Today’s post is dedicated to the folk music movement that enjoyed great popularity in the 60’s and 70’s. I grew up listening to the Beatles and Pete Seeger. The Beach Boys and Arlo Guthrie. So as you can see, it was Rock and Folk back then. Folk music is the music of the people. It’s lyrics deal with poverty, injustice and suffering.
I went to a Pete Seeger concert and took my husband, we sat in the grass and the entire audience sang with the band and the birds joined in with enthusiasm. We felt connected to every other person we could see. Pete has passed now but the beauty of his music endures.
Folk music deals with the lives of “the masses”. The lyrics dealt with the coal miners, the railroad workers, the poor and the ill. It deals with those who are out of work and hungry. Those children who quit school to go to work to prevent the family from starving.
It also celebrates every life, big and successful or small and difficult. Folk music sees us all as equal and essential to the life of this planet. We are all one human species, and dwell upon this planet without borders. What effects you, effects me even if I don’t realize it. I am sure you know many of these songs and I hope you might enjoy singing along.
There is no difference between religions, skin color, ethnicity or how much money you have. It may seem like there are differences, but there aren’t inside where “we really live.” Inside we are all the same, the children of God. We have bodies that work the same and we are all loved by the Divine. Folk music promotes peace and the atrocities of war. I hope you enjoy my offering today.

Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014