An Interview with the Legendary Peter Yarrow

Peter Yarrow and his partners Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers are “part of a long train ride,” as he describes it, extending from the music of the early folk performers to the music of conscience and concern of the 21st century. Peter’s gift for songwriting has produced some of the most moving songs Peter, Paul & Mary have ever recorded, including “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” “Day is Done,” “Light One Candle” and “The Great Mandala.” Award-winning singer, song writer, and social activist, Peter Yarrow, will perform at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater at Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington on Saturday, March 7. Landmark’s Peter Maier talked to Peter Yarrow by telephone about what has kept him on his "long train ride" all these many years.

Q. “Music, penned without commercial intent, the way traditional folk songs were once created, lets people recognize each other’s hearts and can be a vital help in creating a community of caring and mutual acceptance.” You’ve been singing folk music for over four decades, do you pen your songs without commercial intent?

A. Yes, always, but I sometimes write a song with a particular focus or a particular interest. For instance the song “No Easy Walk to Freedom” was written because Peter, Paul and Mary were going to be doing an appearance at the Kennedy Center for Transafrica which was the main organizing event in the US to bring a consciousness and a sweat equity effort to the anti apartheid movement. I got a call form one of the event organizers and she said, ‘write a song for this. It’s the name of Nelson Mandela’s biography – “No Easy Walk to Freedom.” She was wrong, his autobiography was called “Long Walk to Freedom.” I wrote this song for that purpose. Another case was writing ‘Light One Candle’ which Noel and Mary asked me to write because we were performing at Carnegie Hall … our third annual Christmas concert and it fell during Chanukah. They said you’re Jewish, you should write the song. I was reluctant to do so because I didn’t know if … it would be accepted since I was a pretty non-observant Jew. So I went to a rabbi friend and asked him if this would be seen as going beyond the world of my real embrace since it’s a holiday and I don’t really celebrate this holiday very much, but I do understand the significance of it and I am Jewish. On the other hand, I know that Judaism is very flexible and a large portion of the Jewish population is non-affiliated even in Israel. If someone there were to write one it probably would be accepted. On the other hand, I’m in America and in America that’s not the case. Perhaps it would be unwise for me because although I’d like to do it, perhaps I’ve stepped over the line. But on the other hand, if I don’t…” At that point he said “Stop. Shut up Peter. You’re having this Fiddler on the Roof conversation with me – so indicative of your being Jewish, so just write the damn song.” So, I did.

Q. How do the themes of the songs you sing today differ from those in the 60’s?

A. Is the reason for singing them different? No, it’s not. The manifestations of the problems, the emphasis on particular issues, and the challenges change, but the songs are all about being together in meaningful ways with sharing our hopes and our dreams, to celebrate our success, and share our pain and anger... But a lot of the political songs that I’ve written and sung, up until this last election, have been sung from the perspective of being the loyal opposition, the minority who were hopeful to make changes for what we want for our country and ourselves… When I marched in Washington in 1963 with Paul and Mary and sang ‘Blowing in the Wind’ and ‘If I Had a Hammer,’ and then went to the Montgomery March and the Frankfurt, KY march and participated in all the movements that emanated from the amazing victory that we had in assertion of self in demonstrating that … if we stood shoulder to shoulder and worked together we could change the course of history and get civil rights acts passed. I was taking a leadership position co-organizing, encouraging the writing of songs that personified a point of view that was hopeful and was dedicated to making the world a better place. I have always felt that it was essential because of the platform I enjoyed that I spend my life dedicated to this totally. All of a sudden I feel I can be dedicated, but I’m not an absolute essential to getting there. I believe the torch has been passed and I’m grateful for being a part of that on-going march, but I’m enormously relieved to feel that it’s not on me to get this work done. Now I feel that it is wonderful that I’m doing it, but it is going to happen and there are others who will lead it.

