Turn, turn, turn

Wow. A giant has passed—Pete Seeger died Monday at age 94.

Those of you raised in the age of industrial or grunge rock—or probably everything post-disco—no doubt are scratching your heads wondering who he was (other than quite old, of course). Well—you might have caught him singing for President Obama’s first Inauguration. If so, no doubt you wondered who the hell he was.

Ah, children—beginning his career during the Great Depression and continuing pretty much literally to his death, Seeger was a folksinger, a writer, an activist (labor, civil rights, peace, environment—his passions ran both deep and wide), a humanist. Seeger was old while he was young and young while he was old. He displayed courage and grace the likes of which you don’t see in any music celebrity today.

I mean: do you feature Daft Punk or M.C. Hammer facing down the House Un-American Activities Committee, and being willing to go to prison for it?

No, I didn’t think so. But Seeger did that in 1955, at the height of the McCarthy frenzy, refusing either to name names or to take shelter behind the Fifth Amendment. Actually—here’s what he said:

“I feel that in my whole life I have never done anything of any conspiratorial nature… I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this.”

Possibly one of the most concise and eloquent statements of what an upright American should be in the face of ignorance, fear, intimidation or wrongheadedness, in any form and from anyone, but especially from one’s government.

Seeger pioneered the way for so many of my musical heroes—from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen. I must have first been introduced to him via the Byrds’ cover of “Turn, Turn, Turn”. But I couldn’t have escaped into adulthood without “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “We Shall Overcome” (you should hear Dr. Loco and the Rockin’ Jalapeño Band’s version), “If I Had a Hammer”, “Which Side Are You On?”, “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy”… Oh, hell—you catch my drift.

One of the many recordings I have of him is this one, for a PBS show on his friends Woody Guthrie and Huddie William Ledbetter (better known as Leadbelly). “This Land Is Your Land” may have been his signature piece, though Guthrie wrote it, and he commands the performance, even surrounded by such powerhouses as Sweet Honey in the Rock, Springsteen and John Mellencamp:

He was a gregarious and generous performer, which you can see from any videos of his concerts. He was made to be with an audience, not record in a studio. Here he is with Johnny Cash, on the latter’s TV show:

Or this one with Woody’s boy Arlo:

On of the best concerts I ever went to was Arlo and Pete at the Greek Theatre. A magical experience.

But it turns out he was totally down with social media, too—with both Twitter and Facebook accounts. I love his Twitter profile:

And here are a couple of his tweets from last month:

Well, I’ve been listening to his stuff for the past day—just letting YouTube take me where it will. At 94, Pete Seeger’s earned some rest; he had a wonderful, remarkable life. As he used to sing again and again, there is a season for everything. God rest you, Pete.