Go Down, Moses! (Folk 'War Songs') - S1.E12

After Nashville had raped American country music, it might seem that the folk traditions this music embodied had been lost. Not so, because these traditions had a purpose other than to entertain. We shall see how folk music used popular melodies to spell out unpopular themes, how during the American War of Independence filthy words were penned against the British Crown, but all to the tune of ‘God Save The King’. The same happened during the American Civil War – different words, depending on whether you were from the North or the South but to the same tune.

Song has been used by such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, Peter Seeger and Leonard Cohen as a passionate weapon for peace. The effect these singers managed to achieve in the sixties was one of the stronger causes of the American defeat in Vietnam.

featuring

Arlo Guthrie

Bing Crosby

Country Joe McDonald

James Simmons

Joan Baez

Leon Rosselson

Leonard Cohen

Pete Seeger

Peter, Paul and Mary

The Andrews Sisters

Vera Lynn

Woody Guthrie