01/28/14 01/28/14 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! ♪ we show overcome shall overcome some day ♪ercome , themembering pete seeger

legendary folk singer and activist has died at the age of 94. >> realized that little things lead to bigger things. this wonderful parable in the scatterament, the sower seeds, sump on the pathway and get stamped on and don't grow. some fall on the rocks and they don't grow, but some seeds fall on how the ground and grow and multiply a thousand fold. who knows where some good little thing that you have done they bring results years later that you never dreamed of. >> pete seeger in his own words and song for the hour. all of that and more coming up.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the legendary folk singer and activist pete seeger has died at the age of 94. he helped found the american folk music movement. he played with woody guthrie and the almanac singers in the 1940's, stood up against senator joseph mccarthy's witchhunt in the 1950's, and oppose the vietnam war in the 1960's. he inspired generations of protest singers to come. we will spend the hour remembering pete seeger after headlines. ukraine's parliament has voted to repeal around of anti-dissent laws in an effort to calm opposition protests that have gripped the country. the measures are unlikely to appease protesters who have demanded the resignation of president yanukovich. earlier today, ukrainian prime minister mykola azarov offered to resign. yanukovich had previously offered mykola azarov's poston

opposition leader, who rejected it. talks in geneva between the two sides in syria's conflict remain deadlocked over the future role of president bashar al-assad. another issue at stake is the delivery of aid to the besieged city of homs. u.s. state department theesperson jen psaki said situation there is desperate. >> we firmly believe the steering receive must approve the convoys to deliver badly needed humanitarian assistance into the old city of homs. the situation is desperate and the people are starving. what the regime has proposed is an evacuation of women and children from the old city is not sufficient post up civilians must be about to come and go freely, but the people of homs must not be forced to leave their homes and lit up their families before receiving much-needed food and aid. >> a new report says the was congress is secretly voted to fund the delivery of arms to zirin rebel factions through the

end of september. reuters reports weapons supplied by the united states including small arms and antitank rockets are flowing to certain rebel groups in the south of the country. egypt's top military body is given its approval for military to rungeneral el-sisi for president after he led the coup that ousted president mohammed morsi last year. morsi appeared in court today for the second time since his ouster to face charges related to his escape from prison in 2011. he was shown inside a metal cage in the courtroom. earlier today, senior official with egypt's interior ministry was gunned down outside his cairo home. president obama is said to announce an executive action to raise the minimum wage for some federal contract workers from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. obama will make the announcement during his state of the union address tonight.

he is also expected to renew his push for immigration reform. the obama administration has loosened restrictions on what internet companies can reveal about how frugally the government secretly demands information about users. but the new rules still bar companies from revealing details, including the nature and amount of data the government collects. the new rules come after tech companies sued for permission to release the data on the requests. the aclu called the roles a critical step is that more transparency is required, including about request the tech companies are not aware of. a new report from glenn greenwald and nbc news based on leaks from edward snowden reveals the british government can spy on social media sites, including youtube, in real-time, without the knowledge of companies. another round of news reports based on snowden's disclosures found the nsa and its british counterpart are targeting smart phone apps -- including the popular game angry birds -- for

personal information about users, from their sexual preferences to their zip codes. edward snowden has continued to speak about spying from russia, where he is to bury asylum. this past weekend, snowden told the german broadcaster the united states conducts spying for economic gain. >> i don't want to preempt the editorial decisions of journalists, but what i will say thehere is no question that u.s. is engaged in economic spying. if there's information at siemens that big would be beneficial to the national interest, not the national security, of the united states, they will go after that information. >> house and senate lawmakers have reached a deal on a new farm bill that would continue heavy subsidies for crops like corn and soybeans while slashing food stamps by about eight dollars -- $8 billion in the coming decade. the bill would end billions of

dollars in direct payments to farmers while expanding government-subsidized crop insurance. antihunger group said the bill corporate welfare while cutting food aid for many families by about $90 per month. in honduras, right wing president hernandez has been torn into office despite claims of election fraud by the opposition. hernandez has pushed for militarizing honduras as part of the fight against drug cartels, raising concerns about potential human rights abuses. thousands of people protested outside his swearing-in monday, including members of parliament, while soldier stood by him" by in closeood proximity. the protest was led by president zelaya, who was ousted in the to in 2009 and whose wife ran against hernandez for the libre party. >> no one can detained people organized in resistance.

