Woody Guthrie vs Cole Porter: should a song fight or dazzle?
WOODY GUTHRIE vs COLE PORTER go head to head — and every jab is rooted in real history.
A song should carry the callused hand of the man who dug the ditch — mine reads 'This machine kills fascists,' not 'this machine sells perfume.'
And yet, Woody, when the world is grim, people don't want a lecture — they want to feel delovely, to waltz above their troubles for three glorious minutes.
They can't waltz on an empty stomach, Cole; I sang for men riding boxcars, and my land was made for you and me — not for the penthouse view.
But you moved crowds with a melody, my friend — so admit it, even your revolution needed a good tune to hum, and I simply write the tune the world can't stop humming.
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