http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTvr79Oe5w8 "If I Had A Hammer" is one of the most controversial of Seeger's career. It probably wouldn't have been noticed at all if it hadn't been released when it was. Don't think that that was a coincidence, though; Seeger wrote the song to vocally announce that he fell in a controversial spot on the political spectrum. Seeger and Lee Hays wrote the song in 1949 (not borrowing anything this time). The song was meant to be a rallying cry for the Progressive Party, of which Seeger & Hays were proud members. In a nutshell, the Progressive Party felt that the other political parties were war-mongering political machines who cared about nobody. Appropriately, "If I Had A Hammer" is all about peace, love, and helping everyone. Why would a song like that be controversial? Well, the Progressive Party was seen as nothing but a thin veil for the Communist Party. Since McCarthyism was in full bloom in the United States during 1949, this was bad news for Seeger & Hays. The two made more trouble for themselves by performing the song during a testimonial dinner protesting the arraignment of the leaders of the American Communist Party. As you can imagine, the song didn't do too well in 1949. The song didn't get its moment in the sun until 1962, when Peter, Paul, & Mary took it to the top 10 in the Billboard charts. Regardless of how you feel about the Communist party, it feels funny to protest a song about peace, helping one another, and standing up for justice and freedom. Hopefully, we've grown far enough past silly fears and prejudices to see this song for the beautiful tune it is.
Alan Howell is a native of Southern California. He loves movies of any and all kinds, Hollywood, indie, and everywhere in between. He loves pizza, sitcoms, rock and pop music, surfing, baseball, reading, and girls (not necessarily in that order).