all the libre party owns has been gained. four years ago, we were repressed in the streets. today, we are a recognized institution and we walking forward little by little in order to overthrow the dictatorship from power in honduras. [applause] >> here in new york city, police are investigating an attack on an openly gay journalist as a possible hate crime. --dy gener has reportedly reported and rid for national public radio, "the new york times," "the new york daily news " and other outlets. earlier this month he was found lying on the ground unconscious with a massive head injury that required him to undergo brain surgery. his sister said her brother could not remember the assault. answer the questions of what happened that night. he doesn't exactly know who we are. it is really very painful to see him here the way that he is because he is the most

articulated person. >> the attack on randy gener comes amid a spike in apparent hate crimes against lgbt people in new york city, including the murder of mark carson last may and the killing of elan nettles, a transgender woman, last august. these really civil rights leader and longtime politician shulamit aloni has died at the age of 85. shulamit aloni was a longtime champion of palestinian and women's rights in israel. she served as a member of the israeli parliament for nearly three decades, holding a number of positions. in 1991, she helped found israel's meretz party after splitting with the labour party. she called on the us government to end its support of the israeli occupation of palestinian land while on democracy now! in 2002. >> billeting your government will understand the one thing

they have to give to the conflict in israel is to stop the occupation, to stop the settlers, to tell mr. sharon to stop the crimes against humanity and against individuals and to stop taking the way citizenship from people which is a criminal thing to do. >> shulamit aloni, the former israeli parliament member, died on friday at the age of 85. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. if i had a hammer i'd hammer in the morning i'd hammer in the evening all over this land ♪

♪ i'd send it in the morning bring it in the evening all over, all over this land ring out danger my brothers and my sisters all over this land ♪ >> the legendary folk singer and mondayt pete seeger died the age of 94. for nearly seven decades, he was a musical and political icon who helped great the modern american folk music movement.

in the 1940's, he performed in the almanac singers with woody guthrie, then he formed the weavers. in the 1950's, he opposed senator joseph mccarthy's witchhunt and was almost jailed for refusing to answer questions before the house un-american activities committee. pete seeger became a prominent civil rights activist and helped popularize the anthem "we shall overcome her coke he was a vocal critic of the vietnam war and inspired a generation of protest singers. later in his life, pete seeger was at the center of the environmental and into nuclear movement. with his wife toshi, he upped found clearwater, a group to clean up the hudson river. year juster died last weeks before their 70th wedding anniversary. in 2009, pete and bruce springsteen performed "this land is your land" on the steps of the lincoln memorial at an inaugural conference for barack obama. pete seeger joined us just four

months ago. we will play highlights from that interview later. first, i want to turn to pete seeger in 2004 1 he joined us in our firehouse studio. i asked him about his parents and her philosophy of raising him. >> my father said, let peter enjoy himself and we'll see what happens. he knew i liked music. mother just let instruments all around the house so i could bang on a pn or organ or squeezebox or pennywhistle or an autoharp and at age seven i was given a ukulele. joined the jazz band. a few years later, my father took me to a square dance. i'll -- square dance festival. i realize there was a wealth of music in my country that you never heard on the radio. old time music, my brother called it. it was all over the place, depending on where you are, you

could hear different kinds of old-time music. and i still feel that i like to see people not forget the old songs at the same time they're making up new songs. >> do you remember any of the songs that you heard then that you would like to play now? .> i can't play them my fingers are froze up and my voice free here, i can't really sing anymore. get i do these days is i the audience singing with me. if i'm singing with children, the list to say, i say, kids, you know the song. ♪ she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes toot too ♪ pretty soon they're all doing that. the last verse is commemorative, so you ar repeat all the previous ones. ♪ she'll be wearing red pajamas

