Peggy Seeger is a veritable force of nature; there can’t be many 89-year-olds who would set off on an 18-date tour of the UK and Ireland. The undertaking is billed as a “Final Farewell and 90th Birthday Tour”, although tonight, we’re still 12 days away from the anniversary after which it’s named. Seeger’s joined by her two sons, Neill and Calum MacColl, plus Kate St John, who’s also part of the family via her marriage to Neill. All three are accomplished musicians; the two MacColls primarily play acoustic guitars with St John on accordion.
Seeger is helped onto the stage by St John. She may be getting slightly frail, but mentally, she’s as sharp as a tack, and there’s no need for lyric sheets, which many singers half her age often use as a prompt at concerts. She’s also still in fine voice. Seeger has recently released ‘Teleology’ which she has said will be her final album, and we’re treated to numerous songs from it.
The show is interspersed with various family banter between Seeger and her two sons. Neill says it’s a miracle that after three weeks together, they’ve “not killed each other” and that at the age of 66, many people don’t believe him when he tells them that he’s going on tour with his mum. It’s amusing to see her sons playfully cringe during some of Seeger’s more intimate stories related to her love life.
Seeger plays a trilogy of songs that ponder the passing of time and ageing. ‘Slow, Slow, Slow’ is a meditation on the pace of life on which Neill MacColl contributes slide guitar. It contrasts the gentle rhythm of nature with the frantic pace of modern people’s lives. ‘The Invisible Woman’ is an affecting reflection of how old people, especially women, often become overlooked in society. Although ‘Through the Clouds’ uses the greyness of the English sky as a metaphor for emotional distance, it also touches upon death and loss. The four performers sing an a cappella version of ‘Sit Down’, which is not to be confused with the James song of the same name but the one written by the lawyer and poet Maurice Sugar about one of the most significant strikes in American history. It was first published in the United Automobile Worker newspaper in January 1937 to rally and unify striking workers during the successful Flint Sit-Down Strike against General Motors, which involved 100,000 car workers occupying 17 of the company’s plants.
Seeger says that she used to be a good banjo player. However, as she’s aged, she’s shrunk by six inches, and this, coupled with arthritis in her hands and a torn rotator cuff, means that she feels that her banjo picking isn’t what it was. However, she still plays the instrument well enough to deliver a fine version of ