I wrote this song — an adaptation of a poignant song by John Denver almost 40 years ago — in September 2019 to be used with a Sacred Circle for Our Climate Liturgy. The liturgy (which I also wrote) was offered by a group in my congregation as a faith-based compliment to the Youth Climate Strike.

Please note: I’m still trying to get full permission to share this song adaptation. So while you can listen, you can’t reproduce this (yet). UPDATE (04/30/2021): Sadly, my request for an adaptation license for this song was denied by whoever holds the rights to John Denver’s music, so I’ve pulled the recording off this post. But check out my post about “As the Turn of the World Draws Near,” the song I wrote to replace this one in the liturgy.

In any case, these words are still haunting, poignant, inspiring:

There’s a Blue Sky

There’s a blue sky over all of us / a circle here below
The heavens and our hearts declare / this truth is what we know
And the earth, where we stand weary / is wearied now as well
For the air above is restless / with a tale of woe to tell

It’s about time we realize it / we’re all in this together
It’s about time we find out / it’s all of us or none
It’s about time we recognize it / these changes in the weather
It’s about time, it’s about changes and it’s about time

There’s a loon afloat and calling / a lynx afoot and still
As the pines sway at their highest / the frogs are chirping shrill
But the flora and the fauna fade / … before our very eyes
From our home to far off places / all nature groans and cries

It’s about time we start to see it / the Earth is our only home
It’s about time we start to face it / we can’t make it here all alone
It’s about time we start to listen / to the voices in the wind
It’s about time, it’s about changes and it’s about time

There are those beyond my fam’ly / both near and far away
And I know their hopes are real as mine / as well the prayers they pray
And the children, may they lead us / before our future dies
This time is our moment / in this moment may we rise.

It’s about time we begin it / to turn the world around
It’s about time we start to make it / the dream we’ve always known
It’s about time we start to live it / the family of Earth
It’s about time, it’s about changes and it’s about time
It’s about peace and it’s about plenty and it’s about time
It’s about you and me together and it’s about time

There’s a Blue Sky / It’s About Time
– original words (refrain) by John Denver © 1983; music by John Denver and Glen D. Hardin © 1983
– new verses (in italics) by David Weiss © 2019