Waist Deep in the Big Muddy

Last updated
"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy"
Single by Pete Seeger
from the album Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Other Love Songs
B-side "Down by the Riverside"
Released1967 (1967)
Genre Folk
Length2:54
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) Pete Seeger
Producer(s) John Hammond
Pete Seeger singles chronology
"Draft Dodger Rag"
(1965)
"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy"
(1967)
"I Feel like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag"
(1970)

"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" is a song written by Pete Seeger in 1967 and made famous because of its censorship from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour .

Contents

Story

The song tells the story of a platoon wading in a river in Louisiana on a practice patrol in 1942. Imperiously ignoring his sergeant's concerns, the captain orders the platoon to continue with himself in the lead until they are finally up to their necks. Suddenly, the captain drowns and the sergeant instantly orders the unit to turn back to the original shore. It turns out the captain was not aware that the river was deeper with a joining stream upriver. The narrator declines to state an obvious moral but intimates from what he has read in the paper that his nation itself is being led into similar peril by authoritarian fools. Each verse ends with a line noting that "the big fool said to push on" except for the final verse, which changes to the present tense, and the fourth verse which says "the captain dead and gone." The story is similar to the Ribbon Creek incident, which occurred in 1956.

Significance

The song was considered symbolic of the Vietnam War and President Lyndon Johnson's policy of escalation, then widely seen as pushing the United States deeper into the increasingly unpopular war. Like the Captain's demise, Johnson was eventually forced to abandon plans for re-election due to the war in 1968. The captain's criticism of a dissenting sergeant as a "Nervous Nelly" in the song's third verse appears to mimick Johnson's epithet for critics of the war. [1] Seeger often performed the song at concerts and rallies, and in late 1967 he was invited to perform on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour . Seeger chose to perform "Big Muddy," and sang the song on the taping of the CBS show in September, 1967 but CBS management objected to its political tone, and censored the song prior to broadcast. Following the strong support from the Smothers Brothers, the show's hosts, CBS later relented and allowed Seeger to come back and sing the song on the Brothers' February 25, 1968 show. At the time, Seeger was under contract to Columbia Records, which was owned by CBS, and he had just recorded the song in an album titled Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Other Love Songs. The broadcast is included on the DVD The Best of the Smothers Brothers.

Cover versions

Richard Shindell recorded a cover of this song on his 2005 album Vuelta.

The song was covered by Dick Gaughan in his 1997 album Sail On.

John McCutcheon covered the song on his 2007 album This Fire.

Bruce Springsteen, who would later record an album of Seeger-related songs, used the line "Waist deep in the big muddy" as the chorus for his 1992 song, "Big Muddy."

The song was translated into French by Graeme Allwright in 1971 under the title "Jusqu'à la ceinture".

The song was translated into Russian by Alexander Dolsky who performed the song in concerts in the 1980s during the Soviet–Afghan War, which has been referred to as the "Soviet Union's Vietnam." The song was released on a 1988 LP "Landscape in a frame", [2] later reissued on CD. [3]

John Fogerty's song "Deja Vu (All Over Again)" makes reference to the "Big Muddy".

The song was translated into Japanese in 2015 under the title "Koshi made Doro mamire".

Kronos Quartet's 2020 album Long Time Passing , celebrating the music of Pete Seeger, includes their recording of the song with Brian Carpenter.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smothers Brothers</span> American singers, musicians and comedians

The Smothers Brothers were a duo of American folk singers, musicians, and comedians consisting of siblings Tom and Dick Smothers. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs, which usually led to arguments between them. Tommy's signature line was "Mom always liked you best!" Tommy acted "slow" and Dick, the straight man, acted "superior".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Seeger</span> American folk singer and social activist (1919–2014)

Peter Seeger was an American folk singer and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, and had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, notably their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene," which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of the Weavers were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. In the 1960s, Seeger re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights, counterculture, workers' rights, and environmental causes.

<i>The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</i> American comedy series

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show television series hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.

The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads. The group sold millions of records at the height of their popularity, including the first folk song to reach No. 1 on popular music charts, their recording of Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene." Despite their popularity, the Weavers were blacklisted during much of the 1950s.

"Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", sometimes "Tzena, Tzena", is a song, written in 1941 in Hebrew. Its music is by Issachar Miron, a Polish emigrant in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, and the lyrics are by Yechiel Chagiz.

"Mrs. McGrath" is an Irish folk song set during the Peninsular War of the early 19th century. The song tells the story of a woman whose son enters the British Army and returns seven years later having lost his legs to a cannonball while fighting against Napoleon presumably at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro. The general theme of the song is one of opposition to war. Along with "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye", it is one of the most graphic of all Irish folk songs that deal with sickness and injuries caused by warfare. Irish folk song collector Colm Ó Lochlainn described "Mrs. Grath" as "known to every true born citizen of Dublin". It was very popular among the Irish Volunteers in the years leading up to the 1916 Rising and has been recorded by many singers and folk groups.

Big Muddy may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael, Row the Boat Ashore</span> Folk song based on a Sea Islands spiritual

"Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" is a traditional spiritual first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. The best-known recording was released in 1960 by the U.S. folk band The Highwaymen; that version briefly reached number-one hit status as a single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Where Have All the Flowers Gone?</span> Folk song written by Pete Seeger in 1955

"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a folk song written by American singer-songwriter Pete Seeger in 1955. Inspired lyrically by the traditional Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", Seeger borrowed an Irish melody for the music, and published the first three verses in Sing Out! magazine. Additional verses were added in May 1960 by Joe Hickerson, who turned it into a circular song. Its rhetorical "where?" and meditation on death place the song in the ubi sunt tradition. In 2010, the New Statesman listed it as one of the "Top 20 Political Songs".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American folk music revival</span> 20th-century American musical movement

The American folk music revival began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Big Bill Broonzy, Richard Dyer-Bennet, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob Niles, Susan Reed, Paul Robeson, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Cisco Houston had enjoyed a limited general popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. The revival brought forward styles of American folk music that had in earlier times contributed to the development of country and western, blues, jazz, and rock and roll music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tao Rodríguez-Seeger</span> American musician

Tao Rodríguez-Seeger is an American contemporary folk musician. A founder of The Mammals, he is the grandson of folk musician Pete Seeger. He plays banjo, guitar, harmonica and sings in English and Spanish.

