if i had a hammer - peter paul and mary

if i had a hammer by Peter, Paul and Mary

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[GoldinDr]

People today ought to listen to this song more. A hammer of justice? A bell of freedom? A song about love between my brothers and my sisters? I think we need some of that right now.

[jeff62rey]

Is anyone 'hammering,' the warning bell anymore with even a measure of sincere concern for the future of our Nation, our World, and our Children? Listening to the 'heart' revealed in the Fok Music of the '60's reveals an utter chasm dividing us. The hope expressed in these Folk Songs is weighed down by a stifling blanket of jaded cynicism and corporatistic conniving stifling the voice of true freedom within us. Is anyone else remotely troubled by this?

[markstarr66]

IF I HAD A HAMMER I WOULD KILL A COMMIE FOR CHRIST!

[Jim Werkheiser]

If I had a hammer, I'd hammer some sense into the numbskulls who feel the need to comment that "Puff The Magic Dragon" is a song advocating marijuana use.

[Mike Morrison]

....go back to the 60s where well over half the world's population was living under a tyrannical government, we were fighting rampant racism, and bloody war was costing the lives of nearly a million human beings, including 150,000 American men...the very thing that PPM were railing against!? You seriously cannot be serious!

Oh right. But the 1960s were "FUN!" because YOU had a great time! Ugh... *Rollseyes.*

[Mike Morrison]

And finally, you have a hell of a lot more advanced technology than in the '60s. Which is actually a major cause for the "Arab Spring" in which people in the Mid East have finally come to realize that Democracy actually works, and is much more desirable than a dictatorship. The Mid East is one of the last bastions of tyranny in this world, and the people in that region are sick of it. Eventually, the people in NK and Cuba will realize the same thing....

[Mike Morrison]

....than at any other time in human history. (And no, do not take that to mean that I am saying the world is "peaceful" today.) What I mean is that it just simply is not nearly as violent as it was in the past. There is a much larger middle class percentage-wise than ever before. (And yes, there is! Look at China, for instance. The middle class is growing faster than ever over there. The middle class in Western Society is as strong as ever, despite the little hiccup in 2008 that is now ending.)

[Mike Morrison]

Continuing from below;

Seriously, compare the 1960s to today; In the 1960s, people like MLK and Malcom X and Rosa Parks HAD to be famous in order to fight for even some respectability in society. Yes, racism certainly still exists today. But we do not need such figures as MLK nearly as much. That is attributable to their success in the 60s; the fact that they just simply are not as urgently needed.

Fuck Vietnam, Fuck race riots, and Fuck the Cold War. The world is much more peaceful....

[Mike Morrison]

I think you need to go back to school to re-learn reading comprehension. I never stated that "corporate greed isn't bad." I said "corporate greed is not as bad as it was in 1900." I didn't know that JP Morgan was still alive...jeez. I think you're the one that needs to study history a little bit.

I dunno about you, but I do not consume "poisoned food."

I also do not know about you, but FUCK the racism of the 1960s where a tired black woman was not allowed to ride in the front of the bus.

[Andrea S]

Are you serious?? The world has never been in such a fucked up state as it is today...the greed of these robber bastards is crushing the middle class into oblivion...I wish we were having riots, but the masses are too zombified from poisoned food, water and sugar to even lift a finger...if you think corporate greed isn't"bad", you need to do some research!

[Mike Morrison]

The "good ole days" of the 1960s, really is nowhere near as good as they are now. In the 1960s you had:

Race riots, racism, and blatant segregation. (Not that there is no racism these days.)

You had the Berlin Wall, a dangerous Soviet dictatorship with masses of oppressed people in the Eastern Bloc, and Vietnam.

Now, we have corporate greed (not nearly as bad/damaging of the greed by the robber barons in 1900.) Strife in Africa and conflict in the Mid East (which always existed.)

[jimmy page]

I understand your situation, did pete seeger ever do any songs in which he wasnt bitching about how awful the usa was?