Environmental Songbook

Let A Flower Grow

Music and lyrics by Ed and Carol Nicodemi

©2017 Ed and Carol Nicodemi

This song is a wake up call-to-action to preserve our environment. The song was initially used by Ed and myself in our music teaching, and now we include it in our performances. Because we live in NYC, the song's city ambiance cries out to the people for awareness. Often, our polluted and diminishing natural resources are ignored. Overlooked. This cannot go on, for the future of our children and their children.

Lyrics

Let a Flower Grow

Lookin' out upon the city streets

On the railroad ridin' by

Hear the sounds of steam drills rumblin'

Feel the hot sun burning bright

See the smoke clouds rising

Makes the day look grey

Trees stand tall with branches dead

And the people live that way.

 

Let a flower grow

Let a river flow

Let the breezes blow

Mr, don't you know

What's goin' wrong. 

 

And the sidewalks lined with cars

Burnt and abandoned

Fenders smashed and tailights broken

How long can this go on?

See the old backyards with clotheslines torn

Rubbish and old bedsprings

Alleyways filled with tin cans smashed

And weeds grow in between.

 

Let a flower grow

Let a river flow

Let the breezes blow

Mr, don't you know

What's goin' wrong. 

 

Guitar instrumental...

Repeat Verse 1 and

Chorus 2X

 

 

(C) Ed and Carol Nicodemi

 (646)354-8219/ 347-705-3760

   To start up a discussion, or introduce a song, there's nothing better than a visual aid. I used large photographs or posters depicting garbage in alleyways, broken and abandoned cars, photos of dead trees, smog. I asked the children to talk about what they saw, as I gathered them around me on the rug. I asked questions like "Does this look like the kind of place you want to live? Why not?" Their answers sparked the beginning of the teaching of this song. 

   After I modeled it, I had the children join me in singing the chorus, and we repeated it several times.  I asked them if they thought flowers could grow in the pictures I had shown them. "What do you think the air smells like in this picture?," I would ask. We talked about ways they could make a change, both in the mindset of themselves, their friends, their family. (i.e. picking up garbage, recycling, only using water when they really need it, not wasting it.)

   For homework, or lesson extension, I had them each choose a grownup to talk to about saving the environment, and come up with 3 ways they could help with this problem. The older children could write a skit, and act it out. The younger children could make up a little dialogue as well, verbally, and pretend to tell each other how to take care of the water, or trees, or throw out garbage. The children could also draw 'before and after' pictures and write about them. (i.e.A tree dead and withered and then a tree in full bloom.) Another 'before' picture could be a backyard filled with junk, and 'after,' a house with a clean and grassy backyard. They could write a poem or song about it. They could express how this song makes them feel. The song would then be sung again, with lyrics always in view for reading reinforcement. A perfect song for Earth Day or ANY day. 

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All songs posted in the CMN Song Library are protected by copyright and are provided by the generosity of the owner/artist. You may perform songs you find here in classrooms and camps without the copyright owner’s permission. For all other performances, you must first obtain a performance license through BMI, SESAC or ASCAP or obtain the copyright owner’s express prior written permission.