we (those generally concerned about their fellow citizens and future generations) need to overcome this laziness and retake the reins of power for the people.


Rock Against OCN announcement on the Solar Intell Blog