Tag Archives: Pete Seeger

Yesterday: Peace Song of the Day 9/3/2011

Susanna, Duchess of Peace writes: I designed The Royal Peace Song of the Day project partly to give myself some self discipline in posting regularly to this website. It has worked in some measure. Though, I guess I have not perfected the task, since this is not the first time I am publishing a song of the day for yesterday, today.

In honor of the poignant striving inside my failure, the Peace Song of the Day for yesterday, September 3rd, is “Yesterday” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. You can find the lyrics to this song in the “Hard Times and Blues” section of the Rise Up Singing songbook, on page 106. I can guess that someone, somewhere in the world, actually sang that song yesterday!

More about this song of the day, and where to find more like it… Continue reading Yesterday: Peace Song of the Day 9/3/2011

Goodnight Irene: Royal Song of the Day 08/28/2011

“Goodnight, Irene” is The Royal Song of the Day for Sunday, August 28th. You can find the lyrics to this song at Rise Up Singing on page 132. The Duke and Duchess of Peace are dedicating this song to the hurricane (and tropical storm) named Irene, and to the folks she affected. A lot of other folks on social media have sung this song in the past few days, as well.



More about this song, and why the Duke and Duchess picked it… Continue reading Goodnight Irene: Royal Song of the Day 08/28/2011

Royal Song of the Day: Tuesday 8/9/2011

Where Have All The Flowers Gone is the Royal Song of the Day for Tuesday, August 9th. You can find the lyrics at Rise Up Singing on page 165.

Below are a few video samples of Pete Seeger singing this song he wrote…

Pete Seeger singing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone”, on stage with his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and with Arlo Guthrie. As posted at an Arlo family Youtube channel:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXqTf8DU6a0] Continue reading Royal Song of the Day: Tuesday 8/9/2011

Song of the Day: Saturday 7/23/11

Banks of Marbleis the Royal Song of the Day. This song was written by Les Rice. You can find this song on page 180 of Rise Up Singing. It’s still hot out. Just like yesterday. And entirely coincidentally we are on the next page of Rise Up Singing from yesterday.  My friend Linda introduced me to this song last week.

I spend a good part of my daylight hours helping people deal with their mortgage banks.  The mortgage industry is such a disaster because everything is broken up between different corporations so no one has any responsibility.  The simplest explanation of the mortgage industry is that it is broken up between two different entities: 1) the investor who owns the promissory note and 2) the servicer who is basically a bill collector.  You only get to deal with the front man, the servicer, rather than the investor who holds the real power.  If you try to contact the investor, they give you a Sgt. Shultz “I know nothing attitude.” The servicers are byzantine, disorganized, redundant, bureaucratic and sometimes arbitrary.  Occasionally, I will hop over to Linda’s office to express my frustration. Her response was to introduce me to this song which, like so many great songs, was popularized by Pete Seeger:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-o3CJytIPE]  Continue reading Song of the Day: Saturday 7/23/11

Royal Song of the Day: Thursday 7/21/11

Glacier
Image by Tolka Rover via Flickr

“If I Had A Hammer” is the Royal Song of the Day for today. You can find this song on page 215 of Rise Up Singing.

I chose this song to continue the idea that singing out will keep us cool. Also, because it has such bold images and patterns, I think it would be a great song to make new lyrics for.

So, this week, while the temps in New York (and elsewhere) are in the 90’s, I am going to sing… Continue reading Royal Song of the Day: Thursday 7/21/11

“I ain’t gonna study war no more”: Peace Song for 7/19/2011

“Study War No More” is the Royal Song of the Day. It’s a classic (well, make that a “traditional”, identified as a Black Spiritual). And, the song can be found in Rise Up Singing on page 163.

Here is a youtube video of Mahalia Jackson singing “Study War No More“:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nASMNYM8tn8] Continue reading “I ain’t gonna study war no more”: Peace Song for 7/19/2011

Peace Song of the Day: Sunday 7/17/2011

Woody Guthrie NYWTSDuke Augustus: Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) by Woody Guthrie. This song was chosen from Duchess Susanna’s copy of  Rise Up Singing .  This poem was written by Guthrie in response to the 1948 plane crash.  Over 60 years later, we are still fighting the same battle.  Ten years latter, Martin Hoffman wrote the music.  Pete Seeger and Woody’s son, Arlo, have popularized the song. Unfortunately, the racist attitudes in this song are as common today as they were when they were written 60 years ago.

This is video is a little shaky, but worth it to hear Arlo explain about how his father wrote the song:  Continue reading Peace Song of the Day: Sunday 7/17/2011