MUSIC

Troubadour Dude With a Cause

Jack Johnson started out just adding music to surfer movies--15 million albums later, he's trying to save the planet.

By Jac Chebatoris | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Jan 25, 2008 | Updated: 9:36 a.m. ET Jan 25, 2008

« Return to Article

Discuss

Posted By: jsky @ 04/15/2008 2:45:12 AM

Comment: Jack Johnson is going to go into history as one of the most influential people of the 21st century. Not only is he revolutionizing music in terms of eco-friendly touring and recording, but his metaphoric lyrics are helping to raise consciousness to millions around the world. It wasn't until attending the University of California Santa Barbara that a friend of mine introduced me to Jack's lyrics. One of her environmental studies teachers displayed onto the projector the lyrics to songs such as "Rodeo Clowns" and "The News" every class period and discussed the meaning behind his lyrics. Once I learned that his music not only sounded amazing, but also inadvertently awakened the inner-consciousness of his fans it made me fall in love with his music. Jack, if you ever come across this comment I just want to say that I am following in your footsteps and trying to create music as powerful as you do. Keep up the great work and I hope to share a stage with you one day. Thank you for your own uniqueness. Justin Ratowsky. www.myspace.com/justinratowsky.
Posted By: Chrish08 @ 01/28/2008 1:00:22 PM

Comment: Jack Johnson???s environmental activism is to be applauded, but his comment regarding soy consumption is inaccurate.

Globally, 90% of the ever-increasing soybean harvest goes for animal feed, not to make soy milk and tofu (which mostly comes from organic, domestically grown soy beans. It takes up to 16 lbs. of feed to produce 1 lb. of animal flesh, which is an enormous waste of resources. Recently, Greenpeace slammed KFC and the chicken industry for using soy grown in the rain forest as chicken feed.

Besides destroying the lush rain forests of Central and South America, meat producers are also leveling millions of acres of vital, oxygen-rich US forests to grow crops fed to ???meat??? animals. That???s in addition to the millions of acres used for grazing alone.

Choose a veggie burger over meat and you???ll help the environment, animals and your health. For more information, visit http://www.goveg.com/environment-wastedResources-rainforest.asp.

Chris Holbein, Sr. Special Projects Coordinator
PETA