Recently there was a discussion at H-Canada about Canadian "protest" songs from the 1960s. As I reflected upon this topic I began to think about songs concerning the plight of the environment by Canadians. Immediately I thought of Raffi's "Evergreen Everblue" album and Bruce Cockburn's "If A Tree Falls", from 1989 and 1990 respectively. My familiarity with these reflects my upbringing, as I was particularly alert to the happenings on Video Hits and MuchMusic during this time. However, the fact that I can't think of relevant tunes from the 1960s and 1970s gets me wondering whether Canada's environmentally aware musicians were more prone to express their concerns in such a form during this particular period. This doesn't seem to be the case in the United States, where artists such as Pete Seeger set the environmental movement to music from its earliest days. Could the Canadian situation be much different, or am I just woefully ignorant of the relevant tunes? I wonder....
