Every once in a while, I get melancholy, and when I do, I go to

[rasputin1952]

You Tube.

Much of what I post from there goes back to my years in the service, but I found this old Kingston Trio song, but it puts things into a modern perspective. Many of you were never born when the KT first did this song, as well a PP&M and Pete Seeger.

So, for those who fight today, for those who stand the walls watching in the cold and the rain, for those from the Revolution to today, I offer this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3srSgMEDQM&u=mNnJAZRyRhI&list=FL&feature=BF



May there be no war, may weapons be beaten into plowshares...may there be no more tears.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I became a progressive in second grade when my teacher taught us to

sing "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", "Blowing in the Wind", and "MTA" to name a few songs.

[rasputin1952]

2. ...

:D

[akbacchus_BC]

28. Does someone become a Progressive? And what is a progressive?

[rasputin1952]

30. A progressive sees a future, a good future...

try not to be so regressive.

[sarge43]

3. Thank you, rasputin.

Brought back some powerful memories -- sad, bitter, loving, joyful.

Rest in peace, beloveds. Hand salute.

[rasputin1952]

6. Memories are powerful things...

I still live with some from 40 years ago...:patriot:

I'm glad some of these came home to their loved ones; and saddened that some rest forever young under the sod.

[handmade34]

17. just visited

DC and all the memorials last week... shed a few tears myself

[rasputin1952]

18. I have yet to go...

but I will this Summer when I take son back East to NY and DC.

[handmade34]

19. it is a very difficult visit

for some but well worth it...

my partner was a medic in Vietnam and ALL the significant men in my life are(were) veterans (from WWI through Iraq) and my grandmother was a matron for her entire working life at the VFW Home in Michigan. ...such a bittersweet sense of life.

[rasputin1952]

22. It as a lot to do with duty and honor...

we all owe something to our nation. It need not be military service, but we need to give back to our nation...seems like it's so much about "taking" now...reprehensible.

Thank you for your families service, this old vet appreciates it.


:patriot:

[lillypaddle]

4. K&R

Nice.

[madamesilverspurs]

5. I was part of a folk music group in the '60s.

This song was hard to do, since each of us had somebody in the fight; in my case, a brother and my fiance were both serving in Viet Nam. But we did it anyway, often choking up. It was always amazing that members of the audience who shared our tears were the ones to request an encore of that song.


-

[rasputin1952]

8. I recalll PP&M doing this isn Central Park in 1968...

the grass grew 4 inches that day from the tears.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. K&R. Powerful video, and statement.

Thank you for sharing this with us. It gets discouraging, I agree. I grew up listening to the Kingston Trio, know most of their songs. My parents probably had most of their albums. :) :pals:

[rasputin1952]

12. The joys of vinyl !

"Leaving on a Jet Plane", PP&M, (Col version brings back tons of memories...how I kissed while she slept, brushed her hair back for hat might be the last look at a beautiful face with a marvelous mind behind it...then, off into the the night, never knowing if I would return, or when I did, what I would be if I did....God I still love that woman. And that's 40+ years ago. That song was playing when I left, and oddly, when I returned.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. What a precious memory... Wow.

And I was also a big fan of Peter, Paul and Mary as a teen-ager, still have most of their albums. We used to listen to their albums (yes, vinyl, LOL) at summer camp, along with Jefferson Airplane and Bob Dylan :D, and I actually got to see them live in concert during one of their reunion tours, back in the '80s... Always hoped to see them again... *sigh*

[rasputin1952]

21. PP&M were one of those phenominal groups that drew you in...

they wanted you to sing with them, they wanted you to be a part of the experience...don't see that very often these days...:)

[Rhiannon12866]

23. Absolutely. We always sang with the albums, LOL.

And Peter is still out there, made a live appearance during pledge week on the local (Albany, NY) PBS station, and one of the pledge gifts was tickets to a concert in November by both Peter and Paul. Of course, as girls, we loved Mary the best... ;(

BTW, back in the '60s, my mother belonged to a women's group that served as ushers for local events. She had the rare privilege of doing that at a Peter, Paul and Mary concert which would have been in their heyday. And it was held at Convention Hall in Saratoga Springs, NY, which burned down long ago, but I believe that's also where Teddy Roosevelt received the nomination for governor... :)

[rasputin1952]

25. I ws lucky enough to see PP&M twice, one in Cental Park, the other was

at Carnegie Hall. In both cases, it was more of a party than a concert. Mary walked out in a beige gown in CH, and every guy in the place swooned. I have always felt she was vastly underrated as a singer, She had it all...and a woman of great passion...hell,I'm tearing up as I write this.

