The Answer, My Friend …
A Reason To Smile
Peter, Paul and Mary’s lush yet precise harmonies helped establish the group as one of the best-known and loved folk bands of the 1960s. This week, singer, songwriter, and political activist Peter Yarrow died in his hometown of New York City.
The trio had many hits, like “Leavin’ On a Jet Plane” and “Puff the Magic Dragon,” but their most enduring song was “Blowin’ In the Wind.” It is this week’s reason to smile.
During the summer of 1963, as I was covering the Civil Rights Movement, “Blowin’ in the Wind” was a constant on AM radio and eventually became an anthem of the movement.
You are right to think that the song was written by Bob Dylan. Both he and Peter, Paul and Mary recorded it, but the trio’s version outsold Dylan’s. Theirs sold 300,000 copies in its first week of release in June 1963 and more than a million by August.
In an interview, Yarrow said that when he told the relatively unknown Dylan he had made $5,000 in royalties, the young songwriter was speechless.
What catapulted the protest song to legendary status was the March on Washington in August 1963. Peter, Paul and Mary were asked by Harry Belafonte to perform at the civil rights march, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. They sang Dylan’s anthem on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Yarrow’s recollections of becoming part of the movement and singing at the march are moving and well worth your time.
His final thought is a poignant reminder that today we can and must stand strong and steady.
“In today’s world, we have enormous challenges that can be met if we have the courage to do what we did in the Civil Rights Movement. This movement was not about yesterday. It is about our lives right now.”
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Dan….a beautiful song. For those of us Baby Boomers it was like a national anthem. It described the era of the 1960s very well and serves as a reminder that we still have a ton of work to do. Gorgeously performed by Peter, Paul and Mary and again by the iconic Bob Dylan.
May the song live on but may the problems go away.
This post I will save. For me it is inspiring. Our democracy might lie low for awhile but it is not going away.