OT: RIP Pete Seeger

I am not of the same politics as Pete Seeger.

My taste in music does not include a passion for folk tunes.

I cannot help but admire the character of the man. He was true to his beliefs. He was true to his friends. He was true to his family. He was true to his craft. He led the life he wanted to lead with no compromises.

I strongly suspect that he would have been a great guy to share thoughts and experiences with over a few beers in a convivial working man's tavern.

Growing up in NY in the 1960's and 70's, I was associated with Seeger through his Hudson River Sloop project, which was an organization to bring awareness to clean up the Hudson River back when it rivaled Lake Erie for pollution. I was never much into his music though; I play rock/metal.

Pete Seeger was an uncomfortable presence in music. He could have become an immensely wealthy and popular celebrity, but he preferred to champion unpopular ideas. He never sold out.

I did not particularly like his music and performances. But he wrote some great songs like "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "Where have all the Flowers Gone" and "If I had a Hammer."

Never like progressives so I miss him not.

which leads to the question...

Why has there never been any Republican folk singers?

Pete Seeger.....Joan Baez.....Communists

Dylan wrote protest songs, but loved his music, so he gets a pass

I count myself A fiscal conservative. That doesn't mean that I can't support a lot of his causes or love his music. RIP, Pete!

@Motor; I think they turned to country instead

@Motorhead: Folk singers from the 60's sang about peace and love, and were economic socialists. It's hard to be a Republican with those values. But today we have Ted Nugent. Of course, Ted is very anti-drug so he really doesn't count as a musician.

@zipperhead aka comicbookguy (or should that be graphicnovelguy?)

you crack me up. after your whining tantrum about Ted Nugent you post this troll baiting “So what...the dude could sing” thread. troll on comrade, troll on.

Before my time... and I am old!

I will say this for him he was not a hypocrite. He talked the talk and walked the walk. Barbara Streisand preaches everyone must not use energy or water and we must give all our money to the government to be "redistributed" but lives on a private compound that consumes enough water and power for a small town and owes millions in back taxes.

The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money with the people in charge ending up with the lions share. Communism has always just been another name for a dictatorship.

Remember only a rich country can afford to have environmental and social consciousness.

I'm too young for this. What did he do?

Pete Seeger probably hit his musical ppeak in the mid-60s to the end of the 70s. Besides the composing work that he did, he was also a member of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary.

On the ecological front, he established the foundation that built the Hudson River Sloop CLEARWATER that raised awareness of pollution issues on the Hudson River - right in your backyard Esta unless I am mistaken.

You're suggesting that Pete Seeger and Peter Yarrow are the same guy?

I don't think so.

On the other hand, PPM did sing some Pete Seeger songs, and traveled in the same circles.

I'm sure there were people who loved the guy, and I'm sorry for their loss.

When a work of art is truly good, then 10 different people will see it 10 different ways. Good art brings out the the uniqueness of people. It doesn't try to put exactly the same thought into different peoples' heads. I agree with some of his goals, but Pete Seeger was mostly a propagandist.

@4oureyes: Ack! Senior brain fart! Thanks for catching that.

@ATACdawg -- were you puffin' the magic dragon when you wrote that?

(Alas, the song is not a drug reference but it would be coo-el if it was)

@DoctorPhil -- hmm...bringing up a thread from a few days ago. Do you lurk incessantly and then just post to bitch?

Yep. I told people what I think about Nugent. So what? I think the dude is obnoxious. Disagree? Say what you want. Or don't. Whatever you want dude. I stuff here because I find posting to be a diversion. I don't pretend it is anything more

And yeah, I'm trolling... 16 replies to this thread (not counting mine) only one of which bitches about me "trolling". Some people saying they don't like Seeger's politics. That's cool. Their opinion. Others just describing who he is to somebody that asked. Yep...a clear troll thread. I think Inigio Montoya had somethin' to say about you.

Oh, and Esta, Seeger really was a Communist. Zip just didn't say that as hyperbole.

Seeger was actually a member of the Communist Party of America in his younger days.

@Zip: Only while I was living by the sea in a land called Hon-a-lee :-)

Seeger, whether one agreed or disagreed with his beliefs, was a person true to those beliefs and an extraordinarily talented performer and writer in American folk music, influential over many figures in popular music of the 60s, 70s and 80s and of course a giant of the early-60s Folk Music boom. His was a good life and a long one. He barely outlived his wife of 70 years by 6 months... I suppose he may not have felt like sticking around much longer without her at his age.

@motorhead: Indeed. People may not know, or forget, he was honest-to-goodness card-carrying CPUSA of the late 30s/early 40s brand, when people thought that was the way to save the workers and prevent fascism. He also was, like a whole lot of mainstream Americans, actively opposed to joining in on the war until Pearl Harbor happened; he then enlisted and served. After the 1950s as the Soviets showed their true colors he left organized "Party" communism but retained the philosophical beliefs -- he stood firm at the Congressional Committee; but by 1982 was playing at benefits for the Polish Solidarity movement.

So let me get this straight-Good ol' peace loving Pete Seeger served in the military but guns and ammo Ted Nugent didn't? Kinda like all of them chicken hawk Republicans.