Pete Seeger a Life of Struggle and Song

7/25/2019 Pete Seeger a Life of Struggle and Song

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Pete Seeger a Life of Struggle and Song.

By Gearóid Ó Loingsigh.

The last great troubadour of the 20th century has passed away. Pete Seeger died on anuary

2!th after a short illness at the age of "#. $e beca%e& during his lifeti%e& a li'ing legendand li(e %ost legends& e'en their ene%ies lay clai% to the% in death.

Seeger was born into a well to do fa%ily& far re%o'ed econo%ically fro% the wor(ing classor s%all far%ers he would i%%ortalise in %usic and song and whose causes he %ade hisown. $is father studied at $ar'ard )ni'ersity and Pete Seeger also attended $ar'ard for awhile& where he studied alongside *+. Seeger dropped out of $ar'ard after a short period.$owe'er& whilst their he ,oined the -o%%unist Partys youth wing. $e re%ained a%e%ber up till the late /"#0s. $e would later brea( with Stalinis%& e'en going as far as tota(e part in an e'ent in support of Solidarnosc in /"/.

Seeger& de'eloped a nu%ber of %usical contacts at the ti%e& a%ongst the% 1lan Lo%a&who had tra'elled the )S recording popular %usic and had e'en gone fro% one ,ail toanother in the south recording prisoners singing. 3t was there Lo%a ca%e across $uddieLeadbetter& a.(.a. Leadbelly whose songs Seeger would record and turn into hits. Seeger also beca%e friends with 4oody Guthrie at the ti%e. Li(e Guthrie he would tra'el aroundthe country singing for union wor(ers& %igrant labourers and others lending his %usic totheir struggles and pic(ing up and popularising songs along the way. 5any of the great%usicians of the 20th century& did the sa%e& not ,ust Seeger and Guthrie& but singers li(e6ictor ara& would also bring the peoples songs to wider audiences.

Seeger helped set up the 1l%anac Singers group. $e was hea'ily influenced by theStalinists at the ti%e. The group released an anti7war albu% Songs for ohn 8oe. They9uic(ly shel'ed the albu% in the face of two e'ents: the ;a<i in'asion of the So'iet )nion&led the -P to change their line on the second world war. ='ernight it changed fro% beingan i%perialist war to an anti7fascist war. The later bo%bing of Pearl $arbour by theapanese ga'e added weight to this change. Seeger and the others swallowed andregurgitated the -P line hoo(& line and sin(er. They released an albu% called Dear Mr

President & which echoed the -P line of suspending the class struggle when they %adealliances with the bourgeoisie:

;ow& 5r. President&4e ha'en>t always agreed in the past& 3 (now&But that ain>t at all i%portant now.4hat is i%portant is what we got to do&4e got to lic( 5r. $itler& and until we do&=ther things can wait.

?'en today& the %yth of 4433 as an anti7fascist war persists in the face of all the e'idence.5any -P %e%bers epected the 1llies to in'ade Spain after the war. They didnt& as*ascis% was not e'er their real concern. $owe'er& the episode is not %entioned here tocriticise Seeger but to point out that artists do not eist in a 'acuu%& they are part of a



political and social %ilieu. Gi'en the nature of the -P and the )S left& it was highlyunli(ely that leading anti war artists would e%erge. 4hilst artists do feed into society& theydo not lead it politically& they reflect it and to a degree nurture it. This can be seen inrelation to the role Seeger played in the 1nti76ietna% %o'e%ent& which showed what can be done culturally when artists put the%sel'es at the ser'ice of and in Seegers case ta(e an

acti'e part in %ass %o'e%ents.1 'ast %ass %o'e%ent ga'e a%ple roo% to Seeger to de'elop his %usic and his politicsand he did so with great fer'our. )nli(e %any of his peers& Seeger did not li%it hi%self to%ere pacifis%& though of course there were ob'iously ele%ents of this in his songs. $e wasnot afraid to denounce what the )S was doing and put na%es to it. $is Last Train to

Nuremberg & was a bra'e song and the type of song that would put the %odern anti7war %o'e%ent to sha%e. $e na%ed the guilty and put the% on a par with the ;a<is who stoodtrial at ;ure%berg& so%ething& a strange %i of left and reactionary P- surrounding theholocaust industry would push to the sidelines with hysterical denunciations were it saidtoday.

