Norwegians Sing NO to Killer with Seeger Song
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?
Great ready for May Day with some good old fashioned songs for the working man and woman.
More than 40,000 in Norway sing a resounding NO to murderer Anders Breivik standing in the rain to sing Children of the Rainbow, a Norwegian version of a Pete Seeger's Rainbow Race. Breivik said teaching the song in school was brainwashing by "cultural Marxists" in favor of multiculturalism.
A sky full of stars, blue sea as far as you can see
An earth where flowers grow, can you wish for more?
Together shall we live, every sister, brother
Young children of the rainbow, a fertile land.
Above, Pete Seeger's banjo, photographed at Bowdoin College in 1960 by Roger Ressmeyer, reads "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces it to Surrender." It it, of course, reminiscent of Woody Guthrie's famed guitar slogan: "This Machine Kills Fascists."
Explore the power of protest song. The Internet has proved an a boon to sound collections like Smithsonian's Folkways and the amazing Association for Cultural Equity which presents the collection of master collector Alan Lomax.
FolkHive: Pete Seeger's 1960 Bowdoin Concert
Emmylou Harris Elvis Costello join the Colbert Report to celebrate Alan Lomax's legacy
PBS: Stand Up, Get Up: History of Protest Song
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