Pete Seeger delivered the news for generations

Pete Seeger was a working-class advocate who delivered the news in songs that could be sung by everyone, in four-part harmony. "I'll sing out danger, I'll sing out warning," he sang, "I'll sing out love between my brothers and my sisters, all over this land." Seeger's "If I had a Hammer" is one of those songs that seems to be known by everyone. But what is it, exactly? Is it a children's song? A call to revolution? A melody handed down by word of mouth through the ages? It always seems to have been with us, but it was written only in 1949 by Seeger and his collaborator in the Weavers, Lee Hays. The song was a marvel of simplicity and directness with a melody that was instantly memorable. It...