\"Writing.Com
*Magnify*
SPONSORED LINKS
BY ONLINE AUTHORS
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/greenwillow/day/10-11-2024
Image Protector
\"Reading Printer Friendly Page Tell A Friend
(8)
Rated: 13+ · Book · Music · #2313403
A blog about music from my unique perspective (also a spot for some poetry I’ve written)
A blog, generally about music, usually for projects hosted by Jeff Author Icon. I may also write about the 48-Hour Media Prompt Challenge if I don't feel like writing a story or poem inspired by the given song. Other bits of poetry or different topics of discussion might end up here as well.

Merit Badge in WDC Media Prompt [Click For More Info] Thank you for your participation in the 48-HOUR CHALLENGE: " Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac " Media Prompt hosted by [Link To User support] March 2024! We appreciate that you tackled this challenge... *^*Smile*^* *^*Thumbsupl*^* Merit Badge in WDC Soundtrackers [Click For More Info] Congratulations on successfully completing [Link To Item #soyl] (2024 Edition) by writing all 29 entries during the month of February! Merit Badge in WDC Media Prompt [Click For More Info] Thank you for your participation in the 48-HOUR CHALLENGE: " Daylight by Harry Styles " Media Prompt hosted by [Link To User support] February 2024! We appreciate that you tackled this challenge... *^*Smile*^* *^*Thumbsupl*^* Merit Badge in WDC Media Prompt [Click For More Info] Thank you for your participation in the 48-HOUR CHALLENGE: " Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) by Taylor Swift " Media Prompt hosted by [Link To User support] May 2024! We appreciate that you tackled this challenge... *^*Smile*^* *^*Thumbsupl*^*
Merit Badge in WDC Soundtrackers BoMB [Click For More Info] Congratulations on successfully completing the 2024 [Link To Item #monkeys] challenge! Merit Badge in WDC Media Prompt [Click For More Info] Thank you for your participation in the 48-HOUR CHALLENGE: " Austin by Dasha " Media Prompt hosted by [Link To User support] August 2024! We appreciate that you tackled this challenge... *^*Smile*^* *^*Thumbsupl*^* Merit Badge in Journaling [Click For More Info] Congrats on your Honorable Mention in Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024
Merit Badge in Bee A Rockstar [Click For More Info] We are bee-yond grateful for your generosity and assistance in spreading positivity throughout our community. Thank you for supporting [Link To Item #1979333] through [Link To Item #bees] . Every donation goes directly toward enriching our community. As a token of appreciation for your gift of charity, you are awarded this Bee A Rockstar merit badge. *^*Bee*^* *^*Honey*^* *^*Heart*^* Merit Badge in Blogging [Click For More Info] CONGRATULATIONS on an excellent entry and winning 1st Place in the Flash Blog Contest!
Merit Badge in Resurrection Jukebox [Click For More Info] Congratulations on successfully completing the 2024 edition of [Link To Item #resurrection] !

October 11, 2024 at 6:26am
October 11, 2024 at 6:26am
#1078096
My eighth track is from a defunct band, Peter Paul and Mary. They released If I Had a Hammer in 1962, but it has a history which stretches back thirteen years past this folksy trio.

Originally written by preacher Lee Hays in 1949 and set to music by Pete Seeger, it was viewed with distrust by others, as a progressive rallying cry by an artist with Communist ties. With this understanding, the song was squelched and kept mostly under wraps during the "Red Scare," until Peter Paul and Mary reworked the melody and made it a hit among sixties hippies.

The original author, Hays, only had "brothers" in the lyrics; when women complained it should be more inclusive, he balked and said it didn't flow as well with "brothers and sisters." But Seeger accepted the modification, making it an inseparable part of the song which was then taken up by the trio.

It was rather hard to find the full backstory on this song; I ended up reading an interview with Pete Seeger from the Washington Post all the way back from 1983 to get fascinating firsthand scoop. Link here,  Open in new Window. but it's behind a paywall and you'll have to visit it in Incognito mode and quickly hit the x-shaped "stop loading" button on your browser toolbar to freeze the page so you can read it. Such is the result of a capitalist society…

My mom introduced me to If I Had a Hammer a few years ago. I like it; easy to remember, simple to understand, and a piece of American history from a time of division and unrest. I chose this as having a deeper, more hopeful and more socially aware theme than the other popular Peter Paul and Mary song Puff the Magic Dragon, which made me feel like crying the few times I heard it. If I Had a Hammer, on the other hand, is encouraging and thoughtful.



Words: 325.


© Copyright 2024 Amethyst ❄️ Angel (UN: greenwillow at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Amethyst ❄️ Angel has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/greenwillow/day/10-11-2024