Folk Music?

During a fit of insomnia, I watched one of the semi-annual PBS pitches for funding.  The hawking was wrapped around a retrospective show of the folk-music craze of the late 1950s and 60s.  It was hosted by John Sebastian.  The show was a fascinating look at a phenomenon that I remembered as reflecting and to some degree encouraging the peace and civil rights movements.  I was surprised to hear how bland the music was. Many of the songs had no edge or grit.  The performers often seemed smug and cute.  “If I had a Hammer”, sung by Trini Lopez was a great example of a fine song being trivialized.   In fact, some of it was just silly, e.g., “Don’t Let the Rain Fall Down, “and   “Tom Dooley.” To include these novelty songs with Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” in the same category does an injustice to some really good music. 

There were, however,  some notable exceptions to the white-bread nature of this music. One was “Kingston Town” by Harry Balafonte.  In the video of him performing the song, he was smooth and handsome and he had a wonderful smoky voice.  Another was Jesse Colin Young singing “Get Together,” which became an anthem for peace and brotherhood.  Young continues to have a great voice and passion to go with it.  There was a duet of Pete Seeger and Judy Collins singing “Turn! Turn! Turn!”  Seegar had written the melody for the song, the lyrics of which came from the biblical Ecclesiastes. Collins’ voice was pure and without the cold edge that had come to characterize her more mature voice.  However, this beautiful song was like easy listening music.  In contrast, Roger McGuinn reprised the Byrds’ rock-tinged, grittier version of the song. It was a wonderful contrast to the Collins-Seeger rendition and it was apparent that the Byrds had transformed the song’s lyricism with musical power. 

The most powerful portion of the show, however, was sung by, of all people, Bobby Darin.  This rat-pack-in-waiting singer had written one of the most potent lyrics for “A Simple Song of Freedom:”

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war

Hey there, Mister Black Man can you hear me?
I don't want your diamonds or your game
I do want to be someone known to you as me
and I will bet my life you want the same

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war

Seven hundred million are enlisted
Most of what you read, most of what you read, is made of lies
But speaking one to one, ain't it everybody's sun
To wake to in the morning when we rise?

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung, never sung, before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war

No doubt some folks enjoy doin' battle
Like presidents, prime ministers and kings
So let's all build them shelves so they can fight among themselves
and leave us be those who want to sing

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never, ever, sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never, ever, sung before
Speaking one to one
Ain't it everybody's sun
To wake to in the morning when we rise
Speaking one to one
Ain't it everybody's sun
To wake to in the morning when we rise

This powerful paean to peace and freedom stills strikes home some 50 years later.  It surprised me that Darin, a wannabe Vegas entertainer, penned this and had the chutzpah to sing it on national television.  Go Bobby Darin!  I hope that it might be heard by Bush/ Obama, Kim Jong Il, Ahmajinedad, Netanyahu,  Bin Laden, the pope,  radical Christians and Muslims to name just a few of the tyrants and warmongers on the world stage today.