I loved her, I did.
And was so saddened to hear of Mary Travers’ death from leukemia. I own all the Peter Paul & Mary albums. And I believe that the last time both my daughters and I attended a concert together it was a Peter, Paul & Mary at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.
I loved their harmonies and their anti-war stances. Their walking the talk. At the concert we were at, Mary spoke of her arrests for her protests against the Vietnam War, then how proud she was when her daughter joined her and got arrested when they protested the treatment of California fruit pickers and then when her granddaughter joined them to protest nuclear proliferation and the Iraq war. Three generations of inspiration and activism.
"Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Blowing in the Wind," "If I had a Hammer"……so many wonderful folk songs are among her legacies.
Goodbye Mary, the world is no longer the same.
In tribute to Mary, thought I'd post the following lyrics to the public domain "Woman of Experience" biographical folk song I wrote about her during the 1980s:
ReplyDelete"Women of Experience"
(chorus)
She's a woman of experience
She's a woman who is strong
She's a woman of intelligence
And she likes to sing folk songs.
(verses)
She was born in Old Kentucky
And raised in Bohemia
Her childhood was so lonely
But she found some joy in nature
Her parents taught her well
To always think for herself
And resist the Establishment
And that's why she sang folk. (chorus)
Around her was a crowd of rebels
Writers with words intense
Artists who hoped to change the world
And outfox the government
She rebelled against dumb authority
And refused to ape TV clones
Alienated and abandoned
She sang folk songs at home. (chorus)
She wandered in Washington Square
And sang along in the park
She read her quota of books
And sat in the coffeshops
She sang with a couple of men
And belted out her deep feelings
And fought for a better world
And they called her the "new folk queen." (chorus)
She's been through her family
And she's got some new lessons to share
And she's collected a lot of wisdom
And it's still fun to touch her hair
And she'll give you a passionate hug
And her spirit is still untamed
And she brings some love to the world
And sings folk songs in the middle of rain. (chorus)
Thanks for sharing this, BF. Very generous of you.
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good tribute BF,I love their music. I offer my prayers and condolences to the family.
ReplyDeletea beautiful voice gone but we'' still have her music for generations to come. RIP.
ReplyDeleteA sad loss.
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