[Rhiannon12866]

41. Wow! Those must have been amazing concerts!

I've been fortunate to have seen some of the videos... I'm sure that my mother had no idea that she was witnessing history from that era. As for Mary, she was just a knockout, but her voice was even more impressive. I still get chills hearing them, but she's the standout, defined the sound, IMO...

I think this is the one I was looking for... :wow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBUPr8oDRL8

BTW, several years ago, they performed at my boarding school in Massachusetts, where I went to high school. I was sorry to have missed it, and was pretty impressed, but then I learned that Paul's wife is now the chaplain there... :D

[rasputin1952]

42. Thank you so much for that limk:

It's the HAMMER of Justice!; it's the BELL of Freedom!; and it's a SONG to sing about the love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land!


I miss them...and when I eee them on You-Tube...I fully admit I weep...:hug:

[Rhiannon12866]

46. It got to me, too.

They look so young there, and, I have to admit, that's the way I still think of them. The passions of that time are certainly overwhelming. I get choked up, too, and I only came in at the end of it. I went to a reunion at my summer camp at the end of August, haven't seen my friends from there, the closest of my life, since the mid '90s, and we were at camp together as kids during the late '60s-early '70s. My dear friend (who I noticed had a MoveOn sticker on her car and she commented on mine, LOL), who used to play the guitar and sing, led a group of us in that very song. Not everybody there knew all of the words, but we did. *sigh*

[sarge43]

36. With thanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzVdEyHicz8

[rasputin1952]

38. Thank you...

one of the best songs of all time...I love Folk Singers...:pals:

[reggie the dog]

9. great song

but now i am even more sad than before.


the earth could be so beautiful if only we shared things and were nice to each other like we teach our kids to do....

[rasputin1952]

13. If we all do our parts in out little cormers of the world...

we can change things. Perform a random act of kindness...:)

[reggie the dog]

32. i do random acts of kindness sometimes but it has been too long

i will keep my eyes peeled for someone who needs a hand

[rasputin1952]

33. Even opening a door for someone is a random act of kindness,,,

don't overrate what little things we can do to make lives just a little better...:)

[reggie the dog]

34. i open doors for people all the time,

or hold it open so they can get in without it slamming in their face, to me that is just politeness, not a random act of kindness, a rak for me is when i see a person struggling with their groceries and offer to carry them to their car or even to their house, i refuse compensation each time and say that seeing a smile is enough. when we had bad floods i walked around and helped women carry their scared children across the deep water and up to dry ground, why?? because i am 31 and able bodied... while others honk at broken down cars on the road i park and offer to help the people push it... i was just raised that way....now i make a point to do stuff like that in front of my daughter just like my dad did in front of me

[Doctor_J]

10. Kingston Trio & John Stewart fanatic here

"Here We Go Again" was the first album I remember at my parents house (released when I was 3 old) and I purchased every album they made, and just about everything Mr. Stewart produced up until his death a couple years ago.

Thanks for the memories. Takes us back to a time when the people could stop a war if they tried hard enough.

[catgirl]

11. Thank you Rasputin1952 (n/t)

[rasputin1952]

14. You are most welcme....

:hug:

[golfguru]

15. You hit a chord with me...

I have really enjoyed watching clips of old movies
and old songs on youtube. Their search function is awsome.

[handmade34]

16. remember it well

thanks

[Jennicut]

24. I have never heard this song (I was born in '75) but I loved listening to it.

Beautiful song, very powerful. I will have to listen to Pete Seeger's version. Apparently he wrote it.

