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You are here: Home / Folk Song Army

Folk Song Army

by Tom Levenson|  April 29, 20121:25 pm| 40 Comments

This post is in: Rare Sincerity

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A few days late, but I was moved by this event. Murderous Pam Geller hero Anders Behring Breivik has gone on record as hating a children’s song that celebrates multi-cultural tolerance and mutual good will, taking the suggestion that getting along with each other as clear evidence of the  Communist plot to upend society or some such.

Once this view became known, Norwegians responded thusly:

<div align=”center”><iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/AxnZEL55ux8″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

I know, as those of you familiar with the work this post title references, that it takes a lot more than singing to overcome the many evils that attend the ideal of a civil society.  But it never hurts — and often  helps — to perform acts to remind ourselves and the enemies of that civil society that we are here, and we are not alone.  The Norwegians kicked ass with this, in my humble opinion.

(Oh — and yes, I’ve noticed (as no one else has, or should) that I’ve been even more conspicuous by my absence here the last few weeks.  My day job still owns me more or less totally, and some family and fortunately minor health stuff have consumed all the free mental space left over.  But I’m not dead yet, and hope to rejoin the conversation in fits and starts as we engage the merry month of May.  Cheers all!)

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Previous Post: « breaking: Frank Bruni doesn’t know what he’s talking about
Next Post: I See No Flaws in This Plan »

Reader Interactions

40Comments

  1. 1.

    JPL

    April 29, 2012 at 1:32 pm

    Tom, you have been missed. Because of your moral clarity and art work, your posts are a must read for me. The folk song Army probably helped a lot of citizens heal after the tragedy there.

  2. 2.

    Valdivia

    April 29, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    Hope the minor health stuff is super minor and well in the way to not being an issue

  3. 3.

    opie jeanne

    April 29, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    I’ve missed you.

    The Norwegians coming together to sing that song was moving. I read that the leaders of a couple of other countries (Denmark? Iceland?) joined in singing, but I can’t find the article now and it was unclear if they were in Norway.

  4. 4.

    Ron

    April 29, 2012 at 1:43 pm

    When I saw the video of the Norwegians singing I was honestly moved. It was so nice to see a group gathered like that in a positive way.

  5. 5.

    opie jeanne

    April 29, 2012 at 1:45 pm

    Here is mention of the involvement of other countries in the singing:

    http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/norwegians-sing-song-to-defy-mass-killer-227907.html

    “….The ministers of culture from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland also joined in the choir, the Post said….”

  6. 6.

    Brachiator

    April 29, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    Saw this featured on a recent Rachel Maddow show. An early guess was that a few thousand might show up. The turnout was much, much greater. Wonderful stuff.

  7. 7.

    BenjaminJB

    April 29, 2012 at 1:54 pm

    Freedom of the press. In other words, Smut!

    Life is like a sewer–you get out of it what you put into it.

    Hen3ry–the 3 was silent, you see.

    (I could talk Tom Lehrer all day.)

  8. 8.

    Basilisc

    April 29, 2012 at 1:54 pm

    There are no open threads on the horizon, so hope no one minds if I use this one to ask:

    Are these two sentences the purest distillation of Sully EVER?????

    One of my toilet books is Thomas Merton’s translations of the hilarious and deep Taoist master, Chuang Tzu. If Christianity is the religion of ‘unachievement,” in Oakeshott’s terms, then it had a predecessor:

  9. 9.

    Yutsano

    April 29, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    @Basilisc: That just broke my brain. Seriously. Can we deport Sully now?

  10. 10.

    Baud

    April 29, 2012 at 1:58 pm

    Honest question. Who else besides white Nordic folks live in Norway that this is an issue?

  11. 11.

    MonkeyBoy

    April 29, 2012 at 1:59 pm

    The song is My Rainbow Race by Pete Seeger (1967). Obviously a DF Hippy song.

  12. 12.

    handsmile

    April 29, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    Would it be too much to request that Sully not sully this thread celebrating inspirational action? I ask this, as the thread is categorized, with Rare Sincerity.

