Pete Seeger was truly one of the greats. He died Monday at age 94. The NY Times posted this obituary, which is well worth a read.
Seeger never stopped believing that music could change the world. He called his banjo a “machine that surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.” I can’t tell you how much I love that.
At President Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, Seeger led the assembled crowd in a singing of Woody Guthrie’s great American anthem “This Land Is Your Land” – not just the happy verses that everyone knows, but all the verses, including a couple that are pretty uncomfortable (“a great big sign there said ‘private property’/but on the other side, it didn’t say nothin’/that side was made for you and me”). It’s one of my favorite political moments in years. Here it is. Rest in peace, Pete.
My roommate and I have been playing his songs all morning and singing along. His versions of union standbys ‘Which Side Are You On’, ‘Solidarity Forever’ along old Americana favorites like ‘John Browns Body’ and ‘We Shall Overcome’. So many other great songs to list here, but someone who never sold out his principles. No champagne socialist, he risked his life playing for integrated audiences in the South, denouncing McCarthy to his face, marching and getting arrested countless times. Goes to show you in our politicized present that someone outside of office with no greater aspirations than playing his banjo and fighting for justice could have such a huge impact.
n/t
Honestly, I’ve never understood what is uncomfortable or controversial about the lyrics. The basic message is that Americans come from all walks of life. There is demographic and geographic diversity. We can enjoy both all of our land both that which we own privately and the public square. I’ve often advocated for America the Beautiful to be our national anthem, but this song works too, and for many of the same reasons.
BTW, how much younger Obama looks!
I think you’re perhaps giving an overly non-confrontational reading to the “private property” verse. It’s pretty close to saying “you can ignore the sign.” And that’s consistent with both Woody Guthrie’s and Pete Seeger’s views at the time the song was written – remember that Seeger was in fact a card-carrying Communist for a while, and even after he left the party he continued to describe himself as “communist with a small ‘c’,” according to the NYT. Guthrie, too, was sympathetic with communist ideas, though he apparently never actually joined.
…on one side is of the sign is private property and labeled as such, but the other side that “didn’t say nothing” implied that side was public. It takes both sides of the sign to make America complete.
Well, I think you’re probably in a distinct minority on that interpretation. But, it’s a free country. 😉
Is another great Springsteen and Seeger collaboration. Haunting every time I hear it.
His wife is an amazing woman in her own right. She was a Japanese American interned in California. They were married at her internment camp during the war, and she was responsible for his comeback after McCarthy reconnecting him with the folk revival of the early 60s. They were together for over 70 years until her death last year.
I wonder if anyone else who, like me, lived through the turbulent times that gave birth to this song (and so many others of Pete Seeger) has a similar sense of wonder, grief, joy, and sadness at this clip — especially now, well into Mr. Obama’s second and final term.
The very fact of Pete Seeger performing this, in its full glory, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during this unforgettable inaugural, is itself breathtaking to me. Mr. Seeger was radical, edgy — he was out there. Some of the rough edges of this song have perhaps been sanded off by its familiarity, but this clip reminds me of how much more than a pleasant campfire ditty this song is. Pete Seeger performing at an INAUGURAL — just astonishing to this old fart.
I’m also struck by how impossibly high our hopes were at this pivotal inaugural. It was such an incredibly amazing moment, and in retrospect, so difficult to sustain. I’m not sure I will experience another inauguration of a new President quite like that one. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
A prophet has passed. May he rest in peace.
An Alinsky trained community organizer in the White House! And the first African American to occupy the office ever and the first liberal in a generation. The Times were a changing but the man wasn’t up to the task. It’s a shame Pete didn’t live to see his fights won, but all the more reason for us to pick up the baton and keep fighting
as a college student around 1969. It was when he was touring, raising money for the Hudson River sloop he was also famous for trying to clean the river . It was sponsored by SMTI (the ancestor of today’s UMass Dartmouth) as a fundraiser for the CollegeNow program. The concert was outstanding, and it must be remembered that this was deep in the anti Vietnam War era, and New Bedford had a strong Quaker (Friends) background. PBS also ran a couple of good specials about Pete. All good things must come to an end.
On the couples anti-nuclear activism in Seabrook
or perhaps interrogation is a better word. What a brave, principled man he was. I guess it says something that the names “Tavenner” and “Walter” mean nothing today, whereas Seeger is the one who gets this nice series of memories and tributes on BMG.
The link to Digby didn’t go thru; let me try again, in case anyone’s interested.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com.br/2014/01/a-tiny-historical-note-about-government.html