"Draft Dodger Rag" is a satirical anti-war song by Phil Ochs, a U.S. protest singer from the 1960s known for being a harsh critic of the American military industrial complex. Originally released on his 1965 album, I Ain't Marching Anymore, "Draft Dodger Rag" quickly became an anthem of the anti-Vietnam War movement.

"Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies" is an American folk music ballad, originating from the Appalachian region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protest songs in the United States</span> Musical tradition

Protest songs in the United States are a tradition that dates back to the early 18th century and have persisted and evolved as an aspect of American culture through the present day. Many American social movements have inspired protest songs spanning a variety of musical genres including but not limited to rap, folk, rock, and pop music. Though early 18th century songs stemmed from the American colonial period as well as in response to the Revolutionary war, protest songs have and continue to cover a wide variety of subjects. Protest songs typically serve to address some social, political, or economic concern through the means of musical composition. In the 19th century, American protest songs focused heavily on topics including slavery, poverty, and the Civil War while the 20th century saw an increased popularity in songs pertaining to women's rights, economic injustice, and politics/ war. In the 21st century, popular protest songs address police brutality, racism, and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Warshaw</span> Musical artist

Jack Warshaw is an American folksinger, songwriter and musician, best known for his 1976 protest song "If They Come in the Morning," aka "No Time for Love." He moved to England in 1965 to start a career as an architect but stayed because the folk music scene and the Vietnam War intervened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pete Seeger discography</span> Cataloging of published recordings by Pete Seeger

The discography of Pete Seeger, an American folk singer, consists of 52 studio albums, 23 compilation albums, 22 live albums, and 31 singles. Seeger's musical career started in 1940 when he joined The Almanac Singers. He stayed with the group for two years until he was drafted into the Army to fight in the Second World War. After the end of World War II in 1945, Seeger helped found an organization known as People's Songs, along with the influential folk music magazine People's Songs Bulletin. He published several singles and a studio album with the magazine. Seeger would play at People's Songs events, called hootenannies, until the organization folded in 1949. After People's Songs, Seeger and another former member of the Almanacs, Lee Hays, founded the Weavers, who achieved commercial success. In 1952, The Weavers went on hiatus due to the Red Scare; Seeger and Hays both had Communist ties. After the demise of the Weavers, Seeger released a solo album, American Folk Songs for Children, in 1953 on Folkways Records. He continued to release albums on Folkways until he signed with Capitol in 1961.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Conley</span> American singer

Walter Bell Conley was an American folk singer, Hollywood actor, voice actor, and owner of Denver's folk venue Conley's Nostalgia. The Rocky Mountain News described Conley as the founding father of Denver's folk scene, which began in the late 1950s and stretched into the mid-1960s. Conley shared stages with, and opened for, Josh White, Cisco Houston, Mama Cass Elliot, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, and Judy Collins, among many others. Conley also opened his home to a young and unknown Bob Dylan in the summer of 1960, and introduced Denver to the little-known Smothers Brothers that same year. As the owner of Conley's Nostalgia, Walt brought in big-name performers such as John Fahey and Dave Van Ronk. To those who worked with him, knew him, and wrote about him, he is referred to as Denver's "Grandfather of Folk Music." Conley remained an entertainer until his death from a massive stroke at the age of 74. At the time of his death, Conley was married to Joan Holden. Conley had four children from previous relationships.

Frances Fink Taylor was a New York music and film critic and a lyricist whose best-known song, "Those Three Are on My Mind" was a lament for the murdered civil rights workers - James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream</span> Anti-war song written by Ed McCurdy

"Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream" is a song written by American folk singer-songwriter Ed McCurdy in 1950. Due to McCurdy's connection with fellow musicians, it was common in repertoires within the folk music community. The song had its first album release when Pete Seeger recorded it as "Strangest Dream" for his 1956 album Love Songs For Friends & Foes. Seeger would later re-visit the song for his 1967 album Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and other Love Songs. The strong anti-war theme of the song led it to be recorded by multiple other artists, including The Weavers (1960), Joan Baez (1962), The Kingston Trio (1963), Simon & Garfunkel (1964), and Johnny Cash who released two versions of the song during the 2000s.

The protest music that came out of the Vietnam War era was stimulated by the unfairness of the draft, the loss of American lives in Vietnam, and the unsupported expansion of war. The Vietnam War era (1955–1975) was a time of great controversy for the American public. Desperate to stop the spread of communism in South-East Asia, the United States joined the war effort. Although it was a civil war between Southern and Northern Vietnam, a larger war was taking place behind it. The Soviet Union, a communist country, was supporting North Vietnam, leading the United States to support Southern Vietnam in the hope that it adopts a democratic government. Many of the people in Southern Vietnam did not want America's assistance in the war, and many Americans did not want to be involved.

References

  1. Destler, Gelb and Lake. Our Own Worst Enemy - The Unmaking of American Foreign Policy (New York, Simon and Schuster, 1984), 62.
  2. "Александр Дольский Пейзаж в раме 1988, 1989 (LP)". russianshanson.info.
  3. "Peyzaj v rame - A.Dolskiy". www.russiandvd.com.