Songwriters canโt explain. You get an idea and you donโt know where itโs come from. And if youโre lucky, you have a pencil or pen and can write it down.
Pete SeegerJohn McCutcheon is not only one of the best musicians in the USA, but also a great singer, songwriter, and song leader. And not just incidentally, he is committed to helping hard-working people everywhere to organize and push this world in a better direction.
Pete SeegerIf I had an axe on the evening at Newport when [Dylan] broke out the electric guitar, I'd have cut his cable.
Pete SeegerThe easiest way to avoid wrong notes is to never open your mouth and sing. What a mistake that would be.
Pete SeegerShh. Listen to the sounds that surround you. Notice the pitches, the volume, the timbre, the many lines of counterpoint. As light taught Monet to paint, the earth may be teaching you music.
Pete SeegerThere are many people writing songs. That is absolutely wonderful. Who knows, there may be some kid in diapers and he or she might succeed in capturing in a few dozen words what great writers have spent years trying to say. Just the right word in the right place with the right melody behind it and the right rhythm. It might get around the world inch by inch, and people realize that this world is in danger, that we're in danger. That's the way "This Land Is Your Land" got to be so well known.
Pete Seeger