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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: artbrooks Date: 17 Apr 01 - 02:48 PM Somewhere around I have a tape by a guy named Barry Sadler called "Ballads of the Green Berets", which comes from around the period of the US's military success and socio-political failure in SE Asia. I haven't listened to it in years, but my recollection is that it exemplifies the comments made previously that one person's folk is another's country-western. Perhaps we tend to reserve the "folk" basket for anti-anything songs, and refer to pro-whatever songs as "patriotic" or "popular". |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Genie Date: 07 Oct 01 - 01:34 AM This thread seems worth reviving, as the new "political correctness" in the wake of 9-11 seems to cast liberals (paficists, at least) as "unpatriotic." [Sorry, 'spaw, if you don't like old threads revived, just skip this one.}
Artbrooks, above, made one of the points I was thinking as I read this thread--that Ballad Of The Green Berets could just as easily have been called "folk" as "country," except for people's preconceived ideas about music genres and politics.
FWIW, I have heard folk-style songs written and sung by pro-life protestors at their rallies.
I might also mention that the song of Hitler Youth (Tomorrow Belongs To Me) sounds, melodically, a lot like the old German folk song Die Lorelei. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,Clint Keller Date: 07 Oct 01 - 03:22 AM Well, since you asked-- If you don't like your Uncle Sammy Then go back to your home o'er the sea Go back to where you came Whatever be you name But don't be unfaithful to me! If you don't like the stars in Old Glory, If you don't like the Red, White & Blue, Then don't be like the cur in the story Don't bite the hand that's feeding you! Heard Tiny Tim sing it on the TV some years back (in his natural baritone.) My father used to sing it; he thought it was pretty funny. I always supposed it dated from WW1, but I don't know why. Clint Keller |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: DMcG Date: 07 Oct 01 - 07:48 AM If you are including written-in-the-folk-style as opposed to absorbed into the tradition, one of my friends wrote a song that in praise of capitalism called "The Company Director" way back in the 60's - I would have to search back for the words and melody if anyone is interested. On the other hand, I always thought it was intended to be satirical. (On the third hand, he went on to become a lawyer ...) |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,Martin Date: 27 Jan 04 - 02:20 PM Well, even if it was true that right-wingers never compose songs /maybe they just neglect this mean of persuasion/ there were moments in history when part of conservatives and extreme leftists strangely unite for a common goal. The most exclusive case was isolationism movement short time before WW II in the U.S. There was a famous group named Almanac Singers, who made full album named Songs for John Doe, expressing not pacifism, but extreme willingness to avoid war at any cost. One of the songs has a chorus: "plow under... every fourth American boy!" Which was taken out of of the speech of famous pro-Hitlerite Charles Lindbergh, isn´t it? And what about Barry Sadler and his "Universal Pacifist"? Sorry, can't remember the full text now, but the message is: "He doesn't have the courage to be free". |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: musicmick Date: 27 Jan 04 - 03:06 PM As Dick and I come from the same era and influences, I am in agreement with him in terms of the labor based, socialist bent of the major figures in American collecting. The Lomaxes, the Seegers, Carl Sandburg, Kenny Goldstein were all leftist to one degree or another. The primary publication of the folk revival, Sing Out!, was an unashamedly advocate of "progressive" causes. The Weavers, who influenced millions of folksingers, were overtly politicaly aport. I hope everyone knows that the Bosses Songbook was not a right wing creation. It was compiled (mostly, by Roy Berkeley and Dave Van Ronk) as a parady of the classic left wing People's Songbook. Van Ronk, of course, was about as far left as one can be and stay out of jail. There was a story that he had been kicked out of a Trotskyite splinter group for being too radical, but I don't believe it. In those days, we had a sense of humor about our political passions. I remember a great anti-CP song called The Ballad of Harry Pollet" that ended with the lines, The moral of the story is easy for to tell, If you want to be a Bolshevick, you ought to go to Hell. Mike Miller |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: dick greenhaus Date: 27 Jan 04 - 03:51 PM Well, I suspect that "Farther Along" is about as conservative as you can get. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,guest Date: 27 Jan 04 - 04:47 PM |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,euclid Date: 27 Jan 04 - 04:49 PM |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST Date: 27 Jan 04 - 04:55 PM What about "Send the Buggers Back" as featured on Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights?... |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Walking Eagle Date: 27 Jan 04 - 05:10 PM There is a WV folksong from the civil war that is pro-south called The Casto Hole. I was thinking of Dixie as well, but don't know. Might just be a case of un PC instead of right wing. I'm just learning how to use my scanner, so if you'd like THe Casto Hole, send me a PM and be ready to wait. I scan via broadband, so a DSL or Dial-up set up might not work. Send me your computer specs. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Joe_F Date: 27 Jan 04 - 07:42 PM "'Arry Politt" is, I suppose, antiCommunist, but it is very genial satire, and I first heard it from a socialist. It is hard to imagine a proper Tory coming up with St Peter said to 'Arry, "And is your 'eart contrite?" "I'm a friend of Lady Astor's." "Well, O.K., then, that's all right." A song that might be regarded as right-wing in its rejection of welfare ("The government dole will rot your soul") is "The Idiot" by Stan Rogers. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Joe Offer Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:12 PM It might not be completely on this topic, but take a look at: War Songs: A Discography of Patriotic and Pacifist Propaganda. Here's another: War Songs, a discography prepared by Country Joe McDonald Martin, we have Universal Pacifist unattributed in the Digital Tradition. All my search attempts led right back to the Digital Tradition as the original source. Do you have any documentation that would give proof to your attribution to Barry Sadler? It's not listed at songfile.com (Harry Fox Agency). -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: freda underhill Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:14 PM dick - what about this version of Farther Along by Woody guthrie Farther Along Traditional, Arranged and adapted by Woody Guthrie Tempted and tried, we're oft made to wonder, Why it should be thus, all the day long; While there are others, living about us Never molested, though in the wrong. cho: Farther along, we'll know all about it. Farther along, we'll understand why, Cheer up my brothers, walk in the sunshine We'll understand it all, by and by. When death has come and taken our loved ones, Leaving our homes so lone and so drear, Then do we wonder why others prosper Living as sinners year after year. cho: Often I wonder why I must journey Over a road so rugged and steep, While there are others living in comfort While with the lost I labour and weep. Cho Farther along we'll know all about it, Farther along we'll understand why; Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine We'll understand it all by and by. We'll understand it all by and by. freda |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: The Fooles Troupe Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:25 PM The problem with "The idiot" is that today, ther are far fewer jobs 'in the outback' or in the country,because of changed economic circumstances. Robin |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Teresa Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:26 PM I'm going to steer clear of the "right-wing" label. But here are some things off the top of my head that might be considered controversial: Several of stan rogers: including House of Orange and one I'm not sure I remember the exact title for, possibly "The Nancy"? And "General Brock"? Those might be controversial for those in the US, anyway. :) I don't know how prevalent it is now, but at the last bluegrass festival I attended in Northern California, there were Confederate flags prominently displayed, and there were those who were very uncomfortable with that. And also at bluegrass fests, you'll find the Sunday morning gospel singing, which may not have been "right-wing" formerly, but might be considered that by some. Teresa |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Joe Offer Date: 27 Jan 04 - 09:53 PM Freda, I think you've posted the gospel song, Farther Along. The Woody Guthrie song is "I've Got To Know.". It's also in the Rise Up Singing songbook - but I wouldn't say it's a right-wing folksong. Maybe some of Woody's "Columbia River" songs could be construed as right-wing, since they were bought and paid for by the U.S. Guvmint (led by that old right-winger, FDR???). -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: LadyJean Date: 28 Jan 04 - 12:29 AM I believe there are any number of excellent Confederate songs. Check the mudcat lyrics. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Joe Offer Date: 28 Jan 04 - 01:01 AM I posted "The Casto Hole" in Civil War Ballads because it seemed to fit better there. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: musicmick Date: 28 Jan 04 - 01:36 AM It seems to me that, if one can avoid knee jerk invective, American conservatives oppose collective solutions to social problems (poverty, inequality, racial interaction, etc) and American liberals favor societal solutions to societal issues. Thus, songs that promote individual rights reflect conservative values and songs that exhort group response reflect liberalism. In this regard, religious songs would seem to be more in the liberal camp yet those people who most often identify themselves as conservatives are, frequently, the most likely to identify themselves as religious. There is certainly no more obvious an example of "group conciousness" than organized religion. Should Gospel be classified as right wing or left? Private property rights is the main bone of contention between right and left. Conservatives champion property rights and oppose laws that limit them. Does that mean that songs about owning your own farm or house are right wing? Wasn't the promise of land the real lure that brought the Europeans to America? Weren't your parents and mine denied the right to own land in Europe (mine sure were) and isn't the American Dream about owning your own home? Does ownership taint, by nature? Does a mortgage include membership in the Republican Party? Was Lee Hayes a closet conservative when he wrote, in "Times Are Gettin' Hard", "...Gonna have the best old farm that you have ever seen."? My point is that it might be well to consider those things that unite left and right, to stop demonizing one another and to appreciate that neither side has a monopoly on rightiousness. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser) Date: 28 Jan 04 - 05:47 AM Right-wing folk songs? There's thousands of the buggers. Just go for a pint in Twickenham after a rugby match (if you can get anywhere near the bar) and you'll see what I mean. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,JOHN FROM ELSIE`S BAND Date: 28 Jan 04 - 06:24 AM The version of "To Be a Farmer`s Boy" by the late Gordon Hall would fit the bill perfectly. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Billy Weeks Date: 28 Jan 04 - 07:35 AM If folk songs include anything vaguely musical that is transmitted orally (and Mudcatters tend to be an inclusive lot) then some right wing nerd should be collecting the vile racist chants heard at football matches when black players are on the field. And there are plenty of examples of Nazi songs (right wing enough?) that went, for a time, into popular tradition in Germany. The first time I heard 'The Horst Wessel Lied' I thought it had a really terrific tune and the lyrics struck me as inspiring. Trouble was, 'terrific' meant spreading terror and 'inspiring' meant inspiring hatred. At the lighter end off the right wing spectrum - I agree with musicmic that many of the most amusing, seemingly anti-left songs (Arry Pollit is a good example) were actually sung with gusto by the farthest left of the lefties. See Digitrad 'The Foreman's Job' and related threads for parodies of The Red Flag - and add The People's flag is palest pink And not as red as you lot think. The left has always been moderately good at self-mockery. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: The O'Meara Date: 28 Jan 04 - 09:26 AM Stereotypes and cliches are generally based on a grain of truth. Winston Churchill said "If you are not a liberal when you're young you have no heart; if you're not a conservative when you're old you have no brain." Liberal thought tends to be emotional, while conservative thought tends to be intellectual. (The extreme in either direction is not good.) MOst "folk" music tends to be emotional rather than intellectual and therefore appears to be liberal, or left wing. Songs about broken hearts and anger at the establishment are emotional stir up an entertain an audience, whereas economics and Darwin's theory of evolution put the audience in a trance. Crying makes better folk music than thinking. O'Meara |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Bobjack Date: 28 Jan 04 - 09:32 AM Right wing folk songs. Hmmmmmmmmm surely they are very short because you will fly off the back of the bloody wing on take off! |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Banjo,London Date: 28 Jan 04 - 09:58 AM Incredibly strange music Vol 2: RE/Search publications. I found an album here called "Sing Folk Songs To Bug The Liberals" by The Goldwaters. on Greenleaf Records It dates from 1964. I reckon thats a right wing folk song album! Anyone heard it? |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: dick greenhaus Date: 28 Jan 04 - 10:09 AM Taking as a simplistic working definition that the left is trying to change present conditions and the right is trying to preserve them or return to earlier ones, almost all of the Copper Family songs are right wing, in that they celebrate existing social structure and practices. So are all the gospel songs that preach acceptance today in exchange for improvement tomorrow--ably parodied by "Pie in the Sky". Many of the Left Wing "folk songs"--Pete's, Woodies etc.