Nature Lives Here (2023)

On Writing Nature Lives Here

By John KixMiller

 I was looking through some old notebooks where I’ve written ideas for songs. The vast majority of these ideas have not amounted to anything finished, but sometimes miracles occur. I found the opening verse of what became Nature Lives Here, all finished and ready for me to use. I really liked the verse, but it is totally pessimistic, and I realized that the shocking grief and sorrow of losing the world we love showed me how infinitely valuable and wonderful our world really is. The other four verses of the song begin with:

The beauty of time passing
It flies before our eyes
We never saw in this way before
The wonder of our lives

These four verses just jumped out onto the page in two sittings. Mother Nature is real, and our earth is wonderful and irreplaceable beyond anything we can imagine. And because we humans are now a major force affecting the balance of Nature as the environment for life, we have become, whether we like it or not, stewards of life on earth. This responsibility is beyond argument. Fate has imposed this incredible responsibility upon us, and we must accept it and give all we can to creating a future for our children amid all life on earth. Failure will mean unendurable sorrow and grief.

We’ll fight for this world on and on
Deep into the Great Beyond
There’s everything to love
Everything to fear
It’s planet earth in the universe and
Nature lives here

Available 10.31.23 on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, and more!