Jun 14, 2024
This Woody Guthrie song is (ostensibly) told from a woman's point of view, but Woody sings it without paying any attention to gender. The performance could be just as easily a plaint from a man who has been spurned by a man. Which begs the question "What are people getting so uptight about? Why do they care?" When singers rewrite songs to "fit" gender norms (e.g. the Animals' "House of the Rising Sun"), the power of the song is diminished.
Any expression of love, whether from Sappho or Shakespeare can ennoble all of us if we would but listen.