when she comes scratch scratch she'll be wearing red pajamas when she comes scratch scratch toot toot and even if the kids have never heard the song before, they're doing it with me. withu traveled the south alan lomax. that may not be familiar name to many people. >> he was the son of a texas fellow who collected cowboy songs 100 years ago. that is how we know "home on the it.e" and other songs like in 1908 he got theodore roosevelt to write a short forward for his book of cowboy songs. had a son and, he

his was only 22 years old, father got him installed as the curator of the archive of american folk song the library of congress. years, did what most people would take a lifetime to do. the utmost self-confidence come he calls of the head of colombia radio and says, you have a school of the air, what are you spend year learning about american folk music? columbia symphony can play the music after you have read some old person croaked out the ballots. if he could not find an old person to do it, he got young me, age 19 and 20, and i still think of some of the songs i learned then. advertised in boston, new york and buffalo, 500 american singing blow you wins of the mormonmornin' blow blow blow ♪

he interviewed a woman who collected that song when she was a teenager sailing on her father's whaling ship in the 19th century. as an old woman, she came out with a beautiful book "songs of american sailors sur." alan got me started and many others. he is the man who told woody guthrie, "woody guthrie, your mission in life is to write songs. don't let anything distract you. you are like the people who wrote the ballads of robin hood and the ballad of jesse james. you keep writing ballads as long as you can." woody took it to heart. he was not a good husband. he was always running off, but he wrote songs. >> do you remember when he first met woody guthrie? >> i'll never forget it. it was a benefit concert for california agricultural workers midnight.y post up at

burl ives was there, the golden gate quartet, josh white, leadbelly, a square dance group with my wife dancing in it. i sang one song very immature shall he and retired and confusion to a smattering of polite applause. woody took over and for 20 minutes, entranced everyone cannot does was singing, but storytelling. "i come from oklahoma, you know. it's a rich state. he was some oil, go down in the ground and get some oil. if you want lead, we've got let in oklahoma. go down in a hole and get you some lead. if you want coal, we got: oklahoma. if you want food, clothing, groceries, just go in the hole and stay there. and you would sing a song. >> when did you form the weavers? >> that was after world war ii. lee hays from arkansas and his

roommate and i started a group called the almanacs. i said, woody, come join us. we were at madison square garden singing for striking transport workers. woody, once again, deserted his us. and joined woody would say, the almanacs are the only group that would rehearse onstage. we were badly organized. after world war ii, lee says, do you think we could start a group that would actually rehearse? enough toe fortunate run into one of the world's greatest singers, ronnie gilbert, early 20's from a beautiful alto voice and a strong alto voice. i have to be two inches from the microphone and she could be two feet from the microphone and drown me out. she stood up to three strong voiced men. the four of us were about to

break up when we did the unthinkable. we did the unthinkable. we've got a job in a nightclub. well, little greenwich elledge playset is still down there -- village place that is still down there, the village vanguard. the owner paid -- he did not want me at first. he says, i can't pay for quartet and i'll pay for you $200 like i did two years ago. i said, what if all four of us would come for $200. that was low pay for even then. he laughed and said, well, if you're willing. we got $200 and free hamburgers until a month later the cell the size of the hamburgers and said, let's make that $250, but no more free hamburgers. months.d six here the end of it, we met an extraordinary bandleader gordon

jenkins who love their music and got us signed up and we had a record. on the other side was "irene atdnight" which stayed number one for three months, the biggest hit since world war ii. >> can you talk more about irene? >> it was the theme song of the great black singer leadbelly. he died in 1949. if you only live another six months, he would've seen his song all over america. it was an old, old song. he simply changed and adapted it come at december says and changed the melody. lawyers adapt old laws for citizens, cooks adapt recipes to

