Don't slay that potato, let us be merciful please.

Don't slay that potato, let us be merciful please.

In a small village near Calcutta, in 1998, a villager who could not speak English sang me What Did You Learn In School Today? in Bengali! Tom Paxton’s songs are reaching around the world more than he is, or any of us could have realized. Keep on, Tom!

Some people you don't have to satirize, you just quote 'em.

A suffering world cries for mercy, as far as the eye can see. Lawyers around every bend in the road, lawyers in every tree.

Look em in the eye. Make a gesture of inclusion, which he did all the time. And above all, have a chorus. So I learned from Pete Seeger to have something for them to sing.

In its power, clarity and shear beauty, Mack Bailey's voice reminds me of no one more than my friend, the late John Denver. I love to hear this man sing.