"Here on the Rio Grande" Earth Day 2026 Video and story behind the song

 


At the Rio Grande River overlook Sabal Palm Sanctuary Brownsville, Texas 2013

Please have a look at the video for "Here on the Rio Grande" HERE

You can listen to "Here on the Rio Grande" anywhere you stream music - you can find all the links on my LINKTREE

“Here on the Rio Grande” is my love letter to life along the river in deep South Texas.

So often, the story told about this region is a negative one. But the place I know is one of stunning natural beauty, of deep peace and profound connection, where bonds of land, culture, and family endure and transcend borders.

Sadly, my home is under constant strain, pressed by border wall construction, liquefied natural gas plant build-outs, the expansion of SpaceX, rapid population growth and development, and the looming promise of a massive oil refinery. Water is already scarce. Habitat loss is staggering, with less than five percent remaining. Endangered species who rely upon it face almost certain extinction. And now, many of my neighbors live in fear of being separated from their families and the only home they’ve ever known. This is the reality of life in the Rio Grande Valley in the 21st century, and it is heartbreaking.

So, on this Earth Day I invite you to sit along the banks of the river with me. For a moment, hold it with me in all its beauty and fragility. This is truly the place that makes me who I am, and it is certainly worth fighting for. 

Note: All of the places featured in the video are endangered in some way. Below are some links to a few of the places featured, news items, and also links to sites to keep you informed and ways you can help.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/laguna-atascosa

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/santa-ana

https://www.krgv.com/news/la-lomita-chapel-in-mission-faces-new-border-wall-construction-near-historic-site/

https://valleylandfund.com/salineno/

https://www.tpr.org/border-immigration/2026-02-11/new-border-wall-plans-threaten-rgv-nature-areas

https://defenders.org/blog/2024/10/terrible-irony-of-destroying-earth-search-of-planet-b-spacexs-impacts-boca-chica-0

https://www.texastribune.org/2025/04/07/texas-rio-grande-valley-forest/

https://progresstexas.org/blog/lng-industrialization-what-it-means-rgv

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04032026/border-barriers-threaten-rio-grande-habitat-texas/

https://sotxejn.org/2025/05/21/explosive-risk-causes-rgv-community-to-raise-the-alarm-about-the-safety-risks-of-lng-spacex/

https://thebarbedwire.com/2026/04/07/spacex-wildlife-refuge-texas/

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12032026/trump-brownsville-texas-oil-refinery/





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Finally...I am releasing my most requested song!

Image
Releasing worldwide May 23, 2025! Put on a Happy Face - your favorite Joel Brogon song is being released! By far my most requested song at gigs, "Put on a Happy Face"  is a lighthearted take on dealing with days that just don't go as planned.  I've already released it on Bandcamp - here's the link! https://joelbrogon.bandcamp.com/track/put-on-a-happy-face-acoustic-version  
Read more

Stories behind the songs: "Trust the Trees" Mini-EP

Image
" Trust the Trees" is a collection of three nature-based songs by Joel Brogon coming May 1st, 2024. Intentionally timed for release amidst Spring and the celebration of Earth Day, this project is meant to be an ode to our intrinsic bond with nature and a profound willingness to surrender to its guiding essence. Stories behind the songs: “Trust the Trees” The words “Trust the Trees" had been rolling around in my head for a while after a friend said them to me at a Winter Solstice gathering in 2021. I hadn’t really put much work into crafting a song around it but the thought of it was living in my head. Then, Uvalde (school shooting) happened. I was so shaken I couldn’t really even talk about it or much of anything else for several days and spent a lot of time sitting in silence in our back garden. Then one evening the line “we cannot be trusted, it’s time to trust the trees” came to me and the rest flowed from there. It was one of those rare occasions when a song was comp...
Read more

"Trust the Trees" OUT NOW!

Image
Trust the Trees Coming May 1st, 2024 "Trust the Trees" is a collection of three nature-based songs by Joel Brogon. Intentionally timed for release amidst Spring and the celebration of Earth Day, this project is meant to be an ode to our intrinsic bond with nature and a profound willingness to surrender to its guiding essence. In a world rife with conflict, injustice, and despair, the title track "Trust the Trees" urges us to seek solace and wisdom in the silent teachings of the natural world, especially when the human realm consistently fails to present any lasting, meaningful solutions. "Flowers on the Road" (released as a single on March 15, 2024) serves as a gentle reminder to cherish the small moments along our journey of self-discovery. In our quest to find our place in the world, we may come to realize that we belong exactly where we are. "I Can’t See the Moon'' was composed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and is ultimately a posi...
Read more