Pete Seeger is my all time favourite songwriter. Not just because of some of the wonderful rousing lyrics he's come up with, but also because of the person he is. He has faught for so many important causes and even at such an old age he continues to do so. He supported the civil rights movement, the anti-vietnam movement and continues his fight for the environment and withdrawal from Iraq. Not only that, but when I wrote to him and told him what an inspiration he was to me as a songwriter, he actually found time to write back to me, and told me 'I'm a lucky man to get a letter from someone like you'. I cried. so yeah. discuss...
Pete Seegar is the reason I still have a heart. I have a friend whose a Trotskyist, whose parents were Stalinists in the YCL, which Pete Seegar was in, and he said that he actually knew Pete for a while when my friend lived in New York.
Some film maker friends of mine told me the story of how Pete always drives slowly in his electric car to annoy the police, who think he can't drive faster because it's electric.
Pete's pretty rad! although he did try and cut the cables on my man Bob that one time...(that electric car anecdote makes up for it though )
I remember first hearing him sing in a documentary about "The Internationale", in which he sang the original French version. He was one of the bests. RIP Pete Seeger.
^ Great Documentary, and a unique take on the Song by Pete Seeger. He likes the french lyrics, and he likes the song to be very free-flowing, not march-like. And a very touching story from the OP, thank you for sharing that, it moved me very much. He was my introduction into Leftist Music and he's one of my favorite artists of all time. A real genuine person who fought till the end of his days for many valiant causes that he truly believed in. I generally don't cry tears of joy when I listen to music, but whenever I hear Pete Seeger sing This Land is Your Land or We Shall Overcome I get these weird feelings of Hope and Love for my fellow man, that I just start welling up in my eyes and getting emotional about the prospect of a better world based on Love and Respect. Thank you for the message Pete, and RIP.