--were composed and promoted by an organized group seeking to promote an agenda. The Right didn't have--and didn't need--such a group. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: musicmick Date: 28 Jan 04 - 10:10 AM Oh, now I see. By "Right Wing" you mean Nazi or KKK or some other fun bunch like that. Well, yes, they have their songs. I suppose that "Deutchland Uber Alles" qualifies, under Mudcat definition and, from what I have read on so many threads, so does the "Star Spangled Banner" and "Hatikva". How about Ireland's "Soldier Song" or "O, Canada"? Aren't all national anthems gingoistic and separatist? If racism is the provence or the right, how would you classify all those songs about the winning of the west, and how about Irish songs like, "One Sunday mornin' while on my way to mass/ I met a bloody Orangeman and killed him for his pass"? Hey, if we include anti-British songs, we can come up with lots of "right wing" songs. If, on the other hand, by "right wing", you mean all those hateful bigots who aint us, then I guess the answer is no. After all, if there were any right wing songs, that would mean that right wingers were folk singers like us. Perish the thought. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,Stephen R. Date: 28 Jan 04 - 11:20 AM As many contributors to this thread have pointed out, there are definitional problems with 'right' and 'left', 'coservative', 'liberal', and 'radical'. Look through Child and you will find many ballads that reflect an aristocratic perspective; I think these might fairly be called 'conservative', but it would make no sense to try to locate them on the contemporary left-right continuum. The farmer became a villain in many English folk songs when the social situation changed; when hired farmworkers were treated like family, ate with the farmer and so on, there was little need for such songs, and when there is some reference to 'the master' it is usually favorable; once the farmer distanced himself from his employees and regarded their labor as a commodity to be had at the lowest possible price, songs changed too. Songs arising among the industrial working class reflect the situation brought about by the industrial revolution. The draft protest song is a traditional genre in eastern Europe, as is the orphan song, but are these songs of the 'left'? I don't think the category applies. Is 'Dixie' a right-wing song? I suppose it depends on context: if sung in Alabama or Mississippi during the heyday of the civil rights movement, it certainly could be seen that way, but in the 19th century context I am not sure that it would be meaningful to speak of it in those terms. John Calhoun describes the condition of industrial workers in words that might be called reminiscent of Marx if Calhoun did not antedate Marx. Reality seldom fits comfortably into simply bimodal analytical categories, and neither do folk songs. Stephen R. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Bo Vandenberg Date: 28 Jan 04 - 09:58 PM Doesn't Monty Python have a song about 'money'???? |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: johnfitz.com Date: 29 Jan 04 - 12:02 PM I have lived my entire life in New England, much of the time in very poor and rural areas. We should all be very careful associating the right wing with people who are by nature, culture and temperment very conservative and resistant to change, especially when it is a politically imposed idealogy. As narrow minded and stubborn as my neighbors might be (to my flawed way of thinking) I know I can count on them no matter what happens in my life. Many of my left leaning folkie friends could learn a thing or two about tolerance from them. I created a series of songs centered on people in these communities. I think it almost qualifies as right wing folk music. Fires In the Belly |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,Peacehaven'r Date: 29 Jan 04 - 01:40 PM Oooh goodee! Great debate which as usual poses as many questions as it answers. The only part I am vaguely qualified to take part in is the bit which impinges upon the Copper Family repertoire. It's absolutely true as Bill Cameron reports that by examining repertoire of traditional singers rather than published collections of song the picture is interesting. Peter Bellamy latched onto the fact that we had these 'innocent hares', 'sweet primeroses' and 'daffadowndillys' and loved it! I believe that he too had to defend the Copper repertoire against those who thought it too good to be true. In the early days of the 'revival' Bob was more than once challenged over the vaildity of the repertoire. His answer is one of absolute truth, but may be unpalateable to some. Rottingdean was essentially an agrarian community and had been up until after the Great War; its populace comprised agricultural labourers and their families amongst others. There