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Troubadour Dude With a Cause

 

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So are you always so mellow?
I hit my hard pretty hard when I was like 17, and it knocked my brain a little loose and I don't have the possibility of anger anymore. I'm joking, but I find that when I get angry or hateful, I'm not able to accomplish the same things. Reading Joseph Campbell has helped--all of his stuff. He talks about "joyful participation"--it's easy to look at the world and get upset about the state of affairs. Instead, what you have to do is just accept things the way they are and try to always make them better and work toward a better place. But never think there's some grand solution. As soon as we get there, there are new problems that need to be fixed. It's ongoing work, and you have to keep working at it. Life's always been work, there's never been a time where it's just a utopian atmosphere.

Even for you--rock star, living in Hawaii?
Yeah, it's fun, but it still takes a lot of work, too. You get to a point where you don't have to worry about putting food on the table and those kinds of things, but then come bigger responsibilities of trying to use your time to support different things. I do feel a certain responsibility to try to support nonprofit organizations that are doing important things for the environment and putting my time into that, and that becomes my work. There's always work to be done--whether you're working on getting your own family together or working on trying to get communities together.

(Video courtesy of Sprig.com)

© 2008

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: brooke123444 @ 01/20/2009 6:30:11 PM

    What are Jack johnsons childrens names?

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

    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

    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

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