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Pete Seeger: 1919 - 2014. RIP
Posted: 28 January 2014
Word Count: 102
Summary: A Fine Soul passed today
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Pete Seeger
A fine soul passed today
returning to the earth
he loved and graced
He hammered out freedom
He hammered out justice
no guns just roses
this gentle gentleman
embraced
We are the better
for his life
his melody lives on
champion of simple folk
of music and of song
we know where one flower has gone
as still his truth rings out loud
rings out long
(Pete Seeger: 1919 - 2014. RIP)
Buffy Sainte Marie on Pete Seeger (28.01.14)
"Justice and humanitarian issues, kindness, effectiveness and humility, all wrapped around a banjo. He was a real angel on earth."
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Comments by other Members
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 James Graham at 20:41 on 28 January 2014
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Thank you for this. I hadn't heard the news of his death. I'll post more about this, but now I think I'll put on a Pete Seeger CD.
James.
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 butterfly2000 at 08:08 on 29 January 2014
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I am not familiar with his music but your poem makes me want to listen to his songs. A lovely, piece - returning to the earth he loved and graced... These lines are very touching
best wishes
Debra
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James Graham at 19:12 on 29 January 2014
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This is a moving tribute. You use very fitting references to two of the songs he made famous, ‘If I had a hammer’ and ‘Where have all the flowers gone?’ To describe him as a ‘fine soul’ and a ‘gentle gentleman’ isn’t the flowery language of eulogy, but the plain truth. These lines too are not mere words:
We are the better
for his life
When I’m ‘down’ it lifts my spirits to listen to Pete Seeger. It’s not just the pleasure you get from such a fine performer, it’s confirmation too - he sings what I believe. I do feel I’m the better for his life. The one live concert of his that I took part in - you didn’t just sit and listen, you were in the choir - is something I’ll never forget. It was his superb musical gifts, his humour, and his surely unequalled rapport with the audience - all of these things.
The booklet that comes with my Pete Seeger box set tells us that Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, said that in the early years of Folkways all the best ideas came from Seeger. In later years, when the project was taken over by the Smithsonian, Seeger continued to be the man who moved things forward.
If any WW members don’t know Pete Seeger’s work, maybe your tribute will point them in that direction. Many thanks for this poem.
James.
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.JPG) Zettel at 02:16 on 31 January 2014
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Thanks James and Debra.
I didn't unfortunately see seeger in his heyday James but on the 'part of the performance' did have a magical evening at the Albert Hall many years ago with the mesmerising Peter Paul and Mary who made many Seeger songs successful. They had three sections of the Albert Hall harmonising with one another on If I Had a Hammer etc.
Z
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