fit new stomachs. anyway, i learn these 12 string guitar from leadbelly. high string and low string together. they played together to give a new town. and the song i really like to is "always have to do with it. i don't sing it anymore, i give the words to the audience and they sing it. ♪ i says, you know the song, to turn, turn, and turn, there is a season timere is a season and a for every purpose dieme to be born, a time to

time to reapnt, a laugh,to kill, a time to a time to weep ♪ old. words are 2256 years i did not know that at the time. julius lester, an old friend of mine, i don't know if you know him, he is a black man who officially is a jew. he became fascinated with the bible. i asked him, when were these words written? meansd the man's name convoker and in the greek translation they called him ecclesiastes. it is a type of poetry which is

greek. oria is the greek name. it means you start off the line with a word or phrase. you don't have rhyme at the end of the line, but you do have -- it becomes poetry by the way it is organized. -- i i did not realize liked the words, but i realized that, those are some of the most fundamentally important words that anyone could learn. you see, you and i are all descendent from killers. but killers, the ones were not good killers did not have descendents. we are descendent from good killers for millions of years our ancestors were good killers. if they hadn't been, we would not be here today. , a time you period might say the human race he did have good killers. now if we don't change the way of thinking, there will be no

human race. science acts very responsibly. information is good ,ha ha ha [captioning made possible by democracy now!] they don't realize some information is very important, some, frankie, forget about until you solve other problems. einstein was the first person who said it. everything has changed except our way of thinking and we've got to find ways to change our way of thinking. arts can doo it, it, cooking can do it for all sorts of good works can do it, smiles can do it. i am of the opinion now, if the human race takes it, i say we've got a 50/50 chance. if the human rates makes it him it will be women working with children. these two very large oppressed classes in the human race, children doing what the grown-ups say they're supposed

to do and yet they're going to have to pay for our mistakes. they're going to have to clean up the environment, which has been filled with chemicals them in the air being filled with chemicals, water been filled with chemicals, the ocean being filled with chemicals. they will have to clean it up. i think it will be women working with kids that will do this job. maybe in your hometown, in my hometown, we are starting a project to put in a floating swimming pool in the hudson because now the hudson is clean enough to swim in. let's swim in it. if it works in our little town, maybe other towns will do it. in fact, it is like a big nesting in the water. ting water. i'm more optimistic now than i was 50, 58 years ago, 59 years ago when the atom bombs were dropped. >> that is pete seeger in our in 2004. studio

the legendary folk singer and activist died monday at the age of 94. we will go back to our interview with him in a moment. ♪ [music break]

>> pete seeger and bruce springsteen and peace seeger's grandson singing "this land is your land" on the steps of the lincoln memorial ahead of president obama's inauguration in 2009. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. special,emocracy now! remembering the life of pete seeger.

he died monday at the age of 94. we returned to our interview in 2004 in our firehouse studio. i asked him to talk about his time serving the military during world war ii. be a mechanict to in the air force. i thought that would be an interesting thing. the military intelligence got interested in my politics. my outfit went on to glory and i stayed in mississippi, picking up cigarette butts for six months. finally, they let me know, they had been investigating the opening all the mail. >> when you came back, they continue to investigate you. life, if it wasn't a microphone under the bed, they were tapping the phone from time to time in opening my mail from time to time. who knows.

it was more than that, wasn't it? >> sometimes they would have picket lines out. iniquity way, all it did was sell tickets. one concert did not sell out and my manager said, pete, you should have gotten into picket you and it would have sold out. >> i'm looking at a transcript of the house un-american activities committee august 18, 1955. they started off by saying, when and where were you born, mr. seeger? you answer that question. wish i had been more or spoken out more. adjusted what my lawyer, very nice guy, said. -- i just did what my lawyer, a very nice guy, said. he said if you answer this kind of question, you have to answer more questions. just say you don't think it is

