40 years ago, Marvin Gaye was a wee bit ahead of the curve when he wrote his environmental anthem "Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology)," released as the #2 track on his What's Going On album. "Mercy Mercy Me" was released on June 10, 1971, and shot to the top of the charts, becoming one of Gaye's most popular songs:
"Woo ah, mercy mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east
Woo mercy, mercy me, mercy father
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury
Ah oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Radiation under ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land
How much more abuse from man can she stand?
Oh, na na...
My sweet Lord... No
My Lord... My sweet Lord"
Although Gaye's reference to radiation almost certainly alluded to nuclear weapons testing, it certainly resonates still, given what's happening at Fukushima Daiichi, as well as commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe (Tim Mousseau's ornithological studies in the Chernobyl Dead Zone show that indeed, "animals and birds who live nearby are dying"), not to mention "Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas" from the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster a year ago, and "fish full of mercury" from the continued burning of coal.