[rasputin1952]

Yeah, Pete wrote it, but PP&M put it on the charts.

We were just rising in Nam when it came about. I'm'm going to link you to a video that is oneof the most powerful to own of the greatest songs I believe ever written.

This goes back to my time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyqGfGBs3mc

I've got to tell you, though, it's a heavy for all of us from that era.

[Jennicut]

37. Thanks.

Unchained Melody has always been a beautiful song. My Dad was lucky, he joined the military but never ended up going to Vietnam.

[rasputin1952]

39. Thank God...

:hug:

When I found that one...I just can't describe it...:hug:

[laylah]

50. Words fail me...

:cry:

Jenn

[akbacchus_BC]

26. Don't know if that will help. Dems need to vote come the mid-terms. I am

hoping Dems will maintain their current seats but when you have some Dems voting with repulbicans, not sure how that will pan out in November! Keeping my fingers crossed that Dems will maintain the majority!

[Clio the Leo]

27. You want Pete Seeger!? I'll give you some Pete Seeger!

... yes, I KNOW Pete Seeger did not START singing three days before Obama was sworn into office but, as far as I'm concerned, THIS should be our party anthem (if not our national one) and I think ALL Americans should be required to listen/sing along with it at least four times a day! :)

Sing it Pete!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thsKDYapXz4

No body living can ever stop me, as I go walking that Freedom Highway, nobody living can make me turn back! THIS LAND WAS MADE FOR YOU AND ME!!!!"

FIRE IT UP!!!! :bounce: :fistbump:

[rasputin1952]

29. Beautiful...

I love Pete, and the backdrop, the people....wonderful.

Went straight to my favorites!

Thank you!!!!!...:hug:

[Clio the Leo]

31. it's quite handy for doing sit ups and push ups I've found...

... especially the "nobody can stop me" part ... right when you're about to give out. ;)

[mucifer]

35. I remember that song. Just listened again and cried. Thank you. nt

[golfguru]

40. This song makes me very emotional every time..

Here is a beautiful famous Hindi song (that was featured in the 2004 movie "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" with Jim Carrey) by the incredible Indian singer Lata Mangeshkar.

The words "wada na toad" in Hindi means "Don't break your promise".

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

[karynnj]

43. Thank you so much for this

That is such a beautiful song, and the true depth of the sadness of the song comes through so eloquently in those evocative pictures. (I was old enough to remember PP&M's version of that song.)

In 2008, my husband and I went to see a Joan Baez concert, where she sang many of her songs from back then.

Sad that they are relevant again.

[JuniperLea]

44. Chills... head to toe chills... tears welling...

Thank you. I was just posting about Pete Seeger, PP&M, Joanie, Bobby, Woody... we owe them so much, and we should be paying more attention to what they have said.

[ChiciB1]

45. I Was Really Young, But THIS Song Is One I Remember Oh So Well...

I often make references to this one and also "Blowin In The Wind." Folk songs from long ago, but words that USED TO MEAN SOMETHING to many.

These days, life is fast paced and hard to keep up with and WE as a nation are suffering for it. Seems we've gotten "too big for our britches" or rather we've watched as TPTB has gotten too big for theirs. It's more than sad, it breaks our hearts.

I grew up as an Army brat and can relate to a military life, however I ALWAYS knew that once I left home I NEVER would marry a military person. Was going to say man, but things have changed since I was younger, back then it was pretty much all men. I recall my father bringing young men home for my 5 other sisters and I to meet all the time. I do have 3 older sisters who did marry military men, but they were in for only a short while and we are now all civilians.

I realize we can't relive the past, but why oh why can't we remember some of the past so we don't repeat BAD MISTAKES.

Oh, I forgot... today we're looking forward, so no looking back. Carry on!

[rasputin1952]

49. When Spring comes around here, there are a lot of lilacs...

as well as tons of other flowers and cool looking plants. Every once in a while, I just sit out back and take it all in, or stop on the sideof the road just to look and see how things could be...it's helped me over many a rough time...:)

[trayfoot]

47. Thank you for that wonderful reminder.

[rasputin1952]

48. You are quite welcome...

:)