The green Miley

Popster Miley Cyrus pens ‘eco-anthem’ 7

Mily Cyrus
Photo: mileycyrus.com

Fifteen-year-old Disney pop starlet Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) wants America to wake up and deal with global warming ... though she's not quite sure what that means. At least, that's what she admits in a song -- dubbed an "eco-anthem" by some, though I'm curious what qualifies it as an anthem -- on her new release Breakout.

It may seem not to fit on an album whose title track whines "Every week's the same/Stuck in school's so lame/My parents say that I'm lazy/Getting up at 8 a.m.'s crazy/Tired of bein' told what to do/So unfair, so uncool." But once you listen to it (or read the lyrics), you may agree with the Entertainment Weekly reviewer who suggests Miley "talks about our troubled planet as if it were a needy adolescent." In which case, perhaps the song fits quite well.

No word yet on whether she'll be touring by biodiesel bus, releasing the CD in ecofriendly packaging, or really doing anything more than singing about doing something. But as many artists have found recently, singing crappy eco-songs ("Hey You," anyone?) is one step in the right direction.

Listen to Miley's "Wake Up America" here and check out the full lyrics below:

Wake Up America

Oh, can you take care of her
Oh, maybe you can spare her

Several moments of your consideration
Leading up to the final destination

Oh, the earth is calling out,
I wanna learn what it's all about,
But everything I read -- global warming, going green
I don't know what all this means, but it seems to be saying

Wake up, America, we're all in this together
It's our home so let's take care of it
You know that you want to
You know that you got to wake up, America
Tomorrow becomes a new day and everything you do
Matters, yeah, everything you do matters in some way

Stand up, I'll try if you will
Wake up, it's not a fire drill
All she needs is a little attention
Can you give her just a little attention?

Uh oh, it's easy to look away
But it's getting harder day by day

Everything I read -- global warming, going green
I don't know what all this means, but it seems to be saying

Wake up, America, we're all in this together
It's our home so let's take care of it
You know you want to
You know that you got to wake up, America
Tomorrow becomes a new day and everything you do
Matters, yeah, everything you do matters in some way

I know that you don't want to hear it
Especially coming from someone so young

But in the back seat, yeah, they want to hear it (they want to hear it)

So come on (turn it up)
Come on (turn it up)
So come on (turn it up)

Wake up, America, we're all in this together
It's our home so let's take care of it
You know that you want to
You know that you got to wake up, America
Tomorrow becomes a new day and everything you do
Matters, yeah, everything you do matters in some way

Sarah van Schagen is Grist’s Seattle editor.

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  1. TheGreenMiles Posted 7:20 am
    22 Jul 2008

    HarumphYou can expect to hear from my attorneys about the blatant copyright violation contained in the title of this post. Just as soon as I can afford some attorneys. Could I borrow $10?  ;)

    Join the discussion on global warming, recycling, and organic beer at The Green Miles!
  2. Delay And Deny's avatar

    Delay And Deny Posted 9:47 am
    22 Jul 2008

    A new category of TAP?

    Maybe they can create a new category for her:
    http://www.teenangstpoetry.blogspot.com/
  3. redwing Posted 12:29 am
    23 Jul 2008

    Perpetuate DistrobutionBuying more stuff is the solution to everything! duh! hrmmm what is more eco friendly for the music savy:


    Buy the CD

    Rip the music from a friends CD

    Surf the Pirated MP3 seas

    Buy it on I-tunes

    Download the ringtone

  4. alphaniner Posted 4:48 am
    23 Jul 2008

    This song, good or bad?Does the positive effect from this of increasing the awareness of global warming outweigh the negative stereotype reinforcement that ignorance is "cool".  If students of science are downtrodden as being uncool and nerdy, who will fix the problems of civilization?  It doesn't matter how mobilized people are if nobody knows WTF to do.  
    "I don't know what all this means, but it seems to be saying"
    <sarcasm>

    Hanna Montana is ignorant and cool, therefore I want to be ignorant and cool too!  Science is for dweebs!

    <end sarcasm>
  5. bkrell Posted 5:29 am
    23 Jul 2008

    Hah!I wonder if Wal-Mart and Disney will market millions of "eco" Miley t-shirts, note books, Trapper Keepers (hah!), pencils, pens, makeup sets, hats, posters, and pj's for the kids....
  6. tidal Posted 5:59 am
    23 Jul 2008

    Wow!That is definitely the most poignant, persuasive anthem about an impending ecological crisis that I have ever heard. I think we can all agree that as soon as they hear that in China, we will immediately have a pre-emptive breakthrough on the Copenhagen round of the UNFCCC. Did anyone else have visions of Jim Inhofe and Jim Hansen working side-by-side installing a solar panel at Miley's house as they listened to it? There's no way we can fail when we have songs like this!
    Way to go Miley!
  7. bdejourd Posted 3:00 am
    29 Jul 2008

    Eco-AnthemsAs long as we are talking about eco-anthems, there is a great song by Canadian artist Danny Michel called Feather, Fur and Fin, check it out.

    http://www.dannymichel.com/newsite/welcome.html

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