Songs of Peace and War
Barbara DaneI first started singing for peace in 1946 and now – by some trick they do—it’s already 2010. You can imagine how lucky I feel to still be around, and how proud I am to sing for peace wherever I can. (My new bumper sticker says “I’m already against the NEXT war!”)
But I’m hungry as hell to know what new songs are being written and which of the older songs are still standing up to the insanity of war. The young generations seem to understand that war is basically obsolete. But all of us know that to abolish war as a form of human interaction will still require everything we can do or say or dream or sing.
This workshop will be a place where we can show each other the best musical tools we have for this unprecedented moment when our country is engaged in several hot wars, either overtly or covertly, at the same time that our misguided angry tax payers are still supporting large military bases all around the globe.
Bring your new songs, sing them here for the rest of us and even bring some to pass around. I might sing a few of the old ones and teach you one or two that I have found useful whenever you want the whole crowd to lift their voices along with their fists. My goal is to have us all leave better equipped for the epoch-making task we have ahead.
“Last night I had the strangest dream
I never dreamed before:
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war.”
E. McCurdyBarbara Dane has been performing and recording since the 1950s. See her full biography under the Faith Petric Stage on this website, and at www.barbaradane.net.
