This Land Is Your Land

By now it's old news that Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger and 'Tao Rodriguez Seeger sang Woody Gurthrie's " This Land is Your Land" at Obama's inauguration(Too bad Arlo Guthrie wasn't up there also). Just in case you were out of the loop that day, have forgotten, or haven't gotten enough of it, I've included the You Tube Video of it. But please come back afterward dear reader, since I have something to say about the famous song and our times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl08hEegDu4

It may be symbolism to have 90 year old lifetime folk and topical singer Seeger lead the nation and a slightly nervous and reticent Obama in the greatest people's patriotic song, but it's important symbolism. It's symbolism that feeds into something FDR once said --"I agree, now make me do it." It's symbolism that says if we can sing together, we can work together and make the president do something about our problems.

There is another important symbolism at work. It's about the words to the song. When Woody first wrote the song it said a lot more about the problems of working people than the version we got to know as kids did. The music publishers and record labels want "safe versions" of songs like this. 3 verses were censored out and seldom sung since:

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry,
I stood there asking Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

What's important here about these lyrics is that Pete and Co. didn't take the safe way, they included the censored lyrics. Maybe that's why Obama was a little nervous, (and maybe that's why some progressives voted for Nadir or Green,) but he heard and if he keeps on hearing, "Nobody living can ever stop" us.



Of course you can't sign just part of a song so I'm including here the full lyrics.

Please share them with your friends and please leave comments about this or any other great Woody Guthrie songs that keep running through your brain (like they do mine -- I don't have 60's pop songs running around up there for some reason.) I'll include a link here to a two sites about the song for those that want to know more. For anyone wanting to verify my statements about this song see "Woody Gurthrie, A Life" by Joe Klein Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1980.

The discussion of this song on Truthout can be found at: http://www.truthout.org/011909R

The discussion of this song on Mudcat Cafe can be found at: http://www.truthout.org/011909R



This Land Is Your Land

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie


Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Chorus (2x)

More on Shape Note Singing

Eric, a Shape Note Singer informs us that there is some You Tube posted footage of lasts years Pacific North West Shape Not convention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwNZwUNaJrY

If there are any more interesting posts of Shape Note Singing, Folk Singing or the like please forward them as a comment, and I'll post them.

Shape Note Singing

Shape note singing is a cappella form of singing in four part Harmony, dating to the early days of America. It 's roots lie in the signing schools of New England, but it transplanted itself into the American south and grew into a beautiful, fervent form of spiritual folk music. Most shape note singers use a song book known ass the Sacred Harp, which dates back to before the civil war, although revised editions are used now.

I have been listening to shape note signing for several years now. Some of it was heard on the sound track of Cold Mountain. Alan Lomax in doing recording in the south recorded lots of shape note music, available on various Smithsonian albums.

Listening on the outside of shape note signing its hard to understand what's going on, although it's beauty is obvious. I was able to listen to it live at the Northwest Folk Festival, in Seattle, one year and then I knew it was wonderful. Last May, at the Folk Festival, I was able to participate in a shape note singing workshop, and found that with help from those sitting next to me, I could effectively participate in four part Harmony singing.

It's called shape note signing because of an old tradition going back to New England -- each of the four parts is designated by a shape-- a circle, square, rectangle or triangle. Each group knows what it's part is without professional training.

Shape note signing has spread around the country as a result of the spread of interest since the 1940's in all forms of folk and country music. There are shape note signing groups meeting in churches and other places around the country and occasionally they meet in regional conventions.

Saturday February 14th, 2009 and Sunday the 15th there will be the 17th annual meeting of the Pacific NW Sacred Harp Convention at the Labor Temple in Seattle (2800 1st Ave). It's free and anyone can participate. (Donations are accepted). Song books are available for sale. The registration is at 9AM on Saturday and the signing begins at 9:30AM. It lasts till 3:30 PM with a potluck dinner at noon (in the tradition of the South). The details are the same for Sunday.

