One hundred years ago tomorrow, in the Outer World town of Okema, Oklahoma, was born the singer Woody — Woodrow Wilson Guthrie.

In anything written about Woody it is considered obligatory to mention his now-best-known song, “This Land Is Your Land.” Stewardship of that song has passed to his colleague Pete Seeger (now over 90 himself) and Bruce Springsteen — here’s a video of Mr. Springsteen talking about Mr. Seeger and that song.

The song I want to put here is not as well known, but it is from the Second World War and is a good thing to know about, especially if you suppose that folk singers are necessarily pacifists. What Woody was, was an anti-fascist. No “how many seas must a white dove sail” for him, not in those times. You need to picture a time when the Allies had practically lost the war already, and the USA was still hoping to sit it out.

Oh, by no means did everyone in the US feel that way! But in the States, just as in Europe, there were some powerful people who figured that if Hitler was against unions, Communists, Jews and gays, why should we be in a big hurry to stop him? Especially if joining the Allies would mean (oh, the horror) being on the same side as the Communists?

Here is the thing about allies, though: If something is as bad as Fascism, then everyone ought to be working against it. So if you were against it, you’d be likely to have nearly everyone as an ally, right? That’s a good thing. Making common cause with people the world over — that can’t be your reason for not doing something. (Well, it wouldn’t have deterred Woody anyway, you see, because he was a Communist.)

Huntington’s Disease cost Woody his ability to perform music, before finally killing him. Even if you know you have the HD gene marker, there is no rule or way to know when it will show its symptoms. Outer Sims usually live much longer than the “fourscore and ten” days expected for Sunset Valley Sims — but in truth, we’re all mortal and no one can really know that they won’t be hit by a truck and die tomorrow. It is a blessing to us that Woody knew which side he was on and didn’t lose the little time that he had.

What Are We Waitin’ On?
*(see copyright notice below)

There’s a great and a bloody fight
’round this whole world tonight
And the battle, the bombs and shrapnel reign
Hitler told the world around
he would tear our union down,
But our union’s gonna break them slavery chains,
Our union’s gonna break them slavery chains.

I walked up on a mountain in the middle of the sky
I could see every farm and every town
I could see all the people in this whole wide world
That’s the union that’ll tear the fascists down, down, down
That’s the union that’ll tear the fascists down.

When I think of the men and the ships going down
While the Russians fight on across the Don,
There’s London in ruins! and Paris in chains!
Good people, what are we waiting on?
Good people, what are we waiting on?

So I thank the Soviets, and the mighty Chinese vets
Allies the whole wide world around.
To the battling British — thanks! You can have ten million Yanks
If it takes them to tear the fascists down, down, down
If it takes them to tear the fascists down.

But when I think of the ships and the men going down
While the Russians fight on across the Don
There’s London in ruins and Paris in chains
Good people, what are we waiting on?
Good people, what are we waiting on?

So I thank the Soviets, and the mighty Chinese vets
Allies the whole wide world around.
To the battling British, thanks, you can have ten million Yanks
If it takes them to tear the fascists down, down, down
If it takes them to tear the fascists down.

*Either of the following copyright notices may apply:
(1) (c) 1998 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. administered by Bug Music. This web site is making the above lyrics available in our efforts to advance understanding of the music and history of the Outer Sims, which constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. §107.

(2) “This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin’ it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.”