TGIF

I was sick this week with a cold that settled in my chest. Sunday was a lazy day, barely moving about at all except to let Lucy out for a pee. I watched a lot of recorded programs on the television, notably, for this post, a John Sebastian special on Folk Music (PBS). It was extremely bitter sweet to see...so many of the singers and songs from my teen years, and the artists that I emulated when I was playing music with friends, and later, publicly. The Lovin' Spoonful, The Kingston Trio; The Limelighters were early influences and music that my parents listened to. Those early ballads and songs adopted and adapted by white American folk singers also had a common style: smooth (too smooth), mournful, too removed from their origins to feel authentic. I didn't know that then because this was the first time I'd heard many of the tunes. One of the reasons I grew bored with folk music of America was because it became, well, boring for me. Too slow, too down tempo, too mournful. Some songs endure for me, of course, and this one is particularly bitter sweet.

 One of the songs I sang often was Guthrie's Deportee. I was all about folk music with a social conscience. It was a great song for my voice, but after some time I just felt sad when I sang it, so I dropped it from my song list. It is a fine, song, however, and so I'll include it here.

  And what, I ask you, has changed? The music of Peter, Paul and Mary, the artists mentioned above, the adapted folk music sung by Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, these informed my view of America and the world. They were songs that called out social injustice and clamored for change. Maybe I'm under the influence of my illness still, maybe melconcholy from my recent relationship split, maybe being in a new town and state and still finding my way, but I'm just not feeling all that warm and fuzzy about the human race as a whole. Of course our President and Republicans in Congress aren't lifting my mood either. The rich keep getting richer and the poor get poorer. This song, written in 1934 by Goebel Reeves, still rings true in 2019. I performed this song, in a workshop, for Ronnie Gilbert who was leading the day-long workshop way back in the early 1990s. Mary McCaslin was also in that workshop and she and I worked on a song together (Ronnie asked us to) and performed it later in the day. I have no recollection what song that was! But I'll always remember with great happiness that Ronnie thought I ought to be performing. She said, "I don't care if it's in somebody's house, but you've got to be singing." I may not have followed Ronnie's advice, but I sure still enjoy music. And I sing in the shower. Here's what I finally listened to in order to lift my spirits and steady my heart.