My Friend, the Tree (1968)

ALEXANDRA (1942-1969)
In the song “MEIN FREUND, DER BAUM” from 1968, Alexandra describes her deep friendship with a tree that is felled.
Hidden within is a warning:
We must be aware that we need to treat the nature around us with more care.
If we want our children and grandchildren to still have something of nature in the future, we must treat nature more carefully.
We must not simply fell trees, drain ponds or clear meadows!
Without intact nature, our descendants have no future.

At the age of 27, the German singer Alexandra died in a fatal car accident. Her singing career lasted barely two years. After her death, she was posthumously awarded a gold record in 1978 and thus became a legendary singer. One of her great hits was “Mein Freund, der Baum”. In this song, Alexandra sings about the often ruthless urban planning where nature must pay the price for buildings “of glass and stone”. Alexandra explains her environmental message through “her friend”, the tree, which must make way for the grey walls of houses.