Do I see Lieutenant Calley?

Do I see Captain Medina? Do I see Gen'ral Koster and all his cre?

Do I see President Ni!on?

Do I see both houses o" Congress? Do I see the #oters? Me and you

The references to -alley and +oster and 5edina deal with the perpetrators of the 5y Lai%assacre in /"@"& when the )S ar%y %urdered al%ost A00 innocent unar%ed ci'ilians.-alley was the only person con'icted of the war cri%e. 5edina& ga'e the orders and +oster engaged in the co'er up. Seeger pointed the finger at the%& but also directly at thePresident. 3t %ust be borne in %ind that bac( then& ;ion did not sit in front of a plas%ascreen personally o'erseeing %assacres& the way =ba%a proudly and se%i7publicly doesnowadays. 3n fact& chain of co%%and responsibility was specifically thrown out in thecourt cases that arose fro% the trial. But Seeger still pointed the finger at the%.

Seeger& unli(e %any of his conte%poraries was not ,ust against the horrors of war. $e wasin solidarity with the 6ietna%ese and 'isited the country with his fa%ily in /"!2. 3n hissong Teacher $ncle %o& he had the following to say of the leader of the 6ietna%ese forces.

$e educated all the people.$e de%onstrated to the world:3f a %an will stand for his own land&$e>s got the strength of ten.

3>ll ha'e to say in %y own way&The only way 3 (now&That we learned power to the people and the power to (now*ro% Teacher )ncle $o



1fter the end of the war and the downturn in class struggle in the /"!0s& Seeger continuedto lend his 'oice and ban,o to struggles around the world& unli(e so%e of those who benefitted fro% the fol( song re'i'al he helped create. Bob 8ylan& for ea%ple& went onto...& well& %a(es lots %ore %oney& beco%e a esus *rea( and also a Cionist. -learly on thewrong side of oppression. oan Bae<& was another case in point. 1fter 6ietna% in'aded

-a%bodia and o'erthrew the +h%er Douge& Bae< organised the 5arch for Sur'i'al. Shewas clear& that the hu%anitarian aid should not be channelled through the 6ietna%ese andthat refugee ca%ps should not be set up inside -a%bodia but along the Thai border. Thatdecision had disastrous conse9uences& the ca%ps set up by the ); were run by the +h%er Douge who used the aid to continue to recruit and prolonged the war& leading to %anythousands %ore deaths: not a %inor point for a pacifist. 1s part of her ca%paign sheappeared on stage with and recei'ed a bou9uet of flowers fro% *ield 5arshall Thano%+itti(achorn one of the for%er %ilitary leaders of Thailand who had supported the )S war effort in 6ietna%. She %ay not ha'e (nown who he was& but that is irrele'ant& she was in a ,oint ca%paign with hi%. She washed her hands of the sorry %ess& a few years later shewrote a song about -a%bodia& and put it behind her. Seeger& on the other hand turned upall o'er the place. $e e'en tra'elled to ;icaragua and brought bac( and tried to populariseso%e Sandinista songs during the Deagan years. This was not a cause which would endear hi% to the State. ?'en at the age of ninety he was ca%paigning for the release of indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier& fra%ed in the /"!0s for the %urder of federalagents. )nli(e& the 8ylans& and Bae<es of the world Pete pic(ed his causes because he belie'ed in the% and he stuc( with the%.