Please attend if you can and have an interest. If you know anything or have questions about this form of singing, leave a comment.

For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Harp orhttp://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/harp.html
or http://www.fasola.org/

Scarecrow Video

Scarecrow Video, the largest video store on the West Coast, is based in Seattle's University District. A store dedicated to the love of film - we're home to many events, members of the film community and rare movies you won't find anywhere else. With over 70,000 different titles from around the world, including a large selection of DVDs and DVD players - we have it, or we'll find it.

Film buffs, if your in the Seattle area and you are looking for films to rent or buy, I recommend you visit Scarecrow Video on Roosevelt Ave in the University District. It's the largest video store on the west coast, with over 70,00 different titles. I buy news and used and I rent (although I get a credit each time I buy a new DVD and I haven't worked through all those credits. As a result, my place is begging to look like Scarecrow Video. When I last did a random check of titles I own against Netflick's inventory, Netflicks did not have 20% of the videos or DVD's I own. I attribute that to the wonderful used selection Scarecrow has, with many hard to find items. Naturally the rentals have a great deal of hard to find items.

Here is the contact information for Scarecrow:

http://www.scarecrow.com/

The store is open 364 days a year (11:00am to 11:00pm Sunday through Thursday / 11:00am to 12:00am Friday and Saturday).
5030 Roosevelt Way N.E. / Seattle, WA 98105.
(206) 524-8554
General information: scarecrow@scarecrow.com
Sales: sales@scarecrow.com

There are many ways to keep on hand the DVD's and videos you love: a large store like Scarecrow, a Neflicks membership, the public library if you live in a large urban area, or building a large collection like me.

I'd appreciate any comments people have on their favorite video/DVD source.

10 More Films Ever Catholic Should See after You Get Done With the First Batch

The first ten films (plus alternatives) that I posted yesterday were in response to a request from someone in the parish I go to to recommend ten must see films for Catholics. Occasional film showings there have usually been successful. But for those of you following my recommendations, why stop at the first ten. Here's the next ten in importance.

1. The Decalogue directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. This is actually a set of 10 films originally made for Polish television. Each of the films is under an hour. Kiewslowski is influenced by existentialism and the polish situation as much as he is by Christianity in these films. They were made shortly before the fall of communism, but he didn't seen to be censored significantly, although he had great difficulty getting permission for the filming. The films take place, each to varying extents, in and around a very large housing project so that they have there "coincidence" some overlapping characters. Film V, about a brutal murder of a taxi driver and the equally brutal application of the death penalty is the most accessible of the films, so I recommend you start there.

See http://www.filmref.com/directors/dirpages/kieslowski.html and also http://www.lumiere.net.nz/reader/content/features/decalogue_the_1.html for more information.

2. Luther directed by Eric Till, starting Joseph Fiennes. Why should a Catholic see a film about the man who split the church in the west? For understanding, so that dialogue could ensue. This films shows Luther as passionate and intense and shows his falls and regrets an his accomplishments. While it has some falls in historical emphasis, it doesn't show the Catholic Church as all wrong or Luther as all right. If I were making a list of greatest films, I would not recommend this one, but given the subject, I recommend it.

3. The Passion of Joan of Arc, directed by Carl Dreyer. Silent, black and white. The complete edition was a lost film, destroyed in a fire like Joan. Finally a copy with the directors cut was found in broom closet in an insane asylum. Dryers account minimizes the unnecessary details and focuses on the trial and execution, based on the actual trial transcript. Renee Faconetti, in her only screen performance, portrayed Joan better than anyone before or since. The film jars us with close ups, odd angles, sweeping movements, intense facial expressions and deliberately odd editing. One of the greatest of the silent films.

4. The Mission , directed by Roland Joffe, starting Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons. The Mission , winner of the 1986 Cannes Film Festival Best Picture Award, including best picture shows the brutal colonial subjugation of South American Indians, and the Jesuit opposition to their treatment. It deals with penance, service, violence and non-violence. It's visually a stunning movie.