was but one main employer, the local landowner, and in the case of Rottingdean, a benign one, a Quaker family the Beards. They provided work under what for the time were quite extraordinary conditions - workers were kept employed throughout the winter months without the more commonplace lay-offs suffered elsewhere. There was, to our way of thinking a patronising 'lady bountiful' distribution of clothing and blankets to the needier folk and use of farm acres for growing produce for home consumption. But in the terms of the time in which they lived these people felt themselves well treated. These were not the conditions in which the seeds of revolution would be sown. This was not a place where songs reflecting a dissatisfaction with life in general would be found. As Bob has said (and I paraphrase) "there was always a man ready to put a Cowslip through his buttonhole, cock his cap to the world and sing a song in praise of the country life and work he loved". The Coppers repertoire was not born of the grinding poverty found in both agrarian and industrial communities in other parts of Britain. It had an entirely different background. The singers were poor but they weren't starving, and people like Bob's grandfather Brasser and his father Jim always looked on the bright side of life. In their songs they found, as Bob has written, their drama, their poetry, their music and their philosophy. Snuggled in that safe little part of Southern England, enjoying a (for England) temperate climate, hard but regular work and a roof over their heads no wonder they sang as they did. Theirs were not the songs of right or left. More a representation or snapshot of what a group of working class Englishmen felt truly represented their particular lot in their particular time - whatever we may think about it. Even the one song of dissent, "Hard times of old England" ends with a typically optomistic note. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: dick greenhaus Date: 29 Jan 04 - 03:44 PM Johnfitz- "Right" or "Left" are no more value judgements than are "folk" and "Pop"--just characterizations. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: musicmick Date: 30 Jan 04 - 01:40 AM Yes, they are, Dick, and they both have songs extolling their values. Songs that stress individualism, independance and distrust of institutions and laws are the anthems of conservativism. Songs that laud interdependance, communal concern and group social activism are the hymns of liberalism. Since all of these areas are worthy and even laudible, folks of both camps sing each others songs without embarrassment. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,prestonoides Date: 30 Jul 05 - 09:48 PM That "America for whites Africa for blacks" ditty above was printed and distributed by the tiny group of American NAZI's who holed up in Glendale, CA in the early 1960's (Before their Fuehrer, Rockwell assumed room temperature). There's also, as I recall, a verse: Ring that Bell, Shout for joy, Whiteman's day is here. Twenty million ugly coons, Already on the pier. (Refrain) TG that the American NAZI's have never been anything but a tiny bunch of disenfranchised human ciphers (albeit armed to the teeth). Anyway love 'em or hate 'em, the WWII NAZI's had the bitchenest uniforms (especially the SS). LOL |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Janice in NJ Date: 31 Jul 05 - 12:38 AM WARNING! Contains offensive language! In the mid-1960s there was a small group of wise ass college boys from New Jersey who called themselves the Rat Finks. They prided themselves on what they claimed were their ultra-conservative politics. In reality they were just a bunch of infantile jerks who went around singing songs with truly disgusting lyrics like these: To the tune of Jingle Bells: Riding through the Reich, in a Mercedes Benz, Killing every kike, making lots of friends, Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat, mow those bastards down, Oh, what fun were going to have when he Nazis come to town! They caused a big fuss for a couple of years, and then they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared. Maybe they grew up. One hopes so. |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: GUEST,Lin Date: 21 May 16 - 12:23 AM To Dr. John There was a song released on the Decca Label in 1965 called, "Dawn of Correction" by a group called, The Spokesmen. Three conservative looking guys singing their retort to the gloom and doom of Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction." The Spokesmen wanted to relay a message of hope for the future and support of the boys in Vietnam. Have you ever heard this song before? I think you can find it on Youtube to listen to. |
