Evergreen Everblue

Published Feb 15, 2022, 10:00 AM

What happens when Raffi takes a break from making children’s music and rolls out a protest album for adults? 

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In Raffie learned something that shocked him. He'd gotten to hear talk about beluga whales at the Science Center in Toronto. Raphie had loved these whales since he first saw one named Kavana at an aquarium a decade earlier. Kavna inspired him to write his most famous song, Baby Beluga, Baby Deep Bluega in the deep Blue Sea swims so wild, then you swim so keavn. Rafie wrote it at a time when they Save the Whales movement was just starting. Baby Luga, Baby Luga is the water. People don't want to hear anger or sadness or frustration at how things may have got to They want to hear and they are inspired by the love in our hearts, especially the love for our young. And I thought, instead of writing a lament, I would write a beauty of a love song for a magnificent creature, the bluga whale. You know what you love, you care about, and you want to protect. But at the Science Center, Ralfie learned that beluga whales were dying at an alarming rate. Their legion covered bodies were washing up on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, just two hundred miles from Toronto. Industrial pollution had turned the whales into hazardous waste sites and left them with cancer. Ralfie was devastated. If this was happening to the Beluga whales, the very animal he made famous in his song, what were all these toxins doing to the children living near the river. He wasn't sure if he could ever sing Baby Beluga again. You know, it was one thing to think about children with love and to sing loving songs with them and for them. But if the world that we all live in, if our children's future is compromised unless we change our ways, well what's the point of just singing? I said to myself. I mean, songs and music are great, but they only go so far. You need to take care of the theater in which we are singing. If you will right the home theater, Raffie began to question everything, his identity, his relationships, the world. I'm Chris Garcia and this is Finding Raffie, a ten part series from My Heart Radio and Fatherly in partnership with Rococo Punch, about the life, the philosophy, and the work of Raffie, the man behind the music. By the late eighties, Raffie was tired and burnt out. He'd been touring NonStop. His creativity felt limited, and he was angry and despairing. He needed a break from playing to young children, so he made a pretty big decision that stunned everyone around him. He decided to take a year off, no concerts, no touring. Instead, Ralphie spent a lot of time learning about the world, and he found himself reading about one environmental disaster after another. Acid rain are growing hole in the ozone layer, the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. This was also when he discovered the radio series It's a Matter of Survival, which might sound familiar. It was made by his good friend David Suzuki, and it had a huge impact on Raffie. It said that unless we as a species collectively acted in a timely manner to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we risked they're reaching a point where the warming is irreversible, and that would be catastrophic. So when I heard the word irreversible, I had a major meltdown within myself because that's the appropriate response. Actually, I mean, that's major fear. Oh my god, it would get so bad that we couldn't do anything about it. That ought to scare you to the core, and it did me. Meanwhile, Raffie and his wife deb split up. He moved out of the house they shared and found a bachelor pad, and he returned to an earlier hobby of his painting. In his autobiography, Raffi wrote that he filled the walls with his own art, oil pastels of abstract images and female nudes. He was kind of spreading his wings. Well. There was a year of introspection and a year of a year that lead to new songs. I wrote, Our dear dear Mother, I get teary when I hear our dear dear mother, Daily provider, Earth be your name. The time has come to honor you, to know you, and to show our love. Our dear dear mother, Daily provide be your name. The time has come to an to know you and to show our love. Raffie emerged from his sabbatical with a focused mission to protect the planet, and he had a new album, Evergreen, Ever Blue. It was his wake up call to the destruction of the Earth. It was a big shift for Raffy. His earlier children's songs had hinted at environmentalism, songs like all I Really Need and thanks a lot. But now Ralf he had an entire album devoted to the planet and the song is called Voices from the Jungle Say Never. As it was beginning, You've got this time, Ralph he wanted to connect with adults and teens, the people he felt could stop climate change, not his typical fans toddlers who struggled to sit quietly through