$is co%%it%ent ca%e at great cost. *or %ost of his life he was spied on by the securityagencies of the )S& he was blac(listed during the 5ac-arthy reign of terror and was e'ensentenced to ,ail for conte%pt of the hearings. 3n the /"A0s he had few outlets for his%usic& yet he (ept going. The /"@0s& despite the %ass %o'e%ent& were only slightly better as far as tele'ision appearances were concerned. 3t is fitting that it was his 'ersion of &e

hall (#ercome that defined the struggles of the /"@0s and is the one that is bestre%e%bered as a song of struggle& rather than any of the stuff produced by 8ylan& Bae< andothers. *ew if any re%e%ber that it was 8ylan who sang before 5artin Luther +ing ga'ehis 3 ha'e a drea% speech. 3t is Seeger who capti'ates and su%s up the period. $e chosehis politics because he belie'ed in the% and he was into the %usic for the %usic and not the pursuit of wealth and fa%e. $e put his %oney where his %outh was. $e didnt ,ust singabout the protests or e'en sing at the%& he too( part in the%& e'en up into his later yearswhen he could be seen at =ccupy 4all Street protests.

$e will be re%e%bered for his acti'is% but also for his %usic. $e was a troubadour& herescued songs that had been forgotten he ealted popular culture& as opposed to what e'er the record labels were pro%oting. $e once said that his father used to say that plagiaris%was basic to all culture. $is father was& of course& right& the lyrics of a song are not pennedin isolation fro% the rest of society& not e'en Boy<one type groups do that& they write in aco%%ercial contet defined by others. The %usic that is co%posed builds on centuries of %usical culture. 3t defined his attitude& he pic(ed up tunes played with the%& changed thelyrics of songs to %a(e the% %ore rele'ant& or used 'ersions of songs where other peoplehad done ,ust that& such as the old hy%n %o Can I Keep )rom inging . 1 fa%ily friend of



Seegers changed the lyrics re%o'ing %ost of the religious references and replacing the%with the following.

4hen tyrants tre%ble& sic( with fear&1nd hear their death7(nell ringing&

4hen friends re,oice both far and near&$ow can 3 (eep fro% singingE

3n prison cell and dungeon 'ile&=ur thoughts to the% go wingingF4hen friends by sha%e are undefiled&$ow can 3 (eep fro% singingE

3t is Seegers 'ersion that li'es on. ;either did he ha'e a proble% with singing religioussongs such as ing Lo eet Chariot & which %ay see% odd for a radical singer. 3n5ars %uch partially cited& opiu% of the people 9uote he re%ar(s that:

Deligious suffering is& at one and the sa%e ti%e& the epression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Deligion is the sigh of the oppressed creature& the heart of aheartless world& and the soul of soulless conditions. 3t is the opiu% of the people.H

This profane& worldly aspect to religion is to be found in %any popular religious songs of the )S& though in the second part of the 20th century the e'angelical you are going to rot inhell 'ariety ca%e to the fore. Pete sung songs about peoples li'es and other religioussongs he sang because& he li(ed the%& they were catchy& they wor(ed %usically. $isrepertoire built up o'er years is basically a potted history of the )S wor(ing class and their struggles. Seeger pic(ed up songs as he tra'elled round the )S& when he started tra'ellingaround the world& he did the sa%e perfor%ing songs in languages that he recognised hewould ne'er e'er spea(& such as apanese& $indi& Spanish& Swahili a%ongst others. So%eof his atte%pts at this were unintentionally co%ical I5anyura 5anyash& apparently thena%e of a Scottish fol( song which he sang with a 'ery fa(e accent.J others went on toinspire. =ne of his best re%e%bered foreign songs and one which shows the generouscharacter of the %an was 4i%oweh. $e introduced it to the world and different groupsha'e done their own 'ersions since& e'en pop 'ersions. The song& howe'er& is Pete Seegers phonetical rendition of a South 1frican song co%posed and recorded by Solo%on Lindacalled 5bube. The 'ersions are so%ewhat different. Linda was paid a pittance for the songin the /"K0s and recei'ed no royalties. 4hen Pete Seeger heard about this& he i%%ediatelycalculated how %uch in royalties he owed Linda and sent the che9ue to his fa%ily.Plagiaris% %aybe basic to all culture& but for Seeger& theft wasnt and he wrote the che9ueout of a sense of fair play and perhaps solidarity& a trait not seen in that %any perfor%ers.

