Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Wise Words

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Very wise, but strangely easy to understand, considering the source. Or is yoda just the guy who gives it credibility?

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Now this should be a lesson if you plan to start a folk group

don’t go mixin politics with the folk songs of our land ,

Just work on harmony and diction play your banjo well

and if you have political convictions keep em to yourself
There is some very wise words

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Wow, A surprising sentiment considering some of the greatest folk heroes in the States made their careers taking a stand on the social & political circumstances of their time…so much so that I’d consider it part of the tradition, if not the main tradition, of North American Folk music.

Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Woody & Arlo Guthrie, The Weavers, Joan Baez, The Freedom Singers (Holly Near), Utah Phillips, & Steve Earl are all just part of the huge socially & politically active folk performer crowd…

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That was from a Johnny Cash song “the one on the right.” I think it is true you should not mix music with politics.

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Whoa! I’d forgotten about Johnny…He got quite political on his TV show.

He performed a lot for the armed forces, but he sure didn’t care for the war, and wasn’t afraid to say so.

Music by nature lends itself to cover all subjects in my opinion. subjects as far ranging as emotions, stories, history, tons of social issues, religion, addiction, and much more has been expressed upon through music. I see no reason to abandon the subject of politics. musically… It’s just another subject matter on which an artist can express themselves through their music if they choose .

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I thought the song was funny so I put a verse out there , if you have never heard the song you need to . YouTube has it Songs are about life

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Yes, I’ve heard it many times. I usually get a good chuckle when hearing it.

Good to see you on here , take care and keep making that good music .

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Good reading you too sir!
haha, Thanks, but the music isn’t too awful wonderful today…I just switched fiddles this morning and now have to find all the notes again…

Here’s is one folk singer among many who inspired an entire nation i.e. The USA to mix Folk Music and Politics.

His message was simple and embellished his banjo head.

This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender.

We both agree politics and right and wrong makes some interesting music. I just thought it was a funny song .

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Nice to see you on the forum again Kenneth. I’ve thought about you from time to time. Hope you’re doing well.

Or is it Wendall…Dang, I hate it when I do that.

Chorus:
[Well, the one on the right was on the left
And the one in the middle was on the right
And the one on the left was in the middle
And the guy in the rear was a Methodist]

I am curious, what is it about a Methodist that gets them a mention in a song?

I’ve no idea

Maybe @BanjoBen can answer that one.

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The entire song was about the human factor of life itself it could have been “and the guy in rear was a Baptist and who in the world burns their drivers license , I believe the song was a light hearted en-devour for all; to enjoy. John Fogerty was one of the outspoken ones on the Nam war . I enjoyed the music and did not pay to much attention to the message, I saw it on Tv was one I loved and about every word was true oh so true cause I saw it on TV. LOL enjoy the music . I would love to have the break to 'the one on the right” in Tab . Great sound .

Because Methodists don’t have too strong of opinions, at least not compared to others…haha. I love my Methodist bros/sisses.

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