To the New York Islands

January 19, 2009 in History, Music by Bryan | 2 comments

Okay, Pete Seeger may just be cooler than Obama. Maybe cooler than Dylan.

My favorite verse, which I don’t think I’ve ever heard before, begins “In the squares of the city,” a little over two minutes in. The dig at private property that follows ain’t bad either.

(via EOTAW, via Unfogged.)


UPDATE: I’m leaving the first video link to memorialize the irony TMK pointed out in comments — that HBO was lame enough to force YouTube to take down a song decrying private property in the name of a better America. Zoiks.

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  1. The Modesto Kid’s avatar

    The Modesto Kid on January 19, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    Right, but notice that this performance is the private property of H.B.O., which has graciously forced YouTube to remove the video.

  2. Joe K.’s avatar

    Joe K. on January 20, 2009 at 10:14 am

    Definitely a better (and more radical) song than it gets credit for. The first time I heard the “private property” verses was on Vol. 1 of the Folkways set “The Asch Recordings.”
    In case anyone reading this is an aspiring Guthrie scholar:
    The Woody Guthrie Archives (http://www.woodyguthrie.org/archives/archivesindex.htm) are located on W 57th in Manhattan and have some great primary source materials on Woody.