It has been a big year for democracy. Some of the most important and populous nations in the world have voted, and there are obviously more exercises in people-power to come. Crys Matthews, Rhiannon Giddens, and the Resistance Revival Chorus are urging people to make their voice heard with a cover of Peggy Seeger’s “How I Long For Peace” in a new video, released to coincide with US Voter Registration deadlines, and in conjunction with the Joy to the Polls organization.
Peggy Seeger’s original song is a blueprint on how to survive and thrive while leading from the front for progressive causes, as befits someone who has lived her life at that vanguard. It has been part of Seeger’s canon for many years, but was only recorded in a lockdown album that Seeger made with her son Calum MacColl, for release on 2021′ First Farewell. Of course, it has been adopted by several others, including Crys Matthews, who sprinkles cover versions amongst her own folk-inspired, impassioned rallying calls.
It was Matthews who brought Giddens into the project. Together with the Resistance Revival Chorus they weave a strong, upbeat version of the song. Still in a major key, still hopeful in the light of challenges. The strength comes from the togetherness of the musicians, convinced by the empowerment of the song. They can achieve more together. It is not necessary to state what the war they are fighting is, and what side of the argument they are on; they just need it to stop.
