I’m embarrassed to admit that I know even less about Folk Music than I do about Theoretical Physics. (I flunked Physics 101.) But it’s a testament to the impact Pete Seeger had beyond his genre that I know far more about him than I do about Stephen Hawking.
I actually began singing the Seeger song “If I Had a Hammer” as a child, in Sunday school, long before I knew who he was.
If I had a hammer
I’d hammer in the mornin’
I’d hammer in the evenin’
All over this land
I’d hammer out danger
I’d hammer out a warnin’
I’d hammer out the love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land….
But I was truly amazed to learn years later that he was more responsible for popularizing the visionary civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome,” than anyone else.
In so many ways he used his signature, five-string banjo music more as a tonic for social justice than as a balm for entertainment. And he was not modest about its impact. Here, for example, is what he told The Associated Press in 2008:
The idea of using music to try to get the world together is now all over the place.
Indeed, as is the case with folk singer Joan Baez, who is arguably his female equal, I suspect most people associate Seeger more with social activism (from peace protests to environmental protection) than with Folk Music.
After all, this unabashed troubadour was in the vanguard of so many causes for social justice over his long career that it came as no surprise to see him leading a march of Occupy Wall Street protesters in 2011, when he was already over 90 years old.
Over the years, Pete used his voice — and his hammer — to strike blows for worker’s rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation. And he always invited us to sing along. For reminding us where we come from and showing us where we need to go, we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger.
This is how President Obama paid tribute to Seeger in a January 28 statement published on whitehouse.gov. (For a more popular perspective, if Bono continues using his/U2’s music as a tonic to help end conflicts, alleviate poverty, and promote sustainable development around the world, a similar tribute might be paid to him upon his death.)
Seeger died on Monday of natural causes at hospital in New York City. He was 94.
Farewell, Pete.