Pow-earth Pop

My favorite Earth Day anthem by far is What Are We Gonna Do by the power pop band Dramarama. The song hasn’t had much  staying power as a rallying cry for environmentalism, partly because it appears to get the date of Earth Day wrong, singing “It’s April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth Day,” when everybody knows Earth Day has always been on April 22.

I’ve suspected that lyric to be ironic rather than ignorant—the song’s narrator seems only remotely interested in the subject, and lately launches into an extraterrestrial doomsday theory. But the chorus “What are we doing here? And what are doing to Earth?” seems straightforward enough. Oh, except it’s not precisely clear whether John Easdale’s singing “earth” or “her” there.

Anyhow, Happy Earth Day. Or Her Day.  The rest of my family’s spending it at Sturbridge Village, while I’ll be celebrating by buying shrinkwrapped organic produce at the new Stop & Shop down the block.