SUMMATION OF THE COURSE, AND THE NATIONAL SCOPE OF P.S. INC PRESENTED BY PETER SEEGER, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PEOPLES SONGS. Peoples Songs is a movement of National scope, covering Chicago, California, NYC, the South, and parts of Canada. Its motto as set forth in their first bulletin is “The People are on the march and must have songs to sing”—or “It is clear that there must be an organization to make and send songs of labor and the American people through the land. To do this job, we have formed PEOPLE’S SONGS, INC.” It takes in the best traditions of the past and goes ahead to make new traditions, and break new paths.
SOURCE Jefferson School of Social Science Newsletter; undated [1946], copy held by R. Cohen.
People’s songs include (as they do in the archives of the P.S. library) topical-political, Union, and folk songs. In this set-up the classical folk-song tradition—pre-industrialized era of ballads and folk song tradition—is only a part of People’s Songs. Cecil Sharpe, who has collected and published three significant volumes on American folk music, talks about the lasting beauty of the folk ballads, and decries their destruction—through parodies and commercial influences. We do too, when that happens; but we recognize the necessity of change, or its inevitability, and with that the importance and responsibility we must assume in seeing that the changes that are made are the right ones.
People’s Songs are international in scope. Songs from India and its India Student Movement use well-established folk themes of India to new words. They have songs of Freedom, Famine Songs, Work or occupational songs and others. In Japan last May-day 500,000 people paraded and sang workers songs. Russia has its own Peoples Artists and Songs, and in our own midst are the songs of various Nationality groups from Europe and South America. Hebrew and Yiddish songs, Negro songs of American and African origin are of great interest to us. Although we are unable to use much of this material because of language difficulties, we recognize our affinity to the songs of all working people.
Songs are often more effective than speeches. Songs say what speeches cannot say, commence where speech fails, and give an emotional drive which unifies.
Use of songs: Peoples Artist performance of solo songs, mass songs lead by song sheets or film strips; for rallies, regular union meetings, to emphasize a particular issue …..
Songs are hard to write. They condense in 3 minutes or so the experience of a movement—a life story—a campaign—etc.
To write a good song one must often pack a strong meaning in a key phrase—in some 3 words or so, as in “Go Down Moses.” In these words is the whole pattern and feeling.
It is a tribute to Foster (Stephen) that some of his songs have lasted. The same is true of some Union songs.
This is because they have something vital to say, in a clear simple, and strong way.
Songs are not made by songwriters alone, but by audiences. The needs of people must tell you what to write—how to write it, and when. In this connection, stirring marches, and serious people’s songs must come from similar feelings. This cannot be artificially achieved—in isolation of a peoples movement. Many songwriters seem to be too subjective to become a part of the peoples struggles, feelings, and movements, and so fail to write the songs which will be picked up and sung by the people ….
Plenty of singing (of a song) will improve it. If changes are allowed to creep in—this can be a polishing process—similar to folk-song ballad forming (in the classical sense). So whatever you, as a songwriter do, get your song sung as much and as often as you can, and be flexible and open in accepting changes.
Since People’s Songs puts a great deal of emphasis on its distribution and creation of topical-political songs it is interesting to see that this is simply the extension of a well founded and sustained tradition.
—It goes back as far as we can see, to anti-war songs of African tribes, satire of tribal poets in primitive civilizations. These songs were usually symbolic in nature, and ostensibly pure lyric in quality—about nature, and love; which, however, pointed a lesson, or through satire got its meaning and emphasis across.
—The English Broadsides and Broadsheets. These are also to be found in New England, and later in such songs as Lincoln and Liberty. (See Brown University Collection of Broadsides).
—Anti-Slavery and Anti-Rent Songs
—The Hutchinsons. A family of topical singers during the Abolitionist era
—The Temperance movement, the woman suffrage movement, etc. The Temperance songs tried to put the drinking songs out of business. Here is a quote” “Cold water, Cold water for me”.
—The Populists 1890—the Knights of Labor—the IWW songs.
—The Depression songs—CCC Blues, WPA Blues, Union Blues, New Deal songs—Roosevelt etc.
—Negro songs of protest (Lawrence Gellert), Dust Bowl songs (Woody Guthrie), Commonwealth College (Lee Hays), Highlander Folk School, American Theatre Wing—(war song period) Almanacs …
—Peoples Songs, organized in Jan. first Bulletin in Feb. 1946.