Jerry noted that the song might be sweeping NPR, which is probably true at the moment. A few people, in addition to Jerry, have noted that they have not heard this song before.

Reading this thread does remind me of the nearly lost art of folk song collecting. Swimming to the Other Side has been well known to my co-host Bill Hahn and myself as we've been playing it on our WFDU radio program Traditions for many years. In addition to that, I have heard the song performed at local song circles, the Clearwater Festival and by other musicians here in the greater NYC area.

It may very well be that this song started out as a regional folksong. Pat lives in the D.C. area and tours extensively through the Northeast which would explain why the song seems popular in my neck of the woods. Even though the song is not new, it is still in it's infancy and being spread. Because "folk" music is not heard on commercial radio, this song has to find legs through the oral tradition - people hearing it, singing it and sharing it. Now with exposure on NPR as well as other artists adding it to their repertoire, we might very well see this song added to list of songs considered "folk anthems" - songs that are known universally. In the past it would have taken a John Lomax or a Francis Child to collect the song and publish it in a collection for others to share.

The term "anthem" always disturbs me, it have to be a song that everyone agrees with or even likes to be an anthem. An anthem should be a song that people recongize, sing along with and find some sort of unity from the message. The feeling of community has been present everytime I've heard this song sung.

Ron