On this Earth Day, we take time to think about ways we can be more friendly to Mother Earth.  I'm counting down the top 5 songs that are reminiscent of saving the environment and celebrating our planet.

#5 Jimmy Buffett "Everlasting Moon"

Jimmy Buffett's well known for his Key West-inspired party tunes, but he rarely gets the credit he deserves for the ballads he sings.  This track was recorded in 1990 as part of his Feeding Frenzy Tour.  It is dedicated to a group of environmentalists and their efforts to save the planet.

#4 REM "Cuyahoga"

It was summer 1969 and a fire was sparked on the Cuyahoga River in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  The river was so rich in contaminants from the city's industries that it actually caught fire at least 10 times, most famously in '69 when it drew national attention and inspired this environmental track from REM's 1996 Lifes Rich Pageant.

#3 Joni Mitchell "Big Yellow Taxi"

The story Joni tells about writing this song places her in Hawaii.  She was sitting in a hotel room and enjoying the majestic island scenery:  the mountains and ocean views.  But looking down outside her room, she laments to see that paradise had been paved to build a parking lot.

#2 Michael Jackson "The Earth Song"

This track from MJ's HIStory release was one of the first pop songs to deal overtly with the environment and animal welfare issues.  The music video, showing the destruction and rebirth of different endangered regions around the globe received a Grammy nomination in 1997.

#1 Louis Armstrong/Kenny G "What a Wonderful World"

The song in and of itself is not specifically about the environment but a general statement on the eternal hopes of mankind that each succeeding generation will make the world better than the generation before.  But pair this song with images of nature and the environmental connection is easy to make.  This version features the soprano sax of Kenny G along with Louis Armstrong's vocals.

More From Lite 98.7