If You Love This Land Of The

I Still Call Myself A Communist, Because Communism Is No More What Russia Made Of It Than Christianity Is What The Churches Make Of It.

I Don't Think Of God As An Old White Man With No Belly Button, Nor Even An Old Black Woman With No Belly Button. But I Agree That God Is Something Eternal. Something Cannot Come Out Of Nothing. I Believe God Is Everything. And I Believe In Infinity.

I Decline To Discuss, Under Compulsion, Where I Have Sung, And Who Has Sung My Songs, And Who Else Has Sung With Me, And The People I Have Known.

My Father Urged Alan [lomax] Not To Repeat The Mistakes Of The European Folklorists Who, A Century Ago, Had Collected These Peasant Songs And Then Arranged Them For Part Choir And Accompanied Them On Piano, And Then Told The Young People Of Their Country, "don't Change A Note, This Is Our Sacred Heritage." Father Said, Whether It's A Fiddle Tune Or A Gospel Song, Learn It Right Off The Record From The People Who Grew Up With It. Don't Just Learn It From A Piece Of Paper.

I Write A Song Because I Want To. I Think The Moment You Start Writing It To Make Money, You're Starting To Kill Yourself Artistically.