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Subject: ADD: The Dawn of Correction From: Joe Offer Date: 21 May 16 - 04:08 AM I wouldn't say "Dawn of Correction" is a conservative song, but it certainly has a more positive point of view than you'll find in "Eve of Destruction." Well, it's anti-Red, but so was everybody in the US in the 1960s. THE DAWN OF CORRECTION (Madara / White / Gilmore) The western world has a common dedication To keep free people from Red domination And maybe you can't vote, boy, but man your battle stations Or there'll be no need for votin' in future generations So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction There are buttons to push in two mighty nations But who's crazy enough to risk annihilation? The buttons are there to ensure negotiation So don't be afraid, boy, it's our only salvation So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction You tell me that marches won't bring integration But look what it's done for the voter registration Be thankful our country allows demonstrations Instead of condemnin', make some recommendations I don't understand the cause of your aggravation You mean to tell me, boy, it's not a better situation? So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction You missed all the good in your evaluation What about the things that deserve commendation? Where there once was no cure, there's vaccination Where there once was a desert, there's vegetation Self-government's replacing colonization What about the Peace Corps organization? Don't forget the work of the United Nations So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction So over and over again, you keep sayin' it's the end But I say you're wrong, we're just on the dawn of correction Songwriters: MADARA, JOHN / WHITE, DAVID / GILMORE, RAYMOND The Dawn Of Correction lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc. Lyrics from http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/the+spokesmen/the+dawn+of+correction_20789865.html (correction) Dawn of Correction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkGZKOgfOi4 Eve of Destruction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntLsElbW9Xo |
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Subject: RE: Right Wing Folksongs From: Stringsinger Date: 28 Aug 22 - 03:18 PM "If You Don't Like Your Uncle Sammy" can be found on Fred Hellerman's recording,, "Caught in the Act". I guess Cohan wrote it. Bob Gibson and I were reacting to a didactic period in New York where a lot of Lefties were singing songs in a manner that we thought at the time was quite phony. The people I'm referring to didn't have a clue about the reality of the struggles of the labor movement. We lampooned People's Artists for what we thought at the time was a doctrinaire and superficial view of "issues". I've since regarded the song as just a period I went through and over the years an have developed and researched enough to know that the naïveté of the kids at that time didn't preclude the genuine injustices that People's Artists knew were there. But there was a attitude, a little pompous although I'm happy now for the advent of People's Songs and People's Artists. What we wrote could be construed as a right wing song but I've never personally identified or associated with the politics of the "right" which I consider "wrong". Anyway, here's what we went through. Sing a song for People's Artists, Balladeers unite. Buy your latest People's songbook, There's a hoot tonight. Organize and fertilize and sing your little song. You are right on every issue, all the rest are wrong. (I think the tune is The Internationale but I'm not sure.) Tom Lehrer wrote a parody called "The Folk Song Army". I think we were more of a mind in those days that we agreed that arm chair activism was a contrivance. Bob Gibson, Erik Darling, Ed McCurdy and others reacted in a similar way about the pomposity of younger people with all the answers. Even today, there are Lefties who really don't have a clue about the pain and suffering that people on the Left went through for their idealism and conscience. I remember McCarthy period well and saw friends who were victimized by the intolerance in the country. I refer you to the song "Hold The Line" about 1949's Peekskill riot at a Robeson concert as a case in point. My friend Pete Seeger went through quite a period of hard-nosed political views but as he aged, became more understanding and suspicious of the Soviet leaders, and totally rejected Stalin in particular. At the end of his life, he was disillusioned as was Robeson about the rigidity of Soviet times. To his credit he didn't do a 180 in rejection of Moscow's authoritarian position. He kept his human and social idealism. BTW, if you want an extreme right wing protest song, look to the Civil War for "The Unreconstructed Rebel". It's so important today to see the human picture of why right wingers feel as they do. There needs to be songs about that. Fleming's "Flag of Blue" brings this to light. We need to understand the side we don't agree with. And agree to disagree. Vern Partlow said it in "Old Man Atom". "Peace in the world or the world in pieces." |
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