5. The Quarrel , directed by Eli Cohen. Now I'm recommending Jewish movies for a Catholic film study. This is a wonderful film about a chance reunion of two Holocaust survivors in 1948. While it deals with a question in the Jewish community, I see parallels in the Christian community. One character has become a deeply religious rabbi, and the other a novelist and journalist who, once religious, has turned his back on God. In there disputation they examine good and evil, faith, redemption and friendship.

6. The Passion of Joshua the Jew, directed by Pasquale Scimeca. a brillant film dealing with relations between Jews, Muslims and Christians. The action starts in 1492 Spain and moves to Italy. It traces the journey of a young scholar an important rabbi thinks is the Messiah. Drawing from the Qur'an, the Torah, the Gospels and historical circumstance it portrays his parallel fate to Jesus of Nazareth.

See http://www.italianfilmfestival.co.nz/films/2006/film11.htm for more information.

7. Therese by Alain Cavalier. French with English subtitles. Winner of the 1986 Cannes Film Festival Jury Award. This is a wonderful and focused examination of St. Therese Martin, the Little Flower, who at 15 became a Carmelite nun by special intervention of the Pope. She was called the greatest saint of modern times by Pope Puis XI. Unlike the more recent American film of the same title, this film doesn't deal much with what proceeds Therese's vocation, and focuses on fewer incidents in her life. It therefor portrays her with a greater intensity, more focused on the essentials. It meditates on these essentials.

See http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=5046 for more information.

8. The Message, directed by Moustapha Akkad. Yes, this is the film about Mohammad starting Anthony Quinn. Every Catholic should be well informed not only on their own faith, but about Islam, Judaism and Protestantism. This is the best film ever made about the birth of Islam and whatever one thinks of Islam, one cannot avoid it. As always with Quinn, well acted,

9. The Ninth Day, directed by Volker Schlondorff. German in English subtitles. There are a lot of excellent films as alternatives to this dealing with the question of the Holocaust, like Schindler's List. A Catholic film study should review at least one of them, dealing with one of the greatest moral challenges of our times. But this particular film deals with the true story of a Catholic priest, furloughed from Dachau. Fr Henri Kremer was in the priest block in the infamous concentration camp, clinging to life and struggling with faith. He was released and asked to persuade his anti-Nazi Bishop to surrender to Nazi occupation. He is told that to fail means his death and his families death, and is given nine days.

10. Entertaining Angels, the Dorothy Day Story, directed by Michael Ray Rhodes. Again here is a picture I wouldn't put in my 100 greatest films of all time, but it survives a useful purpose. Ever Catholic film study should examine what the church does about social justice and this film does that very well. It portrays the life of Dorothy Day, a co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. In her unbending concern for the poor, she has often been called the "American Mother Teressa."

There are more great films a Catholic should see, and my two lists are insufficient. The Vatican, several years ago, created a recommended film list which overlaps some with mine. Here is the link: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=5046

Hunting for Poetry In Seattle

My readers who share my literary taste will certainly be looking for places to buy poetry. Here in Seattle we have what is to my knowledge the only poetry only books store on the West Coast*, Open Books: A Poem Emporium. It was founded several years ago by John Marshall and Christine Deavel, who had been working at another bookstore and discovered, to their pleasure, that the poetry section, their first love, did best. It's small, but with a great sense of what to buy and sell they have been a great poetry resource for the Seattle area. They usually have some rare, out of print of first edition used poetry providing some collectible editions, and lots of new books, journals and magazines. they currently have about 9,000 titles. It's located in Wallingford, near the Winchell's Donuts.
Open Books: A Poem Emporium,
2414 N. 45th St. Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 633-0811
http://www.openpoetrybooks.com/aboutus.html
store@openpoetrybooks.com

If anyone has a favorite bookstore for the books that interest you, in Seattle or in your home area, please post a comment about it.

*The other I'm aware of is The Grolier Bookshop. It's in Cambridge, Mass. --East Coast