We Need More Pete Seegers - Reader comments at The New York Sun

Reader comment on:
Seeger Speaks — and Sings — Against Stalin
in response to reader comment: A chance to remake the world?

Submitted by Don, Feb 28, 2008 09:25

When I was a kid in the 60's I learned to play the guitar with one of his books and a lot of his songs. His message and music has always been on the side of freedom, rights, and peace. I know there were many people from my generation that also held these beliefs. Where are they now when we need them most?

His song about Old Joe:

He ruled with an iron hand / He put an end to the dreams / Of so many in every land / He had a chance to make / A brand new start for the human race / Instead he set it back / Right in the same nasty place / I got the Big Joe Blues / (Keep your mouth shut or you will die fast) / I got the Big Joe Blues / (Do this job, no questions asked) / I got the Big Joe Blues.

Does this sound familiar folks? Just change the name.
Here's a bit from another timely Seeger song, "Big Muddy":

Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on.
Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on!

So how're you all doing out there in the Big Muddy?

Pete was instrumental (no pun intended) in bringing about many great changes for the better in our country. Our country needs more leaders like him, right now. You should all be thanking Mr.Seeger.

Thank you Mr. Seeger

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Other reader comments on this article

Comment	By	Date
While I am sure I am not as learned as Mr.Radosh about the timeline of Pete Seegers life I believe... [MORE]	Vinnie Cangemi	Feb 29, 2008 01:13
"Time for Pete Seeger To Repent." In my youth it was a communist's duty to openly "confess" his sins against the... [MORE]	Alan II	Feb 28, 2008 07:57
In my younger years I was a Seegerholic. I couldn't get enough of the man. I loved his music, his... [MORE]	E.M. Bennatan	Feb 19, 2008 04:43
Like Ron Radosh, I grew up admiring Pete Seeger and--as a folksinger myself--deplored the fact that the blacklist limited his... [MORE]	John B. Sprung	Sep 4, 2007 15:31
Hi Ron, forgive my ignorance, but have you vocally denounced Bush for the atrocities committed in Cuba and Iraq? [MORE]	James	Sep 4, 2007 14:01
It takes a true son of the Party to equivocate Guantanamo with the GuLag: Guantanamo, whose inmates gain weight while... [MORE]	Ed	Sep 5, 2007 10:45
This is why I read The Sun... Ed, please run for office... the higher the better! [MORE]	alan	Sep 9, 2007 20:56
Folks, Pete never advocated for a violent overthrow of the US government. He did support a socialist agenda and working... [MORE]	Lou Farrell	Sep 3, 2007 20:33
...and intellectual honesty to see that you have been wrong about something and to actually admit it. Kudos to Mr.... [MORE]	Audrey	Sep 3, 2007 19:50
all the self-righteous people of course will put down Pete for not having spoken up earlier--even though he is know... [MORE]	dvid still	Sep 3, 2007 19:02
Mr. Seeger has, however tardy the revelation, come to see the light. Ours is not to wonder why now but... [MORE]	Trotting Mercury	Sep 3, 2007 13:18
Seeger had hoped... that both Khrushchev and later Gorbachev would "open things up." RD. Krushchev tried in his erratic half-hearted way,... [MORE]	Roger DesMoulins	Sep 2, 2007 17:56
I had the opportunity awhile back to work with Pete S. on a project. Although I disagreed with almost all... [MORE]	Tim Idd.	Aug 31, 2007 23:10
A friend in Estonia told me once that during the years of Soviet Occupation, twenty percent of the population disappeared,... [MORE]	George French	Aug 31, 2007 15:17
When the Conservatives of this country apologize for rolling into bed with Mussolini, Franco, and Hitler, then I'll look to... [MORE]	Grif	Sep 3, 2007 04:44
Seeger is, if nothing else, a mover, who throughout his life keeps moving right. And while he is way to... [MORE]	Ignatiur R Grace	Aug 31, 2007 14:56
Seeger may have been the most visible of a number of folksingers who dedicated themselves to criticising an imperfect West... [MORE]	Doug Huggins	Aug 31, 2007 13:52
It is wonderful, not to mention surprising, that Mr. Seeger will allow to criticism. Good for you, Mr. Seeger, and... [MORE]	Dan Davis	Aug 31, 2007 13:08
While Seeger is to be commended for his belated admission of remaining silent about Stalin's horrors, read more carefully, he... [MORE]	Mike Perry, Inkling Books, Seattle	Aug 31, 2007 11:43
Better late than never. Thumbs up to Mr. Seeger [MORE]	Sean	Aug 31, 2007 11:31
Dear Ron,Thanks for the update on Pete. As is occurring in my own life, as we get older it's important... [MORE]	George Fletcher	Aug 31, 2007 11:28
Total nonsense. Like a true aparatchik, he kept his mouth shut when it could have done any good, and only... [MORE]	tom	Aug 31, 2007 16:29
The song is a worthy effort. But the chance that Stalin had was when he took the wheel of Lenin's... [MORE]	Ed	Sep 6, 2007 10:10
When I was a kid in the 60's I learned to play the guitar with one of his books and...	Don	Feb 28, 2008 09:25
I hate to ruin part of the premise of Ron Radosh's criticism, but Pete Seeger had, in fact, apologized for... [MORE]	Andy Buck	Aug 31, 2007 10:45
I find this moving. I have only met Pete Seeger once - at the Institute of Western American Culture in... [MORE]	Rob Perelli-Minetti	Aug 31, 2007 10:41
Had been living under communism through 1982 I've never dreamt that one day I'll have a warm feeling toward Pete... [MORE]	Tibor Csipan	Aug 31, 2007 09:46
I have always loved Pete's music, agree with his desire for social and civil rights, agreed with his right,... [MORE]	Steve Dickey	Aug 31, 2007 17:53
When ii first became a student at the High School of Music and Art in the early fifties I encountered... [MORE]	leo solomon	Sep 3, 2007 04:59