Earthjustice is best-known for the free legal
services it provides for environmental causes. But its lawyers know
how to pick songs as well as witnesses, as the organization’s
recently released CD shows. Titled Where We
Live, proceeds from the album benefit a campaign for “the
universal right to clean air and clean water” that includes more
than 50 of Earthjustice’s court cases, ranging from air
pollution in California’s San Joaquin Valley to water
privatization in Bolivia.
Classics like Bob Dylan’s
Watching the River Flow and a Los Lobos cover of
the Marvin Gaye standard What’s Going On
play well alongside less familiar tracks such as Karen Savoca
singing Two Little Feet. Sweet Honey in the Rock
offers More than a Paycheck, and its bouncy a
cappella style contrasts with stark lyrics about disease and injury
among mine workers. Tina Turner provides a powerful version of
hange is Gonna Come, and the Neville Brothers
contribute homage to civil rights leader Rosa Parks. The album ends
fittingly with Captain Beefheart’s Happy
Earthday, his first recording in two decades.
These artists aren’t just paying lip service: They were all
chosen for their commitment to social and environmental causes. In
selecting the music, “the most important thing was to pick songs
that really spoke to our overall message of working for a better
tomorrow,” says Ray Wan, who created the accompanying Where We Live
Web site. For more information, see http://wherewelive.org.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Songs in the key of life.
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