“Planet Earth, I love you”

“Nature… her magic is infinitely lavish and in return all we have to do is appreciate it.” Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson’s Earth Song and the Cry of the Planet

I remember hearing Earth Song for the first time when I was just a little girl. Even then, something about it stirred something deep inside me. The raw, wordless cries at the heart of the song felt as if they were coming directly from the Earth itself. It was as though nature was speaking through Michael, pleading with us to listen, to care. I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but I could feel it. I still do.

Climate change is no longer a distant warning, it’s here. It’s breaking down the Earth’s life-support systems, threatening the future of our planet and everything on it. We see it in the wildfires that consume entire forests, in the floods that wash away homes, in the scorching heatwaves that stretch beyond what we thought possible. We see it in rising seas, shifting seasons, lost biodiversity, and deepening global inequality. The Earth is changing, and not for the better.

The call to action has never been more urgent.

A Song for the Planet

Michael Jackson understood this. Long before climate change became the global emergency it is today, he was using his voice to speak for the planet. Earth Song, the fifth track on his HIStory album, stands as one of his most powerful and emotionally charged pieces of art.

In the opening lines, he asks a series of haunting questions:

What have we done to the world?

Look what we’ve done

What about all the peace

That you pledge your only son?

He contrasts the beauty of the Earth with the destruction humans have caused, reminding us of what’s been lost and what might still be saved.

“I remember writing Earth Song in a hotel room in Austria,” Michael once said. “I was feeling so much pain and suffering from the plight of the planet. For me, this is Earth’s song, because I believe nature is trying so hard to compensate for man’s mismanagement. With the ecological imbalance and the environmental problems, I think the Earth feels the pain… and she has wounds.”

And she does.

But Earth Song is not only a lament, it is a spiritual cry, a protest, a prayer. Through it, Michael channels both the despair of destruction and the hope of healing. His voice moves through extremes of human emotion, tenderness, rage, grief, and power. He becomes the Earth itself, embodying its pain and resilience.

Healing Through Hope

The short film that accompanies the song takes that message even further. We see scorched forests, wounded animals, starving children, collapsing ecosystems. But then something shifts. Michael falls to his knees, fists digging into the soil in anguish. And time begins to reverse. Trees regrow. Skies clear. People are reunited. It’s as though the Earth, given enough love, could begin to heal.

That vision, that reversal, that hope, is perhaps the most powerful message of all.

Michael never stood apart from the pain of the world. He traveled it. He witnessed its sorrow firsthand, held dying children, walked through poverty and illness, listened to stories of suffering. And then, he went out and gave everything he had to make it better. He didn’t just write about the world, he showed up for it, personally. He gave his music, his money, his time, his body, his soul.

His Earth Song live performances were transcendent. On stage, he became the message, raised high on a cherry-picker, stretched out over a sea of faces, crying out “What about us?” as war, pollution, and violence swirled below him. In one iconic performance, a tank rolled onstage with an armed soldier. Michael stood in its path, vulnerable, defiant, and unyielding. It wasn’t just theatre. It was truth. It was prophecy.

And still, he always brought the message back to us, our shared responsibility, our deep interconnection, and our power to change.

Michael’s gift was turning pain into purpose. His creative mission was grounded in the belief that, even in destruction, beauty and humanity could survive. That love was still possible. That change was still possible.

And isn’t that exactly the message we need today?

In a world overwhelmed by environmental collapse, Michael’s Earth Song echoes louder than ever. It’s more than a song, it’s a mirror, a cry, a plea, and a vision.

Michael ended his performances not with despair, but with hope. A vision of what the world could be, if we choose to listen. If we choose to care. If we choose to act.

"I realised that nothing would finally save my life on Earth but trust in life itself, in its power to heal, in its ability to survive our mistakes and welcome us back when we learn to correct those mistakes." Michael Jackson in his book Dancing The Dream.

Michael expressed that love more tenderly than ever in his poem Planet Earth. It deserves to be read, not just with our minds, but with our hearts:

"Planet Earth, my home, my place

A capricious anomaly in the sea of space

Planet Earth, are you just

Floating by, a cloud of dust

A minor globe, about to bust

A piece of metal bound to rust

A speck of matter in a mindless void

A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid

Cold as a rock without a hue

Held together with a bit of glue

Something tells me this isn't true

You are my sweetheart soft and blue

Do you care?

Have you a part?

In the deepest emotions of my own heart

Tender with breezes caressing and whole

Alive with music, haunting my soul

In my veins I've felt the mystery

Of corridors of time, books of history

Life songs of ages throbbing in my blood

Have danced the rhythm of the tide and flood

Your misty clouds, your electric storm

Were turbulent tempests in my own form

I've licked the salt, the bitter, the sweet

Of every encounter, of passion, of heat

Your riotous color, your fragrance, your taste

Have thrilled my senses beyond all haste

In your beauty, I've known the how

Of timeless bliss, this moment of now

Planet Earth are you just floating by, a cloud of dust

A minor globe, about to bust

A piece of metal bound to rust

A speck of matter in a mindless void

A lonely spaceship, a large asteroid

Cold as a rock without a hue

Held together with a bit of glue

Something tells me this isn't true

You are my sweetheart gentle and blue

Do you care?

Have you a part?

In the deepest emotions of my own heart

Tender with breezes caressing and whole

Alive with music, haunting my soul

Planet Earth, gentle and blue

With all my heart, I love you"

The Message Lives On in Us

Michael's voice may be gone, but his message remains. His love for the Planet lives on, in Earth Song, in his poetry, in his actions, and now, it must live on in us.

So, I ask you:

What about our Earth?

Do you care?

Have you a part?

If you do, the time to act is now. For our home. For each other. For the children of tomorrow.

Earth Song was the last song Michael performed on June 24, 2009, during rehearsals for the This Is It tour, just a few hours before he left this world.

There’s something deeply moving in thinking that this was his final performance. As if it were his goodbye to us all, telling us to look after our planet.

“Planet Earth, gentle and blue… With all my heart, I love you.”

Thank you, Michael