Later You Can Say You Didn't Know

Peggy Seeger

Protest Songs for the Current Crisis

Resistance needs to be strong and constant. I was wondering what I could do to lend more positive noise to the fray.

For 38 years I hosted a roots/folk/Americana show, Caterwaul, on WWUH. I play some music on my current show, Hoot and Holler, at WESU, but time and interviews mean that ability to spin songs is limited.

In asking myself what I could add to the resistance movement that stood out from the all the other necessary and important messages, I realized in my 40 years of broadcasting, I've assembled a long list of what is known as protest, political or topical song. I've decided to share some of them with you, one at a time, with some context.

Not every protest songs addresses our current dire situation. Some are more specific to an incident or a personality, and remain rooted to that history. The sad news is that some are so universal that despite being written decades ago, they still resound loudly today, which means things haven't gotten better.

The Song of Choice

Peggy Seeger performs Song of Choice live.

This song was written by Peggy Seeger, 89, in 1973 for an annual political revue called Festival of Fools and presented by the Critics Group. Peggy may not be as well-known or universally-recognized as her brother Pete (folk musician Mike Seeger, who was a founder of the New Lost City Ramblers, is also a sibling). She was married to and was a musical partner of Ewan MacColl (First Time Ever I Saw Her Face, Dirty Old Town). Peggy was, like MacColl and her brother, a powerful songwriter and performer. She performed on more than seventy albums. About Song of Choice, she wrote: "this song brings up the ever pertinent point of personal political responsibility." It shames people who would sit by as fascism creeps back. Get the point?

Early every year, seeds are growing

Unseen, unheard, they lie beneath the ground

Would you know before the leaves are showing

That with weeds all your garden will abound?

If you close your eyes, stop your ears

Hold your mouth, how can you know?

The seeds you cannot see may not be there

The seeds you cannot hear may never grow

In January you've still got the choice

You can cut the weeds before they start to bud

If you leave them to grow higher, they'll silence your voice

And in December you may pay with your blood

Close your eyes, stop your ears

Close your mouth and take it slow

Let others take the lead and you bring up the rear

And later you can say you didn't know

Everyday another vulture takes flight

There's another danger born every morning

In the darkness of your blindness the beast will learn to bite

How can you fight if you can't recognize a warning?

Close your eyes, stop your ears

Close your mouth and then you know

Let others take the lead and you bring up the rear

And later you can say you didn't know

Today you may earn a living wage

Tomorrow you may be on the dole

Though there's millions going hungry, you needn't disengage

For it's them, not you, that's fallen in the hole

It's alright for you if you run with the pack

It's alright if you agree with all they do

If the fascist's party slowly climbing back

It's not here yet, so what's it got to do with you?

The weeds are all around us and they're growing

It will soon be too late for the knife

If you leave them on the wind that around the world is blowing

You may pay for your silence with your life

Close your eyes, stop your ears

Close your mouth, they're never there

And if it happens here, they'll never come for you

Because they'll know you really didn't care

I first heard the song in 1983 as recorded by Scots singer-songwriter Dick Gaughan on his amazing album A Different Kind of Love Song (one of my all-time favorites). His rich baritone, and strident delivery give the lyrics an added power. It's positioned on the album as the center of a triptych of songs, bookended by Oswald Andrae's Prisoner 562 and Gaughan's own, The Father's Song. I've always found the three songs breathtaking.

Solas also does an amazing version.

Listen carefully. There's a message we need to hear clearly today.