Octavia Neptune

Octavia Neptune writes and sings songs inspired by nature. They are performed and recorded with melody and harmony voices, piano, autoharp, bells and synthesizer.

In the early summer of 1978 I attended a convocation of spiritual leaders from around the world at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City. Chief Oren Lyons of the Onondaga Nation (Iroquois) spoke to a large crowd in the cathedral. He had recently attended a conference on human rights in Geneva. He said that there were leaders from all over the world, all speaking on behalf of human rights. Yet, there was no one there to speak for those who could not speak for themselves, the creatures of the air, the creatures of the sea, the two-leggeds, and the four-leggeds. He talked about the white man's policy of domination and destruction of the earth, and the poisoning and extermination of its inhabitants, not just of indigenous people, but of animals and plant life. Until white man's "civilized" practices of exploitation and exorbitant waste spread throughout the continent and the world, the indigenous peoples, the animals and all of life had lived together harmoniously and interdependently for thousands of years. Chief Lyons also spoke of the destruction of homelands for the wild animals. Chief Lyons said that we have no respect for our fellow creatures. We are in their territory, not the other way around. They are our brothers and sisters and we are responsible for their well-being. Oren Lyons said that in the Longhouse of the Onondaga, all legislation adopted takes into consideration the well-being of all for the seventh generation to come. The earth is home for all of us, for all living creatures, for generations to come. His words awoke a compassion in my heart for "our brothers and sisters," and sorrow for the destruction of their habitat, the trees that are cut down to make way for more grazing land, industry and development, and for the earth itself. The earth is being stripped and plundered of its forestlands and its minerals. The water is no longer fit to drink. The air is polluted. All life is degraded and imperiled. After meeting Chief Oren Lyons and taking his words into my heart, I began writing songs about animals. We must not continue to destroy this world, which is their world as well as ours. Our world is their world and we must live in harmony with them or we shall all perish.

There are no longer any live performances. Most of the music here was recorded in Daevid Allen's Banana Moon studio in Woodstock, New York. The CD album, "Songs from Another World" is a compilation of three recordings re-mastered from cassette tapes by Sjoerd Koppert of Tantrum Records.

The beauty of the earth, its atmosphere, its plants and stones, animals, birds, creatures that fly in the sky and swim in the water. My sorrow for their suffering, my joy for their freedom and my wonder at their vast intelligence and complete lack of self-importance.

The instruments on these recordings were an old 1926 Weber grand piano, an Oscar Schmidt 21-chord autoharp, and a synthesizer owned by Daevid Allen used in his studio in 1980. I also used a collection of small and large Tibetan bells from time to time.

Since these songs were written, the environment we live in is further endangered by fracking, oil spills, radiation and deforestation. Yet, there is hope. So many people are educating themselves and connecting with others, via the internet and groups and organizations, to save the animals, work towards cleaner air and water and bring to an end for once and for all the death grip of the big corporations that have been killing the earth. I recently watched a film, THRIVE: What On Earth Will It Take? created by the Thrive Movement and Foster Gamble, that is a must see. I hope everyone will watch it and be inspired.