The Klezmatics are the self-proclaimed “world-reknowned superstars of the klezmer world” which I think I can affirm, though I’m not exactly an expert on the ins and outs of the klezmer world. They’ve been around for a long time, but their most interesting work is a record released last year called Wonder Wheel. Along the lines of the Billy Bragg/Wilco Mermaid Avenue project, they take lyrics from Woody Guthrie and meld them together with their up-tempo, almost carnivalesque sound to create something truly astonishing. It sounds intensely Middle Eastern, perhaps Eastern European, but loses none of the intensely American folk feel of Guthrie.
This re-imagination is powerful in that it helps remind us of the universal nature of many contemporary political issues. There are few people in the world who can more effectively lyrically define the human condition than Guthrie. While history never fails to march on, it is telling how immediately applicable this words remain to the current states of affairs.
Perhaps most importantly, the universal nature of politics is given life not just in the lyrics but also in the style of their play. That someone so closely identified with America (the preeminent folk singer in our nation’s history) can be so seamlessly combined with an international sound demonstrates that not only do the challenges of each generation hearken back unendingly to the past, but also that our country is not so distinct from any other. A child who is hungry in Madhya Pradesh is not so different from a child who is hungry in Watts. A US soldier killed in war is just as dead as an Iraqi insurgent. And people everywhere in the world who struggle to make ends meet, care for their families, and lead fulfilled lives may justifiably wonder why so much time, energy, and resources are spent on finding new and more effective ways of killing people.
Come When I Call You
Mermaid’s Avenue
Guthrie’s America was one facing enormous difficulties: economic depression, war, violence, sadness, the crushing weight of social and economic hierarchies. At the same time, it was also the land of hope, of dreams fulfilled and opportunities created. This hope did not emerge spontaneously, but rather came from the combined will of a diverse population willing to strive for a better world. In this America, politics is about grand schemes but is performed mostly in the day-to-day of life, where people laugh, love, fight, and struggle.
By helping to breathe new life into that dream, the Klezmatics have created something important.