Sadly, Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary died on Wednesday. She lived as vibrant and colorful a life as the lyrics of the many wonderful songs that she and her two fellow vocalists sang ("Blowin in the Wind"; "If I had a Hammer"; "Where Have all the Flowers Gone?"; "Puff the Magic Dragon"; "Leaving on a Jet Plane", and others. Her voice was powerful but so were her beliefs. Mary and Peter, Paul and Mary didn't take the safe, commercial, conventional route. They were/are successes because of the strength of their commitments and their following through on their ideals.
From a moving tribute in today's New York Times:
Their [Peter, Paul and Mary] sound may have been commercial and safe, but early on, their politics were somewhat risky for a group courting a mass audience. Like Mr. Yarrow and Mr. Stookey, Ms. Travers was outspoken in her support for the civil rights and antiwar movements, in sharp contrast to clean-cut folk groups like the Kingston Trio, which avoided making political statements.
"There was a real possibility that we would lose the entire Southern market over the issue," Ms. Travers told Robbie Woliver, the author of "Hoot!: A Twenty-Five Year History of the Greenwich Village Music Scene," an oral history. "But we felt that the issue was more important than the Southern market."
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Mary recognized that issues were important, that stands on the issues were vital, and that one had to "draw lines in the sand". Wouldn't it be nice if the leaders of the Democratic Party applied lessons from Mary Travers's successful and glorious life to their own endeavors? Standing up for something, especially something that is right for average Americans won't hurt you. Do so, and you'll find success too.
Maybe the best epitaph for Mary would be "Don't Let the Light Go Out!" words from "Light One Candle" by one of her fellow PPM collaborators, Peter Yarrow:
Light one candle for the Maccabee children
Give thanks that their light didn't die!
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied!
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand!
And light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand!
chorus:
Don't let the light go out!
It's lasted for so many years!
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears.
2)
Light one candle for the strength we all need
To never become our own foe!
And light one candle for those who are suff'ring
Pain we learned so long ago!
Light one candle for all we believe in,
Let anger not tear us apart!
And light one candle to bind us together
With peace as the song in our heart!
(chorus)
What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died
When we cry out they've not died in vain,
We have come this far, always believing
That justice will somehow prevail!
This is the burning. This is the promise,
This is why we will not fail!
(chorus)
Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!