Steve, Woody had more than a shred of conscious politics in his motives.

I think I was saying that, but was also saying that he put his politics across via the voices and stories of ordinary people going through hard times. I can't think of a single Woody song, in spite of your examples, in which he was browbeating us with his politics or his morals or with polemic, and his message was all the more powerful for that. There was a very clear-headed simplicity about his songs too. I've read all the books there are to read about him and realise he was a social pain in the arse, etc. So was Beethoven, my numero uno all-time hero! Do you think they'd have got on? :-)