By David Dodge and Kay Rollans
Young people marching, striking for climate.
Millions and millions of young people marching,
Marching for our planet, marching for their lives
So begins “Young People Marching,” a new song by renowned, multiplatinum Canadian children’s entertainer Raffi.
In an interview with Green Energy Futures, Raffi called the song “a tribute” to Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate activist whom he described as “a true hero” and “the moral voice of our times.”
Last year, Thunberg staged solo demonstrations in front of Swedish parliament, calling on her government to act on climate change. As Raffi sings in his song her continued and wide-reaching activism, “has got everybody marching. Now millions are marching the whole world over.”
And indeed millions did march all over the world on Friday Sep. 20, 2019 as part of the Global Climate Strike—an initiative inspired by Thunberg’s original demonstrations, and the #FridaysforFuture movement that developed out of them. An estimated 4 million people joined protests including 1.4 million in Germany, 400,000 in Australia and millions of others in 130 countries and 2,200 cities.
Friday’s strike came just before the United Nations Climate Action Summit, and Youth Action Climate Summit both held on September 23, where countries revisited the 2015 Paris agreement to commit to further, stronger, and more immediate action on climate change.
Climate Emergency
“Young People Marching” isn’t Raffi’s first song to touch on environmental issues — “Baby Beluga,” a Raffi classic, comes easily to mind — but its message is certainly clearer and more direct than ever before. “In 30 years, there’s been very little action –– greenhouse gas emissions keep rising,” said Raffi. “Young People Marching” calls out this chronic inaction on climate issues around the world:
Decades of lies, decades of denial
Turned up the heat, engulfed us in fire.
Decades of destruction, though people knew better
Caused this climate emergency, now we gotta set ourselves free.
Like Thunberg’s activism, the song’s central message is meant to bring us together. “What we all want is a world fit for children, as they say at the United Nations. We also want a world fit for beluga whales and polar bears,” Raffi says.
When asked what it means to “set ourselves free,” Raffi explained that, for him, freedom goes hand-in-hand with action on climate change: “We’re really talking about the future of life on Earth, the future of human civilization, which is now in jeopardy. So, with our future in jeopardy, how can anyone live free? How can the kids dream and plan to be the best they can?”
Children and the natural world are like peas in a pod to Raffi. His long repertoire, from “Baby Beluga” to “Roots and Shoots,” makes powerful connections between nature and children, and shows that, even when dealing with tough subjects, there’s still room for music, and for fun. And we love him for it. “There’s a whole lot of cause for impatience, and frustration, anger… It’s reasonable. But at the same time, you know, I write songs that deliver the message in an entertaining way,” said Raffi.
Cool it, Cool this planet down
Indeed, the last song Raffi wrote about climate change, “Cool It,” is, despite the heavy topic, a snappy little ditty. “It’s a catchy song,” Raffi said, as he broke into song in the interview: “Cool it, cool it, cool this plant down.” Hopefully, as we snap our fingers, we have time to think about the song’s implications. As Raffi explained, “Greenhouse gas emissions keep rising. They are now at 415 parts per million where they really should be is down to 350 parts per million.”
Raffi’s environmental and children’s activism spans many years. I first met him back in 2002 at the United Nations Children’s Conference on the Environment in Victoria, British Columbia—a conference that, even then, focused largely on climate change. At that time, Raffi was advocating for the elimination of pesticides in playfields.
These days, you will find Raffi on Twitter (@Raffi_RC), still doing concerts and very active with The Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring.
“We work to educate people about the magic of childhood and its critical importance in a human lifetime,” said Raffi, emphasizing that a person’s childhood experiences build a “lifetime of outcomes.” These are outcomes that affect not just individual children as they become adults, but all of us.
“As Gandhi said,” said Raffi, “if we want peace in this world, we must begin with the children. In the same sense, whatever we hope to create in a positive respectful culture must begin in the early years.”
Favourite Raffi song?
As our interview drew to a close, I couldn’t help but gush a bit about my favourite Raffi songs, “Bananaphone” and “Roots and Shoots.” And, of course, I had to ask if Raffi had a favourite, too.
“A lot of these songs feel like my children so you can’t choose,” he said. But when pressed, he admitted that “Evergreen, Everblue,” a song he wrote in 1990, comes to mind. “Amazon is calling, help this planet Earth,” he sang. Its themes are still painfully relevant today, as the world’s attention turns, once again, to the Amazon as it burns.
In the end, though, Raffi decided—as any good writer would—that his current favourite song is “Young People Marching,” his tribute to Greta Thunberg and the young people around the world standing up for their futures by demanding action on climate change.
You can read about Raffi’s response to the climate emergency and hear the song at the Raffi Foundation website.