It's A Very Important Thing To Learn

How Can You Save The World You Have Not Seen If You Can't Save The Community You Have Seen?

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.

The American Indians Were Communists. They Were. Every Anthropologist Will Tell You They Were Communists. No Rich, No Poor. If Somebody Needed Something The Community Chipped In.

If There's A World Here In A Hundred Years, It's Going To Be Saved By Tens Of Millions Of Little Things. The Powers-that-be Can Break Up Any Big Thing They Want. They Can Corrupt It Or Co-opt It From The Inside, Or They Can Attack It From The Outside. But What Are They Going To Do About 10 Million Little Things? They Break Up Two Of Them, And Three More Like Them Spring Up!

Alan Lomax Is The Person Who I Think Should Be Given Major Credit For What Has Been Called The "folk Song Revival." My Father Participated With Him Because My Father Was A Musicologist And Urged Trained Musicians To Learn About "the Vernacular."