Nature's Way by Spirit

Album: Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)

Charted: 111

Get the Sheet Music License This Song

This song is a reflection on mortality, and also a lament for the fate of the Earth, as nature is telling us that something is wrong. The song was written long before climate change became a hot topic, but even in 1970, some ecologically minded songwriters were concerned about Mother Earth.
This was written by Spirit's guitarist, Randy California. It was a very personal song, and in some ways, his maxim. The song deals with how nature guides you, and that's just what he did throughout his career. Spirit reached #25 US in 1969 with "I Got A Line On You," a track from their second album, but the group remained on the fringes of breakout success, in part because they turned down an invitation to play Woodstock.

California got heavy into LSD and became even more mercurial. In 1970, he was riding a horse on the streets of Topanga Canyon when he fell off and fractured his skull. The same year, he wrote "Nature's Way," which was included on Spirit's fourth album, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus. California left the group in 1972 and the band splintered soon after. Sardonicus found a following and eventually sold over a million copies, prompting an iff-fated band reunion in 1976. California died in 1997 when he drowned while swimming in Hawaii.
David Briggs, who was one of Neil Young's producers, produced this track. The back was dealing with a lot of internecine conflict at the time, and Briggs helped keep them focused and productive enough to complete the album.
Randy California recorded various versions of this song as a solo artist. In interviews, he sometimes talked about never being able to get it right.
The album is named after a 1963 horror movie called Dr. Sardonicus, about a man whose face is frozen in a creepy grin after he digs up his father's grave.
This song is unusual in that every line begins with the phrase "It's nature's way."

Comments: 4

Rex from FloridaSaw Spirit open up for Cream in Anaheim, California and was blown away....became an instant fan. Use to go see them when they played at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, California. Years later while living in Orlando, Spirit put on a free outdoor concert (Randy California and Ed Cassidy were the only original members). After they finished I had had a chance to talk to Randy and talk about the early shows that I had seen them. A few months later I learned about his drowning. He wrote and played some great tunes. Still a Spirit fan today.
Beefy Boy from Memphis Tr4head, climate change is the result of warming, but the effect on earth is sometimes, depending on time and place, cooling. Climate is a science, and we non-climatologists depend on experts in the field to tell us their findings, just as we depend on a doctor’s opinion about a body ailment. Scientists in the field say, overwhelmingly and unequivocally, that man-made climate change is a fact. Some scientists did believe the earth was cooling decades ago, but the models were incomplete. Some, though, thought the earth was warming, and this was and is correct. Randy C. was taking a stab at it with his pretty song, and he might well have used the word “freeze” because it rhymes with rhymes with “trees.” Were he here today, I’m pretty sure he’d not be a warming denier (I.e., Fox News idiot).
Tr4head from WncGood take, but I would correct on the "climate" issue. Back then we were concerned about COOLING, not WARMING, as the lyrics clearly show. So, this should tell all of us that mans views on climate has always been suspect and not incontrovertable facts.
Denise from SantafeDecades later this song still resonates on so many levels. It’s almost a blessing that the writer isn’t here to see what a mess this planet is. Nature’s Way illustrates the best of Spirit in this song about facing mortality and the dangers of man to the environment.

see more comments

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.

How The Beatles Crafted Killer ChorusesSong Writing

The author of Help! 100 Songwriting, Recording And Career Tips Used By The Beatles, explains how the group crafted their choruses so effectively.

Tom Waits Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Which Songs are About Drugs?Fact or Fiction

"25 or 6 to 4" to "Semi-Charmed Life" - see if you can spot the songs that are really about drugs.

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Tubular Bells (Part 1)Mike Oldfield

The Exorcist theme music is a portion of "Tubular Bells," a 25-minute song released by 19-year-old Mike Oldfield.

DarlinAvril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne said her Goodbye Lullaby track "Darlin" was "probably" the second song she ever wrote. The Canadian composed it when she was an unsigned 15-year-old living in Napanee, Ontario.

Year Of The CatAl Stewart

The title of Al Stewart's "Year Of The Cat" comes from Vietnamese astrology. The Year of the Cat comes every 12 Years: 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023...

Freedom Of ChoiceDevo

The Devo song "Freedom Of Choice" is about mindless consumerism - how people like to make frivolous choices, but otherwise want to be told what to do.

Sweetest ThingU2

Bono wrote "Sweetest Thing" for his wife to make up for working on her birthday.

"Cleveland Rocks" was written by an Englishman. Ian Hunter wrote the song after touring America in the late '70s and finding that Cleveland was by far the most receptive city to his brand of Glam Rock.