Waist Deep in the Big Muddy (Pete Seeger)

Описание: Vietnam War songs: https://rateyourmusic.com/list/JBrumm...
Iconic American folk singer, Seeger played a key role in the 1950s folk revival and the 1960s anti-war movement. He often wrote political songs, protesting against war, segregation, and calling for environmental protection. The song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" (Columbia Records # 4-44273) was about a platoon crossing a Louisiana river in 1942, which dangerously got deeper and deeper until the captain drowned. Only then did the platoon turn around. This song was symbolic of the Vietnam War and Lyndon Johnson's escalation, especially suggested in the final, sixth stanza, which made a contemporary note, calling the president a "big fool". The song, initially published in Broadside # 74 in September 1966, was released on the 1967 album Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and Other Love Songs (Columbia Records # CS 9505).

The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) famously censored the taping of the song for the television program The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 12 September 1967, as explained by Seeger at his Ford Hall Forum concert (Boston) on 12 November 1967 - recorded on the album Sings and Answers Questions (Broadside Records # BRS 502), track # 3. Seeger had been blacklisted from commercial broadcasting for 17 years, since 1950, before being asked to perform on the show. The New York Times followed the story and it featured prominently on its pages, encouraging CBS to allow Seeger to perform the song, in full, in 1968. Billboard also took an active interest in the story at the time.

"Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking / You'd like to keep your health / But every time I read the papers that old feeling comes on / We're - waist deep in the Big Muddy / And the big fool says to push on"