Pete Seeger died last night in New York at the age of 94. Let's take a few minutes for some songs and a good cry, and one more look at this beautiful portrait by Michael D’Antuono. Musically, there aren't any bad places to start, so let's begin with "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," the song that
Don't forget: if Bobby Kennedy had not been assassinated in spring 1968, he'd almost certainly have won the election that fall, and the chances are we'd have declared victory and pulled out within a year.
Bobby was the candidate able to run on an end-the-war-now platform without appearing beholden to the more radical voices of the left. McCarthy couldn't do it; Humphrey wouldn't try.
Nixon&#039;s 5 additional years of war were fought in the teeth of fierce opposition in both the streets and Congress, but never quite enough to force <strike>Kissinger</strike> Nixon to withdraw. We had to wait til we had essentially lost the war first.
This morning I was remembering a fall day in the sixties - I was maybe 11 or 12 - when my mom opened the paper at breakfast, and said, &quot;Oh, Woody died.&quot;
From the timbre of her voice I thought he must have been a close friend. But she and my dad reminded me that all the songs we sang on car trips, around campfires, and yes on marches and such, or standing in the cold outside precincts as poll watchers, those were all Woody&#039;s songs.
I saw Woody live just once, as a very small child in Chicago. He played what was billed as a children&#039;s concert and consisted entirely of union songs and civil rights songs, so that the kids became bored and restless (but my parents laughed and laughed).
&quot;But it&#039;s OK,&quot; they said that morning. &quot;We still have Pete.&quot; And we did, and we do. I am so very very glad that both my parents and Pete all lived long enough to see Barack Obama elected.
As Arlo is fond of pointing out, Pete sings the song twice: once in front of the song, and once with the song, singing along with us.
When Pete was hauled in front of HUAC in the fifties, he refused to respond to questions (he took the First, not the Fifth). Instead, he tried to sing a song, but the committee said it was inappropriate.
<i>President Obama is praising music icon Pete Seeger, saying that &quot;America&#039;s tuning fork&quot; believed in &quot;the power of song&quot; to help bring social change.
&quot;But more importantly, he believed in the power of community -- to stand up for what&#039;s right, speak out against what&#039;s wrong, and move this country closer to the America he knew we could be,&quot; Obama said of Seeger in a written statement.</i>
Here was a man who constantly fought for the betterment of mankind and if you were to ask your typical conservative of what they thought of him you would only hear that he was a communist.
Don&#039;t forget: if Bobby Kennedy had not been assassinated in spring 1968, he&#039;d almost certainly have won the election that fall, and the chances are we&#039;d have declared victory and pulled out within a year.
Bobby was the candidate able to run on an end-the-war-now platform without appearing beholden to the more radical voices of the left. McCarthy couldn&#039;t do it; Humphrey wouldn&#039;t try.
Nixon&#039;s 5 additional years of war were fought in the teeth of fierce opposition in both the streets and Congress, but never quite enough to force <strike>Kissinger</strike> Nixon to withdraw. We had to wait til we had essentially lost the war first.
$10 says Barry will give him a shoutout.
Bastards bastards bastards bastards. The anger never goes away.
But one of the things Pete taught me, very young, was that righteous anger, well-directed, can move mountains.
I hope he does. If he would sing a few stanzas it would be awesome. &#039;Where have all the flowers gone . . .&quot;.
This morning I was remembering a fall day in the sixties - I was maybe 11 or 12 - when my mom opened the paper at breakfast, and said, &quot;Oh, Woody died.&quot;
From the timbre of her voice I thought he must have been a close friend. But she and my dad reminded me that all the songs we sang on car trips, around campfires, and yes on marches and such, or standing in the cold outside precincts as poll watchers, those were all Woody&#039;s songs.
I saw Woody live just once, as a very small child in Chicago. He played what was billed as a children&#039;s concert and consisted entirely of union songs and civil rights songs, so that the kids became bored and restless (but my parents laughed and laughed).
&quot;But it&#039;s OK,&quot; they said that morning. &quot;We still have Pete.&quot; And we did, and we do. I am so very very glad that both my parents and Pete all lived long enough to see Barack Obama elected.
As Arlo is fond of pointing out, Pete sings the song twice: once in front of the song, and once with the song, singing along with us.
When Pete was hauled in front of HUAC in the fifties, he refused to respond to questions (he took the First, not the Fifth). Instead, he tried to sing a song, but the committee said it was inappropriate.
<i>President Obama is praising music icon Pete Seeger, saying that &quot;America&#039;s tuning fork&quot; believed in &quot;the power of song&quot; to help bring social change.
&quot;But more importantly, he believed in the power of community -- to stand up for what&#039;s right, speak out against what&#039;s wrong, and move this country closer to the America he knew we could be,&quot; Obama said of Seeger in a written statement.</i>
And our family got to see <i>Up With People</i> in a Sunday worship service in &#039;67 in Yellowstone. Can we trade childhoods?
Why not both? Anybody know the unexpurgated verses to <i>Buffalo Gals</i>?
He was someone that should have been a guest at the State of the Union. He did a hell of a lot to improve it.
Or to put him in the GOP pantheon of people we admire, now that they can&#039;t speak up anymore, next to MLK and Mandela.
Here was a man who constantly fought for the betterment of mankind and if you were to ask your typical conservative of what they thought of him you would only hear that he was a communist.
RIP Pete
RIP Pete and thanks for covering this Dok