‘Passing Through’ (1948): Song of Political Engagement « Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

‘Passing Through’ (1948): Song of Political Engagement

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 2nd, 2004 at 3:08 PM and is filed under Folk & World Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

11 Responses to “‘Passing Through’ (1948): Song of Political Engagement”

Sarah Blakeslee says:

October 10, 2004 at 8:39 AM

Hi, Richard Blakeslee is my Dad so of course I grew up with Passing Through and loved to watch its recording history. Just to set the record straight, the Abraham Lincoln verse was not written by my Dad, which may explain why it wasn’t on the Leonard Cohen version. Also, the version my Dad wrote had “Men will suffer men will fight, die for what they think is right”, not die for what is right. An important distinction and a change in the lyrics that bothered my Dad because of course it makes no sense to think there is always one “right” when it comes to war.

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- Jugurtha Harchaoui says:
  
  March 28, 2010 at 5:13 AM
  
  Dear Sarah Blakeslee:
  
  I am a small, independent book-publisher based in Paris, France.
  
  As part of a book, I wish to publish your dad’s lyric Passing Through as it appeared originally. [I have just purchased 1953's Lift Every Voice, and I see that even there the lyric is incorrectly reproduced.] For that purpose, I am ready to properly acquire the permission to reproduce the song’s lyric.
  
  To accomplish this, I am afraid I might need your help. First, because I cannot seem to locate a faithful reproduction of the initial lyric. Second, because I do not know which music-publishing entity administers the copyright associated with the Passing Through song.
  
  In short, I would be honored to benefit from your help in this endeavor. Conversely, without your help, I doubt I will manage to pull it off.
  
  Thank you very in advance for your kind response.
  
  Yours Respectfully,
  Jugurtha
  
  jugurtha@la-danaide.com
  
  Reply
Richard Silverstein says:

October 10, 2004 at 8:49 PM

Sarah: I am very touched that you commented on my post. Thanks for doing so. As you know, your dad provided the world with a great gift when he wrote “Passing Through.”

One of the things I was most concerned of in writing this post was that I knew almost nothing about your father. Someone wrote me with the link to his obit in the UofC alumni mag. This provided some biolgraphical material. But if there’s anything else relevant to my post about your dad which you’d like me to add–or some place online that has such information–pls. let me know.

Do you know how the Lincoln verse came into existence? I like it, though it definitely has a different lyric character than the other verses he DID write..

Yes, that lyric change about what is “right” does make the verse quite different & I understand why your dad was so concerned about it (especially in light of the certitude our current pres. shows about all issues he views as “right”).

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Me says:

April 8, 2007 at 8:06 AM

It is Valley Forge not Valley Ford!

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Richard Silverstein says:

April 8, 2007 at 2:10 PM

Of course it is! Thanks for correcting the typo.

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Paul Danish says:

July 10, 2009 at 10:49 AM

Passing through had at least one more verse, which seems to have gone down the memory hole. It referred to an incident during World War II, when a troop transport, the Dorchester was sunk by a German submariine:

I was aboard the Dorchester
The night that she went down
And four chaplains gave their life-belts to the crew.
Arm in arm on bended knee
They prayed for you and me
We’re all brothers and we’re only passing through.

The act was one of great gallantry; the chaplains — Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish, if memory serves — went down with the ship.

They were subsequently memorialized with a commemorative stamp.

I first heard the verse in the 1950s when the song was sung by a folk singer who visited my high school. It is a shame it has been lost.

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- Jugurtha says:
  
  December 8, 2009 at 9:24 AM
  
  Can someone please tell me in which year Cisco Houston recorded Passing Through for Folkways Records? Thank you very much in advance!
  
  Reply
Chris Danielsen says:

December 30, 2009 at 1:41 PM

This song was also recorded by the folk group The Highwaymen and friends on their album ‘Hootenanny with the Highwaymen.” This was a folk group of the early 1960′s, most famous for their version of “Michael (Row the Boat Ashore),” not the Waylon Jennings/Willie Nelson/Johnny Cash/Kris Kristofferson collaboration. Their version contains the incorrect lyric “die for what is right.” You can find the album on-line but not on CD.

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Jack Radcliffe says:

April 17, 2010 at 7:19 AM

One of our artists, Jim McGrath, has recorded a version of Passing Through with additional lyrics. We would like to arrange for proper mechanical rights as well as identify the publisher for the original. Can anyone here help?

Thanks!

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Jugurtha Harchaoui says:

April 18, 2010 at 3:59 AM

dear jack: please send me an e-mail at support@la-danaide.com – best, j.

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Jeffrey H. Teitel says:

May 14, 2012 at 7:34 PM

Back in `66, I heard singer and guitarist, Betsy Bick sing,
“I heard Ghandi speak one night, I said man we`ve got to fight,
He said love is the weapon we must use,
It is love that we must choose so none will ever lose,
Were all brothers, and were only passing through.”

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