legal. think i've gone awry to my opinion and you have a right to your opinion, period. and so eventually, i was called and sentenced to a year in jail, the my lawyer got me off on bail. i was only in jail for four hours and i learned a folk song. they served us lunch, slice of bread and a slice of bologna and an apple. the man next to me was singing " if that judge believes what i say, i'll be leaving for home today. go to him says, not if he sees a record, you won't. that is an old african melody. it is in many african-american folk songs. >> your sentenced to a year in jail? >> and the appeals court acquitted me a year later. ironically, the contradictions and lie still amaze me. ,he judge to acquitted me

irving kaufman, the man who sentenced the rosenbergs to the chair 10 years earlier. he acquitted me. you said, we are not inclined to lightly disregard charges of unconstitutionality, even though they may be made by those unworthy of our respect. [laughter] feel both my wife and i feel we are lucky to be alive and lucky to be on good terms with our neighbors and in the little town where we live, people shout out "hi, pete, and i wish i could live another 20 years just to see the things that have happened. i believe women working with upldren will get man to wake to what a foolish thing it is to seek power and glory and money in your life.

-- there's a very nice politician of my hometown and used to be a shop steward and a union. for 20 years he represented our town. he said, pete, if you don't grow, you die. 1:00 in the morning i sat up in bed and thought of the next question, if that is true -- if you don't grow you dyke -- doesn't it follow the quicker you grow the sooner you die? [laughter] nobody is facing up to that question, but it is definitely true. first step to solving a problem is admitting there's a problem and then we can argue about the ways to be solved. i suppose some would say, let the few people have trains of dollars and the rest of the people obediently do the work and the people in charge will see that everything is done right. think whatr hand, i

was in the declaration of independence is true now just as it was then -- those great lines, written by ben franklin, thesefferson, "we hold truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that when any government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it ergo >> pete seeger, can you tell us about "we shall overcome"? i learned in 1946 from a white woman who taught in a union labor school in tennessee, that the song had been made up in

1946 by tobacco workers because they saying it to strike through the winter of 1946. it was entrusting, south carolina. -- it was in charleston, south carolina. they taught it to the teacher of the labor school. she said, it's my favorite song. i printed it in our little magazine in new york as "we will overcome" in 1947. it was a friend of mine who made it famous. he picked up my way of singing it "we shall overcome was quick and there was another teacher there, a black woman, she felt " shall" open up the mouth better than "will." in 1960, guy taught it to young people at the founding convention of snic.

later it wasn't "a" song but "the coastal zone. then i get a letter from a infessor in pennsylvania february 1909 to a letter on the front pages last year at our strike we opened every meeting with a prayer and the singing that good old song "we will overcome." so it is probably the late 19th century union version of what was a well-known gospel song ♪ i'll overcome i'll overcome i'll overcome some day. >> you saying you for martin luther king? >> in 1957i went down the highlander.

myles horton said we can have a celebration of 25 years of the school without music, won't you come down and help lead some songs? i went down and dr. king and dr. reverend abernathy came up from alabama to say a few words. i sing a few songs and that was one of them. there was a speaking engagement in kentucky the next day. sure members him singing "we shall overcome" that song really sticks with you, doesn't it? >> even as your singing songs has been, the song seen as a tremendous threat to the establishment. in 1963, the fire and police research association of los angeles warned before one of your appearances, pete seeger, that folk music and youth gatherings were being used to brainwash and subvert fast

segments of young people's groups. >> i help them find a little different now. i was 40 years ago, 41 years ago. but the establishment has always been concerned about music. i've quoted plato for years who wrote "it's very important the wrong kind of music not be allowed in the republic." i also heard as an old arab proverb, "when the king puts the poet on his payroll, he cuts off the tongue of the poet." in the 1930's, i was free conscious that radio stations -- i was very conscious that radio stations played nice love songs and funny songs, but only by accident did a song like "brother can you spare a dime" get through. the other songs were more like being crosby's hits of 1933, ♪ dream your troubles away.

