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‘Impeachable’ A New Kind of Protest Song

I was greatly encouraged and deeply inspired the other day after having read a musical message posted by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame, announcing that the folk song protest of days gone by is anything but muted. As a matter of fact, it’s very much alive.

“People have been wondering what folksinger/activists, some of them septuagenarians like Noel Paul Stookey and me, might be doing in the face of the current cataclysmic challenges to our democracy and our nation. The answer is simple: we are going to keep on keeping on.”

Yarrow stated that they inherited a legacy from Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, the Weavers and many others who inspired them. “They never quit, never stopped and never stopped advocating,” he said. “No, we’ve not gone away. We, and others who also come from the folk music/activist tradition, are solidly committed to using our music to generate community and consensus at our concerts and at gatherings and demonstrations to confront the most dangerous of challenges now threatening our country.”

Having quantified that commitment, Yarrow introduced the latest PP&M protest piece written by his musical colleague, Noel “Paul” Stookey called “Impeachable: a new kind of Protest Song.”

“By far the most important effort yet,” he said, “by either Noel Paul or me — in terms of its reach and, in my opinion, its brilliance — is Impeachable, a parody Noel wrote of the song ‘Unforgettable,’ which was a huge hit by Nat King Cole from the early 1950s.”

While perhaps not as rousing as anthems like “If I Had a Hammer” or “Blowing in The Wind,” “Impeachable” does provide an amusing poke at President Donald Trump and his current administration:

“Impeachable, that’s what you are…Impeachable, and yet so far…You’ve avoided closer scrutiny and even though Vlad-i-mer Putin, he opens many doors, it only makes you more…

“Impeachable, and when, some day we can say you’re fired and you go away. You may have thought you were unreachable (but) history makes some moments teachable: someday Pence may be impeachable too.”

Yarrow said, “Impeachable is a new twist on the kinds of songs that Peter Paul and Mary were singing that helped to mobilize Americans at the time of the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement.”

During the 1950s and ‘60s, the folk protest movement became very vocal and advocated change you well may remember: “Well, I’ve got a hammer and I’ve got a bell and I’ve got a song to sing all over this land; it’s the hammer of justice, it’s the bell of freedom, it’s a song about love between my brothers and my sisters, all over this land…”

Pete Segar’s anthem, just one of many of PP&M’s protest songs showcased on their tours and concerts, like the very incredible venue they played in Los Olivos years ago, in an old barn during a raging rainstorm, where thunder and lightning tried to compete with their performance but failed to match their intensity, determination, and spirit which the group has displayed ever since its inception in 1962 with tunes written by Bob Dylan:

“Come senators, congressmen please heed the call.
Don’t stand in the doorway don’t block up the hall for he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled.
There’s a battle outside and it is ragin’.

It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls,
For the times they are a-changin’.”

And as Yarrow declared, Woodie Guthrie was part of their legacy: “This land is your land, this land is my land from the California to the New York Island,
from the Redwood Forest, to the gulf stream waters, this land was made for you and me…”

With their repetition at rallies, marches and on the radio, these songs inspired many newcomers to the world of activism, “Who asserted to us that our music, and that of our fellow folk musicians, became the sound track of their political awakening.”

Yarrow said that he and Paul will continue to ring bells and sing songs to defend freedom.

“Be assured that a large body of former artist-activists is mobilizing now with their songs, their poetry, their heart-rending videos, their humor and their visual work on signs and memes that spread across the Internet with ever more amazing directness, humor, and determination. As long as this continues to build, we’re walking together and gaining strength. Let’s carry it on, my friends. In solidarity and love, Peter.”

I’ll be more than happy to share your passion, Peter. Google Impeachable Song, and let’s spread the word.

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