The Unarmed Rebel

The legendary banjo-playing folk singer is no more with us. Pete Seeger died at a hospital in New York on 27^th January, 2014. The legendary folk-singer who was the voice behind all the songs ‘We Shall Overcome’ and ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?’  was also known for his lifelong fight for civil rights, racial equality and his campaigns for peace, disarmament and cleaner environment. Seeger used folksong as the medium through which he could express his views.

Born in a family where his parents were trained in classical music, Pete Seeger carved out his own niche in folk music and chose folk music as his medium to express and protest. He popularized the 5-string banjo which he heard for the first time at the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in North Carolina. He attended the festival, organized by a local folklorist Liensford while travelling with his father and stepmother. In 1948, Seeger wrote the first version of his classic ‘How To Play The Five-String Banjo’. He later invented the Long-Neck or Seeger Banjo , an instrument that is nearly three-feet longer than a typical banjo and slightly longer than a bass guitar. From the late-1950s, Seeger also began to use the 12-string guitar, an instrument of Mexican origin.

Seeger was influenced by the Marxist ideologies and was a member of the Communist Party even though he later drifted away from the Party. During the infamous McCarthy days, Seeger had to face a lot of humiliation for his Leftist leanings and for being a member of the American Communist Party. He was even sentenced to a one-year jail term in 1962. A multi-faceted personality, Seeger was associated for movements of peace, disarmament and civil rights. His anti-War songs like ‘Where Have All The Flowers Gone?’, ’Turn! Turn! Turn!’ gained wide popularity. His famous song ‘We Shall Overcome’ became the anthem of Civil Rights Movement. He inspired generations of musical icons like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen.

A lifelong opponent of the arms race and war, Seeger vehemently opposed the Vietnam War satirically attacking the U.S Government through his songs. In one of his immortal songs, a soldier coming from a lower-middle class background during the Vietnam War asked his superior “Tell me how to kill, Sergeant, as I have never killed before.” The soldier had learnt from his parentrs not to hurt anyone, let alone kill!

Seeger was also an ardent environmental activist and was associated with the environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, cofounded by him in 1966 to fight against the pollution of Hudson River.

The legendary folksinger came to India twice. In 1966 he had sold out concerts in Kolkata and Delhi. In Delhi he had sung the famous Cuban song of freedom ‘Guantanamera’ on the request of the audience. In Kolkata, to everybody’s surprise, he sang ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram’ and even some nursery rhymes.

With the death of Pete Seeger, the world has lost a great fighter; a hero, who, through his songs, gave us a sense of direction, showed us where we came from and where to go to.