  13. 13.

    RedDirtGirl

    April 29, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    The five largest immigrant groups in Norway are in turn Polish, Swedish, Pakistani, Somali and Iraqi (according to the wiki).

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 29, 2012 at 2:01 pm

    Glad to see you back, Tom. I join the throngs crying “I’ve missed you!”

    And I, too, was moved deeply when I saw this folk song army clip a few days ago. Symbolic gestures can be unspeakably powerful.

  15. 15.

    eemom

    April 29, 2012 at 2:07 pm

    @handsmile:

    Would it be too much to request that Sully not sully this thread celebrating inspirational action?

    I’ll sing to that.

  16. 16.

    justawriter

    April 29, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
    And hear their death-knell ringing,
    When friends rejoice both far and near,
    How can I keep from singing?
    In prison cell and dungeon vile
    Our thoughts to them are winging.
    When friends by shame are undefiled,
    How can I keep from singing?

    I learned this song from a Pete and Arlo album. I recall them whenever the level of conservapidity gets too much to bear. If nothing else, I can keep singing.

  17. 17.

    AdamK

    April 29, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    Precisely how the Whos in Whoville handled the Grinch.

  18. 18.

    Punchy

    April 29, 2012 at 2:12 pm

    The sick fact is that if this had happened in the US, South Carolina and Mississippi legys would have already passed bills outlawing that song, the guy’s website would have collected north of half a mill in support of his “defense”, and the NRA would be advocating arming children so as not to allow this thing to happen again.

  19. 19.

    policomic

    April 29, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    We are the Folk Song Army
    Every one of us cares
    We all hate poverty, war, and injustice
    Unlike the rest of you squares

    (For those unfamiliar with the Tom Lehrer reference)

  20. 20.

    policomic

    April 29, 2012 at 2:17 pm

    …though I’d hasten to add that I, too, found this community sing very moving.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    April 29, 2012 at 2:18 pm

    @RedDirtGirl:

    Interesting. Thanks.

  22. 22.

    Jay C

    April 29, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    @Baud:

    Check out the statistics at THIS LINK – “immigrants” – broadly defined – actually make up 13.1% of Norway’s population. Which is one out of eight people. And while a lot of them are “White Nordic folks” – Swedes, mainly, or just “white” – Poles, mainly; there are enough of the duskier sort – Pakistanis, Somali, Vietnamese – to comprise a non-trivial percentage; and get nativist loonies like Anders Breivik bent out of shape. Though his reaction was pretty extreme…..

  23. 23.

    Anya

    April 29, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    The way Norway responded to this ugly event should teach the rest of the world a lesson. This was very moving, thanks for sharing Tom. I hope your health issues are very minor and that you feel better soon.
    Also, too Pete Seeger is a treasure.

  24. 24.

    platosearwax

    April 29, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    Norway has a greater percentage of Muslims living there than the US has. Not that Breivik’s response or viewpoint has any validity whatsoever. Just trying to combat this “only blond Nordic people live in Norway” thing that seems so prevalent.

    Watching this on TV here gave me the chills. Wonderful response and I cannot praise highly enough the people of my adopted home.

  25. 25.

    kideni

    April 29, 2012 at 2:37 pm

    This was my favorite story of the week, so thanks, Tom, for posting on it. As others have noted, Norway and the other Scandinavian countries are becoming less and less traditionally Nordic. That does scare some people like Breivik (and some of my Danish relatives), but I’m heartened by responses like this.

    I’m going to Denmark next week, and I’ll be staying with my cousin, his Palestinian wife, and their adorable children in a neighborhood full of immigrants from the Middle East and Africa. Twenty, twenty-five years ago when I’d go to Denmark, pretty much anyone non-white would be a visitor; now those people are more likely to have been born in Denmark and are speaking Danish.

  26. 26.

    Southern Beale

    April 29, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    Holy Christ these right wing assholes will NOT stop. SUE the motherfuckers already!