his performances. So Ralph, he said, his sights on MTV music videos were all the rage. They still are in some ways, but that's what you required and in order to for people to get to, you know, see your your song. The reason I tried it was I felt so passionate about this planet that needed all of us too. You know it's it's up to you, It's up to me, so called. At the same time, I felt it wasn't five year old's job to help the Amazon stay intact. You know, it's up to me. It's up RAPHI filmed the music video for Evergreen, Ever Blue and an old growth forest on Vancouver Island. In it, he sings and plays guitar beneath the giant canopies of Douglas furs and Sita spruce. He has a group of people singing with him, young environmentalists, tribal members, and the Raging Granny's, a group of grandmother activists. It kind of looks like a nature documentary, kind of like a music video made for PBS. There are shots of waterfalls and sunlit dappled leaves. At one point, Raffie hugs a moss covered tree and passes around a crystal ball. He says it was a metaphor for the future of the planet being in human hands. And then the video takes a turn and cuts to Raffie standing in a barren field in front of a pile of tree stumps. When we made the Evergreen, Ever Blue video, I was taken to some cleer cutting sites just to experience what a clear cut forest is like. It feels like you're standing in death. Clear Cuts are horrible and a really stupid idea of a bottom line money worshiping culture. That's why I was so passionate in making the Evergreen, Ever Blue album, trying something new for you know, slightly older kids audience. You know, I was basically jumping through hoops to try and make a difference. In true Raffie style, he thought about every detail on his new album Whenever Green, Ever Blue is released in nine record stores are transitioning from selling vinyl to selling CDs, and the easiest way to do that was to put CDs in long boxes, those tall, skinny boxes that are about twice the size of a CD. That's so they could be displayed in the existing record bins. The problem was that meant CDs came with a ton of unnecessary packaging. Ralphie put his foot down. He was one of the first artists to refuse to sell his music in wasteful packaging, but it cost him. Some record stores wouldn't carry his album, and that didn't go according to the plan. In the end, Evergreen, Ever Blue was far from a smash hit. MTV never aired his music videos, and radio stations didn't give the album much play. Ralphie said he heard from angry parents who were upset that the music wasn't appropriate for children. I was too well known as a children's artists to be played on adult music video stations. It wasn't possible for that children's icon, as people considered me at the time, two then change his audience. It just wasn't possible. This was all a crazy irony to Raffie. In his autobiography, he questioned how kids who grew up on his music could watch quote, junk sex footage and macho rap, but not his ecology music video. Rafy was frustrated and demoralized. He was reading the news and listening to dire warnings by scientists about the damaged humans were doing to the planet. He felt there was no time to wait. Evergreen, Ever Blue was his immediate response to climate change. Why didn't his fans understand, like, how much clearer doesn't have to be a warning to humanity. It's like it's like some sci fi movie where you had some alien ship lands and there's this warning to humanity, like Hello. Every year, this Union of Concerned Science would come out with another version of this warning. Well, what warning will we need next to convince us? What will it take? Do we love enough? That's my question. I'm still trying to picture a Raffi music video on MTV in the early nineties. Evergreen, Ever Blue on rotation with Nirvana smells like teen Spirit or Can't Touch This by mc hammer. Look, I give him credit for trying, but I'm thinking maybe he underestimated how hard it would be to transform his image and get his message out, and Evergreen ever Blue misses everything I love about Raffie. In his earlier stuff, he was playful and genuine. It was infectious because he was having fun. If Baby Bluego was candy, this was vegetables. Here's what I mean. Listen to the ending of Willoughby Wallaby Wou from single Songs for the Very Young Willoughby Wallaby, when an elephant set on Ken and Willoughby Wallaby Whaffy set on RAFFI now compare that to we Are Not Alone from Evergreen Ever Blue. We're crying shut the spread out amicas. We're crying shut clear haze. We're saying no more? Can we be that it's safe to hide our heads in the sand to understand the Oh It just doesn't sound like Raffie. He's trying so hard, but his words and his whole vibe feel forced, like he's playing a character. It cool it who this planet down? We can't give it up. WI rap with Christophe more we get to get done. Overall, the album feels a little