Q. Who have been the influences on your professional life?

A. Undoubtedly, Pete Seeger and the Weavers. I was at their concert in 1955 at Carnegie Hall where I felt I experienced what happens to an audience when music connects to their ideology and opens the door to believing in their spirit and when music creates a community. And also the way that Pete has led his life whereby he is always there to bring the music and heart to a place where we can jointly feel the sincerity and authenticity of the spirit of the music which goes way beyond being entertained. It’s engaging and it’s charming and it’s delightful and it’s fun. If not it’s one-sided and it’s dry. It’s about love and happiness and friendship – it’s silliness. Fundamentally it’s about being authentic with one another. When it engages in the arena of political or social action you can feel the authenticity of the intention of the singer, the song, and the tradition upon which it rests and that becomes a very moving and powerful experience for me to share whether I’m the person up there leading it forward or just a person watching someone else delivering that kind of spirit.


Q. Tell us about your current schedule.

A. I’m working like crazy and it’s all very exciting. I have the Operation Respect going, and we’ve created something called the Untied Voices for Education which is a coalition of 50 educational organizations working towards whole child education, education that is focused on social, emotional and creative development of children as it addresses their intellectual and academic growth. I’m recently back from Vietnam where we were making a film about the legacy of that war and what we did there and its connection to Iraq. I think we have to become a nation that reflects on what we have done that’s good and what we have done that’s bad so we can make our amends where appropriate. Sometimes we are like a hit and run driver. We just don’t deal with the pain and the horror we’ve caused. I had a book that was released last year, Puff the Magic Dragon, that by now has sold close to a million copies. Two other books were released last November that are collections of songs that are illustrated. I produced a show with (daughter) Bethany called Spirit of Woodstock. The list is pretty endless. I’ve got so many balls in the air. It’s raining balls.

Q. Tell us about your involvement with Operation Respect?

A. That’s been the focus of my efforts for the last decade. That is based on the premise that in order to …make great changes, it has to be in the heart. Adults can’t easily change their hearts. To change things, you need to work with the kids. They don’t pop out of the womb saying “I hate Jews, I don’t like African Americans, Get these Hispanics out of the room.” They are open to being open. I saw the world getting more and more mean spirited and finding the sport of bullying and humiliation more and more prevalent, so that it was the day to day reality of the way people interacted and the way it existed in business and government and children adopted that perspective into their lives. And then came 9/11 and then Columbine. How could this be happening in our country? In this case it was self-created. Prior to Columbine, I was conceiving of and creating the Don’t Laugh at Me Program and Operation Respect, the organization. Now we are in the process of going beyond the United States. We already have translated into Mandarin and are across Hong Kong and we are in Croatia and South Africa. But the latest is that at the end of March we’ll be going to Israel after working for three years. We’ll be going to the West Bank to Ramallah and Bethlehem as well as to schools in Israel with pilot programs to launch there. Our purpose is to sensitize kids to the effects to ridicule, bullying, and disrespect and to get acceptance – not just tolerance, but acceptance to be a fact of life and eliminate bullying and teach kids alternate ways to resolve conflict other than emotional and physical violence.


Q. How do you compare large arenas you’ve played to playing a community theater such as Landmark?

A. The intimacy of Landmark allows a far greater sense of contact. There is an informality and a rapidity of exchange. It’s similar to the idea of talking to a person. If I’m talking from a hundred feet away, you need to exaggerate all your gestures and choose your words carefully. You just don’t have the same reactivity that is possible in a smaller place. On the other hand, if you can get used to it, you can utilize the sense of a slower kind of communication and tempo to create a sense of unanimity. If you are talking to one person, the possibility of them applauding after you’ve said something is remote. The larger the audience, the more profoundly any response from the audience gets multiplied. The applause will go on for a long time, you’ll have a long time to think about what you are going to do next and the audience will say “See, we really liked that.” But I love the intimate circumstance. I love to be able to go back to the type of exchange that started it all such as the Landmark Theater. It will be far more personal than if it were a larger hall.


Come get up close and personal with Peter Yarrow at the Landmark on Main Street on March 7th. For tickets please call 516-767-6444 or purchase on-line. visit www.landmarkonmainstreet.org.