Pete Seeger on God, religion, and music

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Pete Seeger on God, religion, and music
Fri, 06-29-2007 - 1:30pm

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/198/story_19846_1.html

from the interview:

"Pete Seeger's Session
A Beliefnet interview with the great folk singer on God, religion, and whether music can change the world.

Interview by Wendy Schuman

Pete Seeger, America's best-loved folk singer, has lived long enough to go from being jailed and blacklisted in the 1950s for his political beliefs to receiving Kennedy Center honors and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the '90s. His message-filled songs ("Turn, Turn, Turn," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," "If I Had a Hammer," among hundreds of others) have been a fixture of every progressive social movement, from labor and civil rights to peace and environmentalism. Now almost 88, Seeger lives on a mountain in upstate New York where he chops his own firewood and takes part in the Beacon Sloop Club, a branch of the Clearwater organization he spearheaded in 1969 with the aim of cleaning up the Hudson River. Though in a Beliefnet phone interview he occasionally spoke of a failing memory and a worn-out voice, he was eloquent as he defined his life's purpose: "trying to raise people's spirits" and "urging all religions to tolerate talking with each other."

(interview continues...)

I really enjoyed reading this interview, about his life a bit and his own spiritual journey and perspective. I miss greats like Pete in the folk singer tradition, that reflected commentary on the world, and belief in making it a better place. I met him once after a concert of folk music many decades ago. I felt power from him. Gentle loving power. He reminds me of the optimism and hope and positive outlook of the "hippie" era that I knew. It's good to feel that again through his words and the memories. :P

Gypsy
)O(




Edited 6/29/2007 1:35 pm ET by gypsywolfwoman


Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(