REMEMBERING A LEGEND

                  "SONGWRITERS CAN'T EXPLAIN.  YOU GET AN
                           IDEA AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE
                                 IT COMES FROM.  AND IF YOU ARE
                                       LUCKY, YOU HAVE A PENCIL
                                               OR PEN AND WRITE IT
                                                        DOWN."
                                                                  Pete Seeger

     A commentator made the remark that they will probably give accolades to the passing of Pete Seeger.  I am here to prove him right. 
     WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE, IF I HAD A HAMMER, THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND, and on and on.  Pete Seeger was a major influence on folk music and every generation from the Depression to the Y Generation.
      His politics were too far left for some and not left enough for others.  Thanks God that we are free to love the music and the man freely and recognise what was a true gift to us. 
     A contemporary and traveling friend of Woodie Guthrie, and every folk legend since and including Arlo Guthrie, Pete was a passionate storyteller, musician, and friend to all.
      Traveling with that long neck banjo and writing songs that have become classics he managed to bridge all generations.  What a sad world it would be that we could not love someones songs, passions and opinions if we all had to have the same politics.
     Pete not only had great influence in the music world he was passionate enough to dedicate himself to causes he believed in.  The Hudson River would probably still be a dead open sewer and trash pit if he had not dedicated himself to bringing attention to it.
     Seeger always wanted to be on a personal level with his fans and was dismayed at the emerging of Rock and Roll that elevated the stars high on a platform and the fan way below.  Always a consummate performer he wanted everyone to sing along and feel the music that he played.
     He was a friend of every serious musician and writer.  What do you do when a Pete Seeger song comes on, whether it is him or not?  You may not even know it is his, but it gets your attention and there is no mistaking the feelings behind it.  If it is tragic you feel your heart tug, if it is comedic, you laugh.  If it points out some inequity, you listen.
     At 94 years what a great legacy that will continue through the generations to come.
     Goodbye Pete.