He Was One of the Good Ones

The title of this post is a quote from one of the comments in a blog post I was reading earlier this morning following the passing of Pete Seeger. That quote pretty much sums it up, I think. He cared about people, he cared about this planet we all share, and he tried to teach us, using the universal language of music, how to live together.

He established a real trend among many musicians with his activism, and I find it funny that there are people out there that like to berate musicians for taking a stand on things (actually, it seems that those who make the loudest noise about it are on the right, even though they have their poster children that speak out about certain causes - but, ironically, they are often causes that are not in the best interests of society as a whole). I can't say that my particular political views are linked directly to Pete - I knew some songs he had written, but they had been covered by other artists when I became aware of them. But from what I know of him, we think a lot alike in many respects.

Frankly, some of today's performers could probably take a lesson or two from Mr. Pete Seeger. I could be wrong, but I don't see the likes of Miley, Justin, or Kanye having the level of social consciousness I see in performers like CSNY, Jackson Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Bono, Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters, and so many others from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. And these artists that I "grew up" with continue doing these things to this day. I'm not saying that these younger performers aren't involved in social causes, but they do not seem to be as obvious from where I sit - and, in my opinion, that's a problem. 

"It troubled him, it troubled him deeply, that technology was so advanced, that our emotional state was so inadequate to cope that, with the push of a button, in a fit of rage, we could wipe ourselves off the face of the Earth. And he really wanted to fix that, and always felt like he failed." - Tao Rodríguez-Seeger (Pete's grandson)

Thank you, Mr. Seeger, for working to make the world a better place. We've got a long way to go, but we're a little closer to the goal because of you.