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My Own Eyes

 

            I was introduced to this song by my cousin, Andy. When he first described this song to me, he referred to it as “hippie” music. Since I did not have much of a background in “hippie” music, I was highly skeptical before listening to it. Once I listened to the song, I immediately fell in love with it. It was unlike any other music I have listened to before. In the music video he was playing the guitar in a way I did not know was possible. The guitar was lying flat on his lap and he strummed the strings with one hand and used a metal object on the neck of the guitar. This almost made the notes sound more pure than they usually would. I was also enamored by the lyrics of the song. This song is also known as the song for Australia. The artist, Xavier Rudd, is from Australia, and he was singing about how the environment is treated with no respect there. In part of the song he states, “I’ve seen it down in Sacred Tassie, where they’re cutting all those big old trees. Forty-four football fields a day and ain’t that hard to believe? And all for the economy raping country that our children won’t see.” This lyric is so powerfully written. I had no idea that forty-four football fields of trees could be cleared in a day. This is something I am still trying to wrap my head around. It makes me wonder if there are any trees left in Australia. I always believed I was someone who concerned themselves with the environment. I love the backpacking trips that I go on, so naturally I would want to preserve the environment. However, that is a rather selfish reason. This man is not only fighting for not only the environment, but the culture that is being destroyed with it. This is a people’s livelihood that is being ruined. Just by listening to one song my entire perspective on environmental preservation has been changed. Going forward, I will now seek to protect the environment not for my own benefit, but for the people who are dependent on it.

 

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