My Song Is My Weapon: People's Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture, 1930-50

by Robbie Lieberman

Book Overview

A revealing exploration of the origins and development of People's Songs, Inc., "My Song Is My Weapon won the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award. Robbie Lieberman brings to life the hootenannies, concerts, and rallies of the time, paying special attention to the politics of culture of the Old Left. Her analysis of the communist movement culture, coupled with interviews with former members of People's Songs, sheds new light on Cold War America, the American...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252065255
• ISBN13: 9780252065255
• Release Date: August 1995
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Can the World Change because of a Song?

Since there is no photo listed for this item, I shall physically explain it as well. This book is a 6"x 9" paperback with a red cover in which is inset a repro of the Almanac Singers' LP "Songs for John Doe". It was published in 1995 and is 165 pages long. It's a very good history of the cross-fertilization of folk music involving Charles Seeger, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie, and how Pete and Woody's music evolved from earlier folk music. There's a very good slice of American Communist history. You also get a good sense of hindsight when Pete Seeger is asked what would he do differently, and he says with understatement "I wouldn't have the faith in Joseph Stalin I had in 1937." Although somewhat nostalgic, this book is politically neutral and is interested in expressing what people, who were attached to People's Songs, remember of it's significance in their lives. I initially read this book because of it's discussion of the Songs written by Pete, Woody, Yip Harburg, and Paul Robeson, that were used in Henry Wallace's Presidential Campaign of 1948. But I stayed for it's greater discussion of the power of songs to stand for peace, and a community that unites, rather than the usual two person isolated "i love you, you love me" pop song ideal. I found it was also a great book to explain what the heck hootenannies really were. It has great Pete and Woody thoughts on what makes a great song. And it explains why labor ultimately didn't/couldn't adopt the songs. Behind "People's Songs" was a great idea. Songs like "We Shall Overcome", "Where have all the Flowers Gone" and "If I had A Hammer" could (and did) change the world. I went to every Washington DC Anti-Vietnam War Rally in the Sixties, and a big reason we all went, the intellectual ice cream after the activist's march was to hear what Pete had to "say" with his songs. So then did John Lennon's "Imagine" change the world (ClearChannel still has a pro-war ban on playing "Imagine" on all 1,200 radio stations it owns: Imagine!), and so now can Michael Franti's "Bomb the World" (Spearhead, "Everyone Deserves Music" CD). The American Right likes to use old songs of the Left. This book points out that "The Star-Spangled Banner" took the melody of an old drinking song, showing that it is a song that basically belongs to the people. Singers of "This Land is Our Land" usually omit two verses that would upset the Right greatly if sung. These two missing verses are actually listed in Howard Zinn's terrific new book "Voices of A People's History of the United States". In the end, this book is great in helping you examine, from a different perspective than economic, the true untapped power of a simple song for guiding any Social or Economic Justice strategic initiative.