The production and consumption of energy is deeply embedded in American popular culture. Inspired by this history of labor and commerce, songwriters have reflected on the social and environmental transformations and conflicts brought by new technologies and energy sources. While some songs, such as Woody Guthrie’s “Grand Coulee Dam” or the Five Stars “Atom Bomb Baby,” celebrate the promise of new energy technologies, others, such as Hazel Dickens’ “Black Lung” or Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi,” explore the darker side of worker exploitation and environmental degradation.
The sampling of songs below are particularly well suited to classroom use and discussion. More extensive musical compilations also are listed below.
Suggest a song to energyhistory@gmail.com
Coal
Loretta Lynn, “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” 1970. lyrics
John Prine, “Paradise,” 1971. lyrics
Hazel Dickens, “Yablonski Murder,” lyrics.
Hazel Dickens, “Black Lung,” lyrics.
Hazel Dickens, “Fire in the Hole,” lyrics.
Merle Travis, “Sixteen Tons,” Sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1955, lyrics.
Merle Travis, “Dark as a Dungeon,” sung by Johnny Cash, lyrics.
Johnny Cash, “Loading Coal,” lyrics by Merle Travis.
Tyler Childers, “Coal,” 2011, lyrics.
Vern’s Pot O’ Chili, “Jesus Was a Coalminer,” 2006.
Nuclear
Elton Britt, “Uranium Fever,” 1955. lyrics
Five Stars, “Atom Bomb Baby,” 1957. lyrics
Sir Lancelot, “Atomic Energy,” 1947. lyrics
Sheldon Allman, “Radioactive Mama,” 1960. lyrics
Loy Clingman, “(Those Ole) Uranium Blues,” 1955. lyrics
Tom Lehrer, “The Wild West is Where I Want to Be,” lyrics.
Petroleum
Johnny Cash, “Roughneck”
Jerry Reid, “Crude Oil Blues”
Randy Newman, “Burn On,” lyrics
Hydro
Woody Guthrie, “Grand Coulee Dam,” lyrics
Woody Guthrie, “Roll on Columbia,” lyrics
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, “TVA,” lyrics
The Everybody Fields, “TVA,” 2006.
Electricity
Woody Guthrie, “End of the Line,” lyrics
Schoolhouse Rock, “Electricity, Electricity,” 1979.
Transportation
Woody Guthrie, “Car Song,” lyrics
Kingston Trio, “MTA Song,” lyrics
Joni Mitchell, “Big Yellow Taxi,” lyrics
Pete Seeger, “Erie Canal,” lyrics
Malvina Reynolds, “Cement Octopus” 1964. lyrics
General
Marvin Gaye, “Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)” 1968
Compilations and Song Lists:
Tina Adcock, “Automobilities playlist,” Youtube
Leif Fredrickson, “Environment Songs,” Spotify
Tyler Priest, “Oil Songs,” Spotify