Did Woody Guthrie's machine ever kill a fascist?

"I took a bath this morning in six war speeches, and a sprinkle of peace. Looks like ever body is declaring war against the forces of force. That's what you get for building up a big war machine. It scares your neighbors into jumping on you, and then of course they them selves have to use force, so you are against their force, and they're aginst yours. Look like the ring has been drawed and the marbles are all in. The millionaires has throwed their silk hats and our last set of drawers in the ring. The fuse is lit and the cannon is set, and somebody is in for a frailin. I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady lane, and say, nope, I aint a gonna kill nobody. Plenty of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns."

This is a good (sad) postscript to one of my favorite Woody songs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/us/california-memorial-names-crashs-forgotten-victims.html?hp&_r=0

I liked Tom Morello's scrawl on his acoustic guitar in 2008: "Whatever works."

Always took Guthrie's phrase to mean his music, or any music enjoyed socially on acoustic guitar, persuades some listeners out of fascism.

Afaik he wrote that during WW2 when he started singing anti-Axis songs so he was referring to literally fascist regimes. I'd always assumed it was broader than that.

Damn, tipsy mothra, that NY Times article made me cry. Thank you for linking to it. Let's also remember Martin Hoffman, who put Woody's words to music.

Love that he wrote a song ripping on Trump's dad:

I suppose
Old Man Trump knows
Just how much
Racial Hate
he stirred up
In the bloodpot of human hearts
When he drawed
That color line
Here at his
Eighteen hundred family project ....

today's jam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwcKwGS7OSQ

that's my jam every day.

The Smithsonian Folklife organization sells a t-shirt with the “this instrument kills fascists” quote on it. A friend of a friend in Mississippi was wearing one and got called “antifa” by someone in a store!

The Only Recording of Woody Guthrie Singing the Protest Song ‘Deportee’ Has Been Released for the First Time

The singer-songwriter recorded the audio on a reel-to-reel tape machine in his apartment in the 1950s. Now, the previously unheard song has been restored using A.I. audio technology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPtCU3mgs3I

(pitch sounds a little low though, like they need to speed the tape up to the correct pitch)

Assume Guthrie wasn't the first to put a political slogan on his guitar/instrument. Examples before him?

God bless Dolly for putting a version of that song on the same album as "9 to 5"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEPUxpR64YE

Assume Guthrie wasn't the first to put a political slogan on his guitar/instrument. Examples before him?

― bulb after bulb, Sunday, October 12, 2025 10:20 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

they painted slogans on drums during the US Civil War, but i'm guessing people have painted slogans on drums during wartime for a very long time. limiting it to non-military actors might make it tougher to come up with examples