I think I could say somethin’ if you know what I mean
But if I really say it, the radio won’t play it
Unless I lay it between the lines
Folk Music
Malvina Reynolds | Love Is Something (Magic Penny)
From the 1966 album 'Sings The Truth'
Shine on Harvest Moon
Remember what happened to those people on Prairie Home Companion who refused to sing, Shine on Harvest Moon – they were forced to listen it forever.
The KKK-Fueled Peekskill Riots, 70 Years Later – The Forward
Yet Peekskill’s accomplished natives are only part of its history, one of the most notable parts of which was a stain on post-war America. There are probably not many people alive today who remember it; perhaps long-time, aging residents or scholars of American social or musical history. It is a story of terror, a cautionary tale for an America in which vituperation barely tries to pass for civilized discourse.
It happened exactly 70 years ago, beginning on August 27, 1949. The prominent black singer and actor Paul Robeson, along with other artists such as Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays and Pete Seeger, was scheduled to give an open-air concert in Peekskill. This was not the first time that Robeson was to appear in the Peekskill area. Indeed, it was to be the fourth Robeson concert in as many summers. The nearby Mohegan Colony, a cooperative community that served as an experiment in egalitarian living and child rearing, had hosted the concert in 1946. In 1947, the site was Peekskill Stadium, and in 1948 it was in nearby Crompond.
Hazard, Kentucky
I think more songs have been written about Hazard, Kentucky than any other town in America. Well, except maybe for Nashville.
Eric Andersen – Thirsty Boots (‘Bout Changes ‘n’ Things )
You've long been on the open road you've been sleepin' in the rain
From dirty words and muddy cells your clothes are soiled and stained
But the dirty words and the mud of cells will soon be judged insane
So only stop and rest yourself and you'll be off again
What Are You Fighting For – YouTube
"Turn on your tv, turn it on so loud
And watch the fool a smiling there and tell me that you're proud
And listen to your radio, the noise it starts to pour
Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?"
"Read your morning papers, read every single line
And tell me if you can believe that simple world you find
Read every slanted word till your eyes are getting sore
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?"
"And listen to your leaders, the ones who won the race
As they stand right there before you and lie into your face
If you ever try to buy them, you know what they stand for
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?"
"Put ragged clothes upon your back and sleep upon the ground
And tell police about your rights as they drag you down
And ask them as they lead you to some deserted door
Yes, I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fightin' for?"
"But the hardest thing I'll ask you, if you will only try
Is take your children by their hands and look into their eyes
And there you'll see the answer you should have seen before
If you'll win the wars at home, there'll be no fighting anymore."