lost. There's pop music mixed with folk and reggae, but unlike his earlier music, this doesn't sound cohesive. It sort of feels like he's searching for something, maybe even for himself. Now, I am not a music critic, and I respect what raf He was trying to do. He was calling out the harsh realities of climate change. He was done singing about happy blooga whales because that didn't get people to protect them. We are literally breathing, drinking, and eating the nourishment that our mother provides. So do we really not understand connection between Mother Earth and us her children? Do we really not understand are very dependents on the air, water, soil quality of this beautiful planet that we call home. Raphe's fans weren't the only ones confused by Evergreen Ever Blue. The press didn't understand his new direction either, and I'll admit the newspaper articles were rough. In The Washington Post ran a piece called Rafe's Growing Pains. The reporter wrote, the new Raffie writes angry music for adults now. Time magazine questioned why the most popular children singer abandoned his audience. Evergreen ever Blue, the magazine said, was not merely inappropriate for toddlers. It is a warning screech of apocalypse that had to hurt Rafie devoted a big chunk of his autobiography to these articles. How he felt the media dismissed his environmental awakening. He says he was chopped up to being a madman or having a midlife crisis. Adopting an environmental message and appealing to an older audience was a big gamble. Dorian Lynskey is the author of thirty three Revolutions per Minute, a history of protest songs. Dorian reminded me about the Dixie Chicks, or the Chicks as they're now known, and what can happen when an audience doesn't go along with an artist transformation. So a really extreme example which which interests me, is in two thousands three when Natalie Maines in the Dixie Chicks criticize the Iraq War and George Bush on stage in London instead, I'm ashamed President the United States and Texas got a huge cheer in the room, and that line was quoted in a review which got picked up by talk radio and Fox News and so on, and they became demonized by conservatives but also by the country scene, and they were pulled off the radio, and that these kind of ceremonial you know, smashing of their c d s. They were viciously attacked, and I think that's an example of what happens where the audience and your scene violently reacts to your politics. I don't think people are reacting to Raphae's politics. I think they just didn't like his new vibe. He literally changed everything that people loved about him. Still, it's risky for an artist to release protest music. Dorian says it's successful when audiences are also feeling upset or uneasy, like when the economy is tanking or the world's on the brink of a nuclear war. The problem is Raphie released Evergreen, ever Blue in the economy is fairly stable. They were not worried that democracy itself is under threats, and you know, the planet is burning. It's a very optimistic time, and so to the end of apartheid, and it's the end of the Cold War. It's not really a time of crisis when people are looking for crisis art. Even with the critical reviews and the angry feedback from fans, Raphi was undaunted. He felt the world was heading in the wrong direction. In he traveled to the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de jann Arrow with environmentalists. David's is Juki and his daughter seven. Seven was twelve years old at the time, and gave a speech to a packed audience, and by the time her five or seven minute talk was done, she got a standing ovation, and al Gore walked all the way over to where seven was sitting, reached out his hand, he said, seven, that's the best speech I've heard all week. Wow. What was it about this speech that had caused such a stare and had such an impact on these adults? She said, I came five thousand miles to tell you, adults, you must change your ways. She said. You say you love us, and I challenge you, please show us, please reflect that love. She said, in your choices. Pretty powerful, I challenge you, she said, reminiscent of Greta Turnberg today, Ye who's challenging adults to not get in the way of the healthy future that she and all the world's children, all of us deserve. Pretty potent. That is exactly what Severn called it. Suzuki said at the age of twelve, realizing the hypocrisy of adults was something Raffie could relate to. From his own childhood, he felt like his parents would tell him one thing, but then do the opposite. He grew up feeling like he couldn't trust them to tell him the truth. And there was something else. Severn was just twelve years old, and there she was speaking to the United Nations. She was supported and empowered by her parents. She had everything Raffi wanted as a kid to be seen and heard for who she was. Maybe finally, as an adult he could be too. You know, not a lot of