    Black Congresswoman threatened after Beck website posts edited video:

    An African-American Congresswoman from New York was forced to call the police on Thursday after she says an edited video posted on Glenn Beck’s website incited threats of violence against her.
    __
    Judith Kargbo, a spokeswoman for Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), confirmed to Raw Story that the Congresswoman’s office had asked Capital Police to investigate calls threatening the lawmaker.
    __
    “On April 19th, the congresswoman went within the district to speak to Prospect Heights Democrats for Reform,” Kargbo explained. “There she was giving an overview of her agenda in Congress and pretty much using the example of the tea party to show how important mobilization is and organization is.”
    __
    “That clip that was originally on the Prospect Heights Democrats for Reform site was edited and was posted up on TheBlaze.com, and that of course is Glenn Beck’s website,” she continued. “That was edited down and what people were taking away from it was that the congresswoman was saying that all tea party members are crazy and all tea party individuals show the ugly side of the United States.”

  27. 27.

    Chyron HR

    April 29, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    “I heard she called us crazy!”
    “Let’s all KILLLLL HERRRRRRRRRR!”

  28. 28.

    Baud

    April 29, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    @Jay C: @platosearwax:

    Thanks for the learning. I had always thought of Scandinavia as one of the most homogenous areas in the world after Japan.

  29. 29.

    Anya

    April 29, 2012 at 2:58 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    “That was edited down and what people were taking away from it was that the congresswoman was saying that all tea party members are crazy and all tea party individuals show the ugly side of the United States.”

    But the teabaggers are crazy and they show the ugly side of America. In fact they are the ugly side of America.

  30. 30.

    Origuy

    April 29, 2012 at 3:05 pm

    There are also about 133,000 Sami people (formerly called Lapplanders) who live in the Nordic countries and Russia. Until the second half of the 20th century, they were treated pretty much like the American Indians were. Language suppression, forced sterilization, that sort of thing.

  31. 31.

    lamh35

    April 29, 2012 at 3:19 pm

    Has anyone used Priceline for last minute airline tickets? If so, how would you rate the experience (i.e. connections, stops, layovers, etc)?

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    April 29, 2012 at 3:23 pm

    @lamh35: I have used Priceline more often for hotels than plane tickets, but IIRC you can specify number of connections when bidding. Overall, my Priceline experiences have been pretty good.

  33. 33.

    Yutsano

    April 29, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    @lamh35: If you’re okay with not choosing your airline or your layovers then Priceline is good for price alone. But their parent company is Expedia so they’re solid for getting the actual flight down. You may hop like a flea but you’ll get there for your price or close to it.

  34. 34.

    Mino

    April 29, 2012 at 3:48 pm

    And in the RealPolitik world, Sarkozy is embracing lePen to save his presidency. Funny, I remember that solution to political desperation in another MittelEuropean country leading to a lot of tears 80 years ago.

  35. 35.

    Quaker in a Basement

    April 29, 2012 at 4:38 pm

    Like Woody used to say: This Machine Kills Fascists.

  36. 36.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2012 at 4:40 pm

    @policomic:
    Yes, we are the folk song army,
    Guitars are the weapons we bring
    To the fight against poverty, war, and injustice
    Ready, Aim, Siiiiiing.

  37. 37.

    Roger Moore

    April 29, 2012 at 4:45 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    “That was edited down and what people were taking away from it was that the congresswoman was saying that all tea party members are crazy and all tea party individuals show the ugly side of the United States.”

    So the natural response is to prove her right by threatening her with violence. I guess the truth hurts.

  38. 38.

    Evergreen (formerly Betsy, forever ago)

    April 29, 2012 at 7:45 pm

    They shall overcome.

  39. 39.

    Geeno

    April 29, 2012 at 8:05 pm

    @Southern Beale: You’re accused of being the uglier side of America, and your response is to launch death threats?
    Say, that’ll convince people you’re not on the uglier side of our political discourse!
    These people are morons.

  40. 40.

    Paul in KY

    April 30, 2012 at 8:59 am

    God bless those Norse. It’s like the Whos singing Vavoo Doray to show the Grinch what they think of his philosophy, times 100.

    See Adam K. beat me to it!

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