"My Song Is My Weapon": People's Songs, American Communism, and the Politics of Culture, 1930-50 (Music in American Life) [1 ed.] 0252065255, 9780252065255

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Volumes in the series Music in American Life are listed at the end of this book.

“My Song Is My Weapon”

Robbie Lieberman

“My Song Is My Weapon” PEOPLE’S SONGS, AMERICAN COMMUNISM, AND THE POLITICS OF CULTURE, 1930-1950

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS Urbana and Chicago

Publication of this work was supported in part by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

© 1989 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois Manufactured in the United States of America GY

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

The following publishers have generously given permission to use material from copyrighted works: Epigraph from Woody Guthrie. Copyright 1947— Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Used by permission. From “A Dollar Ain’t a Dollar,” words and music by Oscar Brand. Copyright 1964—Hbollis Music, Inc. Used by permission. From ““Abe Lincoln,” chorus words by Abraham Lincoln, verse words by Hays and Robinson, music by Earl Robinson. Copyright 1938, 1942—MCA Music Publishing, MCA, Inc. Used by permission. From “If |Had a Hammer” (The Hammer Song), words and music by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger. Copyright 1958, 1962 (renewed 1986)—Ludlow Music, Inc. Used by permission. From “Tomorrow Is a Highway,” words by Lee Hays, music by Pete Seeger. Copyright 1950 (renewed 1978)—Folkways Music Publishers, Inc. Used by permission. From “The Preacher and the Slave” and “Solidarity Forever.” Copyright—Alpha Music, Inc. Used by permission. From Robbie Lieberman, “People’s Songs: American Communism and the Politics of Culture,” Radical History Review 36 (September 1986). Used by permission from MARHO: the Radical Historians’ Organization. From Robbie Lieberman, “The Culture of Politics: Communism, Americanism, and the People’s Songs Hootenanny,” South Atlantic Quarterly 85:1 (Winter 1986). Used by permission from Duke University Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lieberman, Robbie, 1954— My song is my weapon: People’s Songs, American communism,

and the politics of culture. 1930-1950 / Robbie Lieberman. p. cm.—(Music in American life) Includes index. ISBN 0-252-01559-2 (alk. paper) 1. Music—Political aspects—United States. 2. Communism and music. 3. People’s Songs (Organization) 4. Communism—United States—1917— 5S. Politics and culture—United States. I. People’s Songs (Organization) JI. Title. III. Series. ML3795.L44 1989 324.273'75—dc19 88-12226 CUP MN

To my parents, Ann and Ernie Lieberman, for their love, inspiration,

and encouragement, and to the memory of Dick Reuss, whose thoughtfulness and enthusiasm is missed by all.

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Contents

Preface

Xill

Introduction: Historical Background 1. The American Communist Movement Culture

. From the “Final Cornflakes”’ to the “‘Ballad for Americans”: Communist Musical Culture in the 1930s

14

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. “This Machine Kills Fascists”: Communism,

Antifascism, and People’s Music during World War II

50

. “My Song Is My Weapon”: People’s Songs, the CPUSA, and the Cold War

67

5. “Songs of Labor and the American People” . “We Were Close to Changing the World”: The People’s Songs Hootenanny

85 i Bs)

7. “The Fight for Peace”: People’s Songs and the Wallace Campaign

126

8. “We Will Overcome”: The Legacy of People’s Songs

149

Notes

167

Index

193

I hate a song that makes you think that you’re not any good. I hate a song that makes you think you’re just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are either too old or too young or too fat or too thin or too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or songs that poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or your hard traveling. I am out to fight these kinds of songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter how hard it’s run you down, and rolled over you, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built; I am out to sing the songs that will make you take pride in yourself. Woody Guthrie, 1947

... the Communists everywhere are the only people I know of that know how to make the right use of our own American folk lore, folk culture, folk songs, and folk singers. And folks.

Woody Guthrie, People’s World, April 28, 1947

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