“To my old brown earth and to my old blue sky I’ll now give these last few molecules of ‘I.'” – Pete Seeger

With Pete Seeger’s passing at the age of 94, I took some time today to reflect on how one man was able to use music to encourage and initiate action. I grew up humming “If I had a hammer, I’d hammer in the morning…” on the way to my bus stop with little idea of the power and call to action in the words. As I grew older, Seeger’s songs stayed in my head, popping out most often when I was outdoors.

I did a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) trip after my freshman year of high school in 2007. On the final day of our trip, we stopped about 5 miles from the dirt road where we would be picked up. The instructors had us leave at intervals so that we would walk the final few miles alone, without the chance of catching up to each other, and be able to reflect on the past month. As I was walking through the woods, surrounded by tall pines, I started to sing “Blowing in the Wind”,  “Wagon Wheel”, “Gypsy” and then “If I Had a Hammer.” It seemed like the best place in the world to sing about making noise in the name of love. My words were absorbed by the trees and shot upwards into the sky, overcast with smoke from the far off wildfires.

I can’t say that Pete Seeger was a huge influence in my life. I was introduced to his music at camp where 50 children yelled the lyrics accompanied by a handful of guitars, a banjo, and the odd mandolin. I didn’t even know “If I Had a Hammer” was by him, or hear his recording of it, until I was in my teens and the songs had been a part of my internal sing-a-long for years.

I think that is the power Pete Seeger had. His music doesn’t  need him to breath life into it, it stands on it’s own. His early recordings are just as relevant as more modern renditions because, while he was an amazing musician, his messages transcend the person singing the lyrics to a level at which music and art become culture. Just like the trees we absorb it subconsciously, storing the lyrics in the back of our heads for when they are needed, or just a walk in the woods.