Adrian Riskin 4d ago

World War Two was the archetypal good war. And ask any liberal, FDR was the archetypal good president. But don't ask Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, and Woody Guthrie -- The Almanac Singers.[1] They released Songs for John Doe[2] in 1941 and it's full of anti-draft, anti-war, anti-FDR songs, inspired by the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, the first peacetime conscription law ever enacted in the US.[3]

And are you afraid to fight, Billy boy, Billy boy?
Are you afraid to fight, charming Billy?
You can comе around to me when England's a democracy...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Almanac_Singers

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_for_John_Doe

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Training_and_Service_Act_of_1940

#ProtestSongs #AlmanacSingers #BillyBoy #WorldWar2 #WW2 #Conscription #SelectiveService #WoodyGuthrie #PeteSeeger #FolkMusic

Show threadAdrian Riskin 4d ago

And then there's The Ballad of October 16.[1]

Oh, Franklin Roosevelt told the people how he felt
We damned near believed what he said
He said, "I hate war, and so does Eleanor
But we won't be safe till everybody's dead"

[1] I'm not sure what the date means. The bill was passed by Congress and signed by FDR on September 16, 1940. Mistake? Intentional but obscure point-making? 🤷‍♂️

Show threadAdrian Riskin 

I see a lot of people on here who think that thinking both major US political parties are the same is a recent phenomenon. This song was written 85 years ago:

Wendell Wilkie and Franklin D
Seems to me they both agree
Both agree, both agree
Both agree on killin' me

Apr 7 at 9:32pmWeb