Seegers protest %usic was different to that of other perfor%ers. $e celebrated life&wor(ers li'es& their 'ictories in language they could relate to. 1nd he was li(e his friend4oody Guthrie an opti%ist. 5any of his own co%positions reflect this& such as *ainbo

*ace. 3n 20/2 he appeared on the -olbert Deport at the age of "K and the song he chose to perfor% was an old one and despite the passage of ti%e since he wrote it& Seeger had notlost his opti%is%. $e sang +uite ,arly Morning & an opti%istic song if e'er there was one.



8on>t you (now it>s dar(est before the dawn1nd it>s this thought (eeps %e %o'ing on3f we could heed these early warningsThe ti%e is now 9uite early %orning

3f we could heed these early warningsThe ti%e is now 9uite early %orning

So%e say that hu%an(ind won>t long endureBut what %a(es the% so doggone sureE3 (now that you who hear %y singing-ould %a(e those freedo% bells go ringing3 (now that you who hear %y singing-ould %a(e those freedo% bells go ringing

$e %ust ha'e been conscious of how short a ti%e he had left on the planet and yet he wasstill opti%istic about hu%anitys future. $e had li'ed through the 8epression& 4433& the5ac-arthy era& he had seen the collapse of the %ass %o'e%ent following the 6ietna% war&the dar( years of Deagan and Bush& the political stagnation of the /""0s and the defeat of three re'olutions in -entral 1%erica and yet he was still opti%istic.

;ow that Seeger is dead& his legacy will be the sub,ect of yet %ore boo(s& docu%entariesand false praise fro% his ene%ies. ?'en Barac( =ba%a praised hi% after he died. Seeger had perfor%ed at his inauguration& caught up by the enthusias% of liberals and the outright betrayal and prostration by the left not only in the )S but around the world& he would ha'e been better ser'ed to recall the lyrics of one of 4oody Guthries songs& The Greenbac- Dollar which was also perfor%ed by the 1l%anac Singers.

Ta(e the two old parties& %ister& ;o difference in the% 3 can see.But with a *ar%er7Labor party&4e will set the wor(ers free.

$owe'er& he did play for hi%& another of his few bad political ,udge%ents. But as 3 pointedout before& artists dont li'e in a 'acuu% and his %ista(e has to seen in the contet of thesurrender of the left. 3t was also strangely fitting that the %an who %ade &e hall

(#ercome a popular international song was there to see the first blac( president sworn in.This would certainly ha'e played a role in his decision.

=ba%a said of hi% that. ='er the years& Pete used his 'oice and his ha%%er to stri(e blows for wor(ers> rights and ci'il rightsF world peace and en'iron%ental conser'ation& andhe always in'ited us to sing along. *or re%inding us where we co%e fro% and showing uswhere we need to go& we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger.H The hypocrisy of the %anis breath7ta(ing. 1 %an waging two wars& attac(ing wor(ers rights& spying on ,ust aboute'erybody should try to co7opt Seeger in death.



Pete Seegers %usical legacy is beyond dispute& no serious %usicologist could ignore the%an. $is political legacy is another %atter& the =ba%as of the world will try to distorthistory. Pete Seeger was hounded& harassed& 'ilified& spied on& blac(listed and shunned. 1te'ery turn the )S establish%ent tried to bloc( and sabotage hi%. They were not re%indedof where they had co%e fro%& they feared hi%& they feared where he pointed to. That alone

%a(es Seeger an interesting figure. ounger people who %ay not ha'e heard his %usicshould chec( hi% out if for no other reason than the fact that they feared hi% for al%osteight decades of %usic and acti'is%. $e of course did not fear the%& his was a life of struggle and he (ept on and perse'ered till he was "#& rising ti%e and again to ,oin in onestruggle after another. Brecht said that it was those who struggled an entire lifeti%e wherethe one that were needed. Seeger was one of those.

=ld de'il fear& you with your icy hands=ld de'il fear& you>d li(e to free<e %e cold4hen 3>% afraid& %y lo'ers gather round1nd help %e rise to fight you one %ore ti%e

;o stor% nor fire can e'er beat us down ;o wind that blows but carries us further on1nd you who fear& oh lo'ers gather round1nd we will rise to sing it one %ore ti%e

Documents

Pete Seeger a Life of Struggle and Song