Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day everone.  Be Safe.  Be Happy.  Be Free.

Talk to you soon.

Brats and beers and Sacco and Vanzetti

Happy Labor Day everyone! Here's to working folks everywhere now and working folks who passed before us.

Eat a Bratwurst, have a beer with your friends. Sacco, Vanzetti, Woody and my Dad would have wanted it that way.

"This machine kills Fascists!"

"This machine kills Fascists" is what Woody Guthrie painted or carved or hung on the front of his guitar. It wasn't that he thought his guitar playing did this, or his singing, or his songs...his opinion was getting people together to sing together was where the power was...together. I used "Together" that many times in one sentence on purpose all you proof-readers out there.
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie would have been 97 years old today, nd if he were still here, he'd be just as full of contempt for peoples unjust treatment of others as always...and willing to write and sing about it. He said everything he learned was from hobos and children, children first. He sang political songs, sure. But he also sang barn dance songs, happy songs, travelin' songs, story songs, children's songs...on and on...all with he hoped you'd sing along with him.

There would be a lot to write about Woody, his history, his mother's battle with mental illness, his own battle with a neurological disorder, his marriage, his kids, his time in the service, his time in the Oklahoma oil fields. But the real story is how he knew music was the important thing he could bring to the world. Music was what he could do that was worth doing. If you want to read more about him, I think you should. But this is about music. Sing, dang ya! If something moves you, sing about it! If possible, sing with a bunch of friends, but even if you're alone, sing! That's what Woody taught us.

Woody on the far left. Fitting.

Woody's cartoon about his first trip to California (above) and my favorite Woody dustbowl ballad/trekking to California song of his (below).

Woody lolly-gagging in the lower right. Showing his boredom with show business.

Woody says, "Take it easy...but take it!".

Big time publicity photo. Woody and Burl Ives tramping it up in Central Park.

The original words to "This Land is Your Land" originally titled "God Blessed America".

Woody in the service, WWII.

Woody in the service of a bigger war.

Woody's cartoon of him singing. Maybe "So Long It's Been Good to Know You"?

BONUS:

Here's a song by Steve Earle called "Christmas in Washington". It was written during Bill Clinton's second election to President. This bootleg concert footage was shot after George W.'s second. It's worth listening to even with no clear picture. It's not about Christmas and it's not about Washington. It's about heroes. It's about Woody. Enjoy.

It was Christmas time in Washington

The Democrats rehearsed

Gettin' in to gear for four more years

Of things not getting worse

Republicans drank whiskey neat

And thank their lucky stars

They said, "He cannot seek another term,

"There'll be no more FDR's"

And I sat home in Tennessee

Just staring at the screen

An uneasy feeling in my chest

Wonderin' what it means

So come back Woody Guthrie

Come back to us now

Tear your eyes from Paradise

And rise again somehow

If you run into Jesus

Maybe he can help us out

Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

I followed in your footsteps once

Back in my younger days

Somewhere I failed to find your trail

Now I'm stumblin' through this haze

But there's killers on the highway now

And a man can't get around

So I sold my soul for wheels that roll

Now I'm stuck here in this town

There's foxes in the henhouse

Cows out in the corn

The unions have been busted

Their proud red banners torn

If you listen to the radio

You'd think that all was well

But you and me and Cisco know

It's goin' straight to hell

Come back Emma Goldman

Rise up Old Joe Hill

The Barricades are going up

And they cannot break our will

Come back to us Malcolm X

And Martin Luther King

We're marching into Selma

As the bells of freedom ring

Happy Independence Day!

A happy 233rd birthday to this tired old country of ours. To Uncle Sam, Columbia, their 3 kids (Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness) standing here amongst the amber waves of grain, beneath their purple mountains majesty, stretching from sea to shining sea!

Yes, she's tired and yes she's got some miles on her, but she still looks damn good.

As far as a National Anthem?

I think "The Star Spangled Banner" is a better poem than it is a song, it's too hard to sing.

"God Bless America"? I like the sentiment and Kate Smith could belt the hell out of it, but I take umbrage to the idea we have to seek protection from a higher power instead of getting done what needs to be done on our own. That's for 12 step programs, not us of the "good ol' American ingenuity".

I still favor "This Land is Your Land". Some say it's a cynical view from a leftist, satirizing it's surface meaning. I say horseshit. I think Woody is saying this country is great, but it's got some real troubles. But because it's great, we can fix those troubles. It's worth fixing. It's worth working on. It's worth doing.

Here's a couple versions of the song for you to judge by yourselves.

Here's a montage video with Woody himself warbling away these respectful, insightful, funny and true lyrics.



And here's a more recent video of Woody's son Arlo singing the song with Pete Seeger helping along. Just check out ol' Pete flailing on that banjo and raising his voice so all can hear, like he just heard the song for the first time. Great stuff.



Happy birthday America. And when I say that I mean all of you who are America. They said you would never make it. Look at you go.