people were talking about climate at that time that had such a platform as him. The Two Earth Summit and Rio had a big impact on Raffie. He soaked up as much as he could. He rubbed elbows with then Senator Al Gore, and he was blown away by conservationist Jacques Cousteau's warnings about the degradation of the oceans. But it was severn callis Suzuki speech that really resonated with Raffie. He was awed by the power of a child's voice. Maybe kids could be the change makers. After all, Rafie left Rio vowing to support these young activists. His legacy is one that I certainly relate to. Again, this idea that we're all in this together and we all need to protect the world. Philippe Cousto is Jacques Cousteau's grandson, and he's following in his family's footsteps as a filmmaker, author, and environmental activist. You probably know this, but Philippe's grandfather, Jacques was a badass. He helped invent scuba diving. His films about marine life sparked an understanding of what's deep in the oceans and why we have to protect them. He was a huge inspiration to Raffie too, And my grandfather always said, you know, before we can talk about conservation, we have to talk about education. We have to talk about how we reach beyond the converted and start to provide opportunities for young people to engage in Any social movement in history, if it's successful, it's successful because it's driven by a younger generation working with young people and supporting and nurturing their ambitions. That's something both Philippe and Raphy share. In two thousand five, Philip co founded Earth Echo International. It's an organization that works with kids to inspire environmental activism. What I see in young people all the time is they don't know the meaning of the word no. Young people have this and this wondrous ability to cut through the bs and get to the root of the problem and question the very nature of why things are the way they are and how they work. And that's such just a wondrous, inspiring attribute that young people have, that that we as adults could learn a lot from. Instead of getting caught up in what isn't possible, we should spend a lot more time being caught up in what is possible. Philip says that sometimes as adults, we just have to get out of the way. We have worked with young people who helped to draft legislation in South Florida to require solar panels to be built on new buildings, and it passed. People forget that it was a young girl, probably not much old and twelve and thirteen years old, that petitioned Maine, the state of Maine, to ban styrofoam in fast food, particularly McDonald's take out. It passed the legislature because of her fearsome advocacy for this, and then McDonald's was like, well, we're not just going to create a separate container for one state, and they eliminated star foam from their entire takeout chain. One light, one sun one sun lighting everyone. How do we help them recognize that they can be powerful. I think that the despondency, the sadness, and the despair that happens for so many people is when you've one feels like one doesn't have an impact, one has no power, one has no agency in the world. And that's not true. I think all of us can feel sad and despairing at times, But dispairreer is not an energy to give ourselves over too. We feel it, we noted, and we've set it aside because we've got work to do. Our children need us to do the work. And if we can show people around the world why nature is valuable to their lives, then they're going to protect it in their own enlightened self interest, which is the best thing we can do. This is sang. He runs an organization called Conservation International. They do a lot to protect the earth, like working with communities on sustainable farming practices and planting trees to counter deforestation. For Jin, it all starts with placing a value on nature, something he learned early on growing up in Sri Lanka. When I was born, my grandmother took me to see an astrologer and the astrologer told me that, um, I told my grandmother that I would die by drowning, so they kept me out of the water. They didn't want me to swim in the ocean. In fact, I wasn't even allowed to take a bath. They would literally pour you know, cups of water over my head. Wow. Right, And it made some sense, some logical sense. My grandmother loved me, and she was very aware of how little time I had, and so what she wanted to do. She wanted to protect me. But when Sangin was nine, his mother secretly taught him how to swim. My mother isn't any great swimming, but she taught me how to swimming. Had changed my life. And since then, I've literally gone diving in almost every ocean on the planet, from the Arctic to you know, raja Ampat, Indonesia to the Solomon Islands the coast of California. Right. And I wondered often like why my mom broke with tradition and took that risk and taught me how to swim in it? And what I can think about that