what i should have said was nothing

it is always nice to learn that someone who you admire for one reason should and can be admired for other reasons as well. bruce springsteen plays great music and campaigns for causes that we both believe in. because of that and the fact that he cuts a fine figure, i have always had a bit of a crush. right, more than a bit. but last weekend, he gave such a moving tribute to pete that i transitioned from a crush to true and lasting love. if you want, you can watch it here. or you can read it:

"as pete and i traveled to washington for president obama’s inaugural celebration, he told me the entire story of “we shall overcome,” how it moved from a labor movement song and, with pete’s inspiration, had been adopted by the civil rights movement. and that day as we sang “this land is your land” i looked at pete, the first black president of the united states was seated to his right and i thought of the incredible journey that pete had taken. my own growing up in the 60’s in a town scarred by race rioting made that moment nearly unbelievable and pete had 30 extra years of struggle and real activism on his belt. he was so happy that day, it was like, “pete, you outlasted the bastards, man. you just outlasted ‘em.” and it was so nice. it was so nice.

at rehearsals the day before, it was freezing, it was like 15 degrees and pete was there, he had his flannel shirt on and i said, “man,” i said, “you better wear something besides that flannel shirt,” and he said, “yeah, i got my long johns on under this thing.” and i asked him, i said, “how do you want to approach this land is your land?” as it would be near the end of the show. and all he said was, “i know i want to sing all the verses. i want to sing all the ones that woody wrote, especially the two that get left out about the private property and the relief office.” and i thought, “of course. that’s what pete’s done his whole life. he sings all the verses all the time, especially the ones that we’d like to leave out of our history as a people.”

at some point, pete seeger decided he’d be a walking, singing reminder of all of america’s history. he’d be a living archive of america’s music and conscience, a testament to the power of song and culture to nudge history along, to push american events toward more humane and justified ends. he would have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of a people. despite pete’s somewhat benign grandfatherly appearance, he’s a creature of a stubborn, defiant, and nasty optimism. inside him he carries a steely toughness that belies that grandfatherly façade and it won’t let him take a step back from the things he believes in. at 90, he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country’s illusions about itself.

pete seeger still sings all the verses all the time. and he reminds us of our immense failures as well as shining a light towards our better angels on the horizon where the country we’ve imagined and hold dear, we hope, awaits us. and on top of it, he never wears it on his sleeve. he’s become comfortable and casual in this immense role. he’s funny and very centric(?). the song, uh, i’m going to bring tommy up, the song tommy morello and I are about to sing, i wrote it in the mid-90’s and it started as a conversation i was having with myself. it was an attempt to regain my own moorings and its last verse is the beautiful speech that tom jode whispers to his mother at the end of the grapes of wrath which says, “wherever there’s a cop beating a guy, wherever a hungry newborn baby cries, wherever there’s a fight against the blood and hatred in the air, look for me mom, I’ll be there.” well, pete has always been there."

and then he closed with something like: "pete is going to join me on stage in just a few minutes and you might think he is just like your grandfather, but only if your grandfather could kick your ass."