"Nature"
1994 Australian release
Single by The Mutton Birds
from the album 'The Mutton Birds'
B-side	"Dominion Road"
Released	August 1992 (1992-08)
Format	Cassette single
Recorded	Link Recording Studio, Ponsonby, Auckland
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	3:39
Label	Bag Records/Virgin
Songwriter(s)	Wayne Mason
Producer(s)	The Mutton Birds

"Nature" is a 1969 single by New Zealand band The Fourmyula. The song peaked at number one in the New Zealand singles chart in 1970, won the APRA Silver Scroll songwriting award the same year, and in 2001 was voted the top song in APRA New Zealand's Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time. "Nature" was notably covered in 1992 by New Zealand rock band The Mutton Birds.

"Nature" was written by 19-year-old Wayne Mason, the keyboard player of The Fourmyula. Mason describes the song was being written, "in an hour on the front porch of my mum’s house, looking out on a beautiful day with trees and stuff. Bees were buzzing and my heart was fluttering."

The song was recorded in November 1969, along with other tracks that would make up the band's third album, Creation. When recording the folk-inspired song, the band used autoharp and improvised percussion by hitting a wooden organ lid, the sole of a shoe and a box of matches, rather than using a full drum kit. Peter Dawkins, the song's producer, suggested the song be used as the band's next single, however Mason did not believe it would be successful. The single was released in December 1969. While touring England in early 1970, the group learned that "Nature" was now a number one single in New Zealand, with sales of around 17,000.

The band never played the song live in the 1970s. As well as the live music amplification technology not suiting the acoustic instruments used in the song, The Fourmyula felt that New Zealand audiences were not ready to hear bands playing original music.

In 1970, as the writer of "Nature", Wayne Mason was awarded the APRA Silver Scroll, the prestigious award for excellence in New Zealand songwriting. In 2001 the song was voted by New Zealand members of Australasian Performing Right Association as the best New Zealand song of the 20th century. The song also appeared on the associated compilation CD Nature's Best.

In 1992, "Nature" was covered by New Zealand rock band The Mutton Birds. It was their second single and peaked at number four in the New Zealand singles chart. The song had a harder, more rock-focused sound than the original. The song won Single of the Year at the 1993 New Zealand music awards. The song featured backing vocals from Jan Hellriegel.

...
Wikipedia