that is how we are going to let the depression? >> we're talking to democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. >> we are talking to pete seeger . hehas long been rumored tried to pull the plug on bob dylan's for electric side sound with the paul butterfield blues band in 1965. is that true? >> no. it's true i don't play electrifying instruments. i don't know how to. on the other hand, i played with people who played them beautifully. i admire some of them. howling wolf was using electrified instruments in newport just a day before bob did. was sourious the sound distorted that you could not understand a word that he was singing. he was singing a great song, "maggie's farm" but you cannot understand it. i ran to the sound man is that, fix the sounds he can understand

him. they hollered back, no, this is the way they want it! was.'t know who "they" i was so mad. axaid, damn, if i had an right now, i cut the cable. i was so mad. what an artist he is. i'd say maybe he and woody and and reynolds are the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, even though irvin berlin made the most money. they wrote songs that were trying to help us understand where we are, what we've got to do. >> 1967, you made your stand against the vietnam war clear on the smothers brothers comedy hour. can you talk about that?

>> the smothers brothers were big, big success on cbs television. way back the year before, i think in the spring of 1967, they said, anything we can do for you? you are at the top, what can we do to make you happier? that said, let us have pete seeger on. cbs said, will think about it. in october they said, ok. "waste deep in the big muddy." the tape was made in california, flown to new york, and in new york bases are the song out. scissored the song now. the smothers brothers complain.

they got some publicity. during november, december, january, the arguments went on. finally in february -- part of 1968, cbsanuary, said, ok, he can sing the song. out tors notice, i flew california. i remember singing a batch of songs from american history, ."ngs from the revolution handse are rifles in our prove no trifle ♪ i think i mentioned the hit song o say4, the hit song ♪ can you see ,n the song of the mexican war

and loves song. that is why yankees are called gringos in mexico. the civil war, several good songs, not just "battle hymn of republic, but a batch of them. brand, the song, ♪damn damn damn the filipinos amity the starry fly, civilize them with a crag and go back to our own beloved home ♪ i did not sing that. along come modern times and i "waist deep in the big muddy." 7 million people heard it. who knows, later that month in late february, lyndon johnson

decided not to run for reelection. the song would be probably just one more thing. i honestly believe the future is going to be millions of little seesaw-- i imagine a big . at one end is on the ground with the basket half-full of big rocks in it. the other end of the seesaw is up in the air and has a basket and somefull of sand of it has to spins and we're trying to fill up sand. a lot of people are laughing at her. they say, people been trying to do that for thousands of years. as youeaking out as fast put it in. were saying, we're getting more people with teaspoons all the time and we think one of these years, you'll see that whole seesaw go up in the other direction and people say, gee, how does it happen so suddenly? us and all of our little

teaspoons. we have to keep putting in because if we don't keep putting teaspoons ian, it will leak out. those cracks, those places today and mass media? i know you don't watch tv and all that, for example, you go on smothers brothers. do you think it is as constricted today? >> not as constricted. i understand this program may be on some tv stations. i've got to find out where and when so i can see it. you're right, i don't look at tv much except to check on the weather from ice-skating rink. -- for my skating rink. i am a read-aholic. i get 40 or 50 magazines a month. is it magazines, and our mental musicnes, civil rights --

magazines, environmental magazines, civil rights magazines. >> that is pete seeger in 2004 in our firehouse studio. the legendary folk singer and activist died monday at the age of 94. we continue remembering pete in his own words and song. ♪ [music break]

>> pete seeger on this mother brothers comedy hour and 90 -- smothers brothers comedy hour in 1967. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and

peace report. i'm amy goodman. as we remember the life of pete seeger, the legendary folk singer and activist come he died monday at the age of 94. we returned to our interview in 2004 in our firehouse studio. i asked him to talk about one of his most famous songs from "where have all the flowers gone." >> i was on an airplane on my way to sing at oberlin college and i was over ohio. >> what year? >> 1955. all of a sudden, three lines, which i had read in a book, took form. --a book is said, will it was an old russian folk song. maybe it is it ukrainian folk song. i had read these three lines in

the book and it was by a soviet novelist. all of a sudden, i had three verses. i did not realize at the time. i wrote part of an old irish song. i have been recording the lumberjack song. ♪ johnson said he'll load more hay ♪ i slowed it down and penned the words to the microphone that night and sang them. a few weeks later, i was walking down 48th street in manhattan. i said, i made up a new song. he propped they might up in front of me -- mic up in front of me and recorded it and a few months later was out on another lp. oberlin college student got the lp at the job of the summer camp and the kids were fooling around with the verses.

