In 1972, Holly Near was one of the first women to create an independent record company, that promoted politically conscious artists. 30 years and 40 recordings later, she took the stage at a conference in California and delivered this remarkable song that still sends chills up the spine.
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At a Bioneers conference in 2003, Holly Near came on stage and shared: "A cellist in Sarajevo went out in the square, when the bombs were dropping, and started playing his cello. Someone from the press said to him, 'Why are you out her playing the cello when the bombs are exploding?' And he said, 'Why are they dropping the bombs when I'm playing the cello?'" Since 1972, Holly has not only led the way for outspoken women in the music world, but also worked for peace and multicultural consciousness. And on this day, at the Bioneers, she riveted the crowd with this remarkable song titled, "Planet Called Home'.
Can you call on your imagination
As if telling a myth to a child
Put in the fantastical, wonderful, magical
Add the romantic, the brave and the wild
Once upon a time there was a power
So great that no one could know its name
People tried to claim it and rule with it
Always such arrogance ended in shame
Thousands of years would pass in a moment
Hundreds of cultures would come and go
Each generation with a glorious calling
Even when they were too busy to know
Then one day after two millennia
Which after all was a small part of time
Hundreds of souls found their way out of nowhere
To be on earth at the threat of decline
Let's all go, they moved as one being
Even though each would arrive here alone
They promised to work in grace with each other
To brave the beautiful planet called home
There was no promise that they could save it
But how exciting to give it a try
If they each did one or two actions beautifully
Complex life on earth might not die
And so they arrive in a spectrum of colors
The population on earth did explode
Some threw themselves in front of disaster
Other slowly carried their load
Some adopted small girls from China
Some lived high in the branches of trees
Some died as martyrs, some lived as healers
Some bravely walked with a dreadful disease
They mingled among each class and culture
Not one of them could be identified
But together they altered just enough moments
To help the lost and the terrified
To step outside of our egos and our bodies
To know for once that we truly are one
Then quickly we would forget to remember
But that's OK, their job was well done
And earth went on for another millennium
Now it's time for my song to end
This magical story of hope and wonder
Invites you all to wake up and pretend to be
Fabulous creatures sent from the power
Souls that have come with a purpose in mind
To do one little thing that will alter the outcome
And maybe together we'll do it in time
Can you call on your imagination
As if telling a myth to a child
Put in the fantastical, wonderful, magical
Add the romantic, the brave and the wild
