
PS: These were the original verses, which Woody had written. The sign was painted, it said ‘private property’ īut on the back side it didn’t say nothing ĭK: Why was singing these verses so important to you? There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple īy the Relief Office, I’d seen my people.Īs they stood there hungry, I stood there wishing, Pete Seeger: These big things I tend to be against them, but Bruce Springsteen is such a nice guy he is very honest and he says, “we have arranged everything and you don’t need to think about anything except singing one song,” and they let me sing the verses which had been cut out of the school song books. It has empowered me as an actor - to be able to write, to do my own work and to let it be meaningful to me rather than just being hired to act in other people’s projects,” he said.David Kupfer: What was it like playing up on the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington Mall for the Obama inauguration? “It’s really become a large part of my livelihood. I discovered during the writing of it that it really resonates with issues of today such as Black Lives Matter and Pete was a very early environmentalist.”ĭespite appearing on TV shows such as “Boardwalk Empire” and “Royal Pains” and having the feature film “Unbeatable Harold” be based on his play, Noojin ( said what he enjoys most is getting his solo shows written and on the road. “We use some of Pete’s songs like ‘If I Had a Hammer’ and ‘Turn! Turn! Turn!,’ his most famous songs, to tell his story about his awakening as an activist. Pete was not allowed to sing on radio or television because of his political beliefs. He was accused of being Communist so Pete tells the story of his fight during the McCarthy era with the blacklist. “It also allows me to talk about Pete’s politics. They were friends and Pete Seeger also used his music for activism so I’ve set the Pete Seeger show at a benefit concert advocating the end of the U.S.-Cuba trade embargo, which is a problem that is still around today,” Noojin said. “‘Seeger’ is sort of a companion piece to the Woody piece. Noojin also wrote “Seeger” ( which features the activist namesake’s folk music.