by the end of the summer, he had made up the two extra verses we know. where have all the soldiers gone? the kids took the song back to new york. peter paul and mary were singing in the village in greenwich village and picked it up and started singing it. the kingston trio learned from them. about three years later, my manager says, pete, didn't you write a song "where have all the flowers gone?" he asked if i had copyrighted it. the kingston trio rick hoarded it. i got on the phone with an old friend and he started playing a banned group. my bestseller. a mimeographed at first but later printed it. it is printed 100,000 copies.

he said, i've been putting up with the hard use. theave a group we called kingston trio. he said, pete, we will take our name off it. it was very nice because technically, legally, as they say i had "abandoned copyright." they took their name off and my manager copyrighted it. it pays by taxes these days, and a song. it is been translated into dozens of other images. >> can you play it? baby out to sing the very last -- maybe i will sing the very last verse. you have to laugh if you don't cry. ♪ where have all the graveyards gone longtime passing where have all the graveyards gone longtime ago

where have all the graveyards gone everyoneith flowers learnill we ever when will we ever learn ♪ >> you still have your voice. >> it's in the seller. >> can you talk about getting older? >> it is no fun to lose your memory or your hearing or your eyesight, but from my shoulders on down, i'm in better condition than most men my age will stop i can go skiing with the family. i stick to the intermediate slopes. >> you sit here listening with your sound is

very important. it is not as easy for you to hear things so clearly anymore. how has that affected you? >> i'm singing to myself all the time. or just in my brain, not making any sound. admittedly, unless i had earphones on, i can't really, even with a caller hearing aid, i can't really hear music anymore. i don't listen to cds or the radio can't listen to tv. and occasionally, when friends come around, i will join in with it, but my fingers are slowing down. i hear records are made years ago and think, how did i ever play that so fast? on the other hand, these are exciting times. there is never been such exciting times.

win, lose, or draw, it is going to be very, very exciting. i applaud what you are doing. ishink what democracy now! doing is fantastic. this could not have been done half a century ago. could not have been done. >> why? >> they did not have the technology for it, i guess. technology will save us if it doesn't wipe us out first. final words, pete seeger, as we wrap up this conversation? the role of being sick, culture -- music, culture, and politics. >> they're all tangled up. hooray for tangling. [laughter] i want to thank you very much for being with us for someone who isn't so hopeful who is listening to this right now, trying to find their way from a

what would you say you go? >> realize that little things lead to bigger things. that is what seeds are all about. in this wonderful parable in the new testament, the sower scattered seeds. some fall on the pathway can get stamped on and him grow. some fall in the rocks and they don't grow. but some fall on hallowed ground and they grow and multiply a thousandfold. who knows where some little thing that you have done they bring results years later that you never dreamed of. speaking in 2004. he died monday at the age of 94. he last appeared on democracy now! in august and talked about one of his most famous songs. hammer"ong "if i had a

it went all sorts of places i could never go. i'm very glad. ♪ if i had a hammer i'd hammer in the morning i'd hammer in the evening all over this land i'd hammer out danger between all of my brothers ♪ , make that between my brothers and sisters. she insisted. he said, how about all of my siblings? she did not think that was funny. ♪ all over this land. -- you can sing the song to yourself whether you're driving a car or washing or just singing to

your kids. we haven't mentioned children much on this program, but it may realizing that you can't live without love, you can't live without fun and laughter, you can't live without friends. and i say, long-lived teachers of children because they can show children how they can save the world. >> we end with more pete seeger just four months ago. overcomehall

we shall overcome shall overcome some day i know thaty heart i do believe ♪we shall >> you have been listening to pete seeger in his own words and songs. he died yesterday, monday, the age of 94. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]