is that my my grandmother loved me, and so I wanted to protect me. My mother loved me, but she also valued my life. She started investing in me, and that's the guiding kind of star that has always guided my work and my career. So I know, I hate to say it this way, but I don't think love alone is enough to actually make anything stick. You also have to value it if it's going to be sticky over the long period of time. Working to protect the planet isn't Sandon's only job. He's a new dad like me, with a little daughter at home. How do you plan to talk to her about climate change when you have a child. I think that you want to protect this kid. We do owe it to that next generation not to completely be so engulfed in our own doom and gloom they we forget the beauty and wonder and the resilience that this planet has, And don't forget reinforcements on the way. You know, when I look at my daughter, when I look at kids in school, I am blown away by the level of intelligence, sophistication, tech, savvinus care that they have. So I do have some faith that this next generation is going to be the rescue generation. I just don't want to spoil it so much that she can't get to also enjoy it. There's a fine balance between being a savior and savoring something, and you've got to do a bit of both. Him, Raffie, how are you? I'm good? How are you? Can you see me? Awesome? I called Raffie one morning last fall. I'd read about the historic rains that we're forcing people from their homes not far from him in Canada. How's everything with the floods up there? Are Are you safe? Um? I've been Um, I've reading about it and following along. Is everything okay up there? Thank you? It's fine for me. I'm one of the lucky ones. Mother Nature's fury um has been devastating for communities in my province of British Columbia. There's no question that the climate emergency were in is exacerbating and bringing about these extreme weather conditions and will continue to do so. I mean, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get how perilous the situation is and that bold climate action is the only way forward to address it. Rafie was tired. The floods arrived just a few months after extreme heat and wildfires had ravaged the region. It's been over thirty years since he released Evergreen, Ever Blue, and not much has changed. Raphe's worries haven't changed either. What does your daughter Sonny need in this world? She needs, uh, intact, ancient forests for many, many reasons, including their beauty. I mean, it's astonishing to me that we have to fight for the protection of beauty and these trees that soak up carbon. That's what we want, We need these people doing carbon offsets plant trees. How about keeping the ones we already have, like the giant ones. You know, Sorry, I just went on a bit of a runt there. No, I completely understand, and I appreciate the passion. Sometimes I will um think about the future and the present moment and sunny and what kind of world she's going to live in. And sometimes I just feel like I lose hope, or I'll stay up an extra hour at night tossing and turning. Do you ever feel like that we have seen tragic escalation of summer wildfires, of enormous intensity, of precedented wake up people, wake up to this climate threat. It's our children, the world we love, all of this, all of this. Raffie has always been open to reinvention, so maybe it's not a surprise that he'd circle back to his young fans and to the idea of respect, that core value that launched his career in the first place, because Ralphie was discovering that maybe there was a link between protecting the planet and how we raise our kids. Next time on Finding Raffie, this philosophy which essentially woke me up from a sound sleep with those two words sort of suspended in the air, child honoring. I knew in that luminous moment that I was being given something that would be the work of the rest of my life. Finding Raffie is a production of My Heart Radio and Fatherly in partnership with Rococo Punch. It's produced by Catherine Fenalosa, Meredith Hannig, and James Trout. Production assistance from Charlotte Livingston. Alex French is our story consultant. Our senior producer is Andrea Swahe Emily Foreman is our editor. Fact checking by Andrea Lopez Crusado. Raphae's music is courtesy of Troubadour Music Special thanks to Kim Layton at Troubadour. Our executive producers are Jessica Albert and John Parotti at Rococo Punch, Ty Trimble, Mike Rothman and Jeff Eisenman at Fatherly and Me Chris Garcia, thank you for listening. We're just living and grooving with one another. You know, it's just this is real life, folks. This ain't just like just somethings I'm concerned about. This is real life.

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Finding Raffi

Raffi Cavoukian is a magical musician. His songs, like “Baby Beluga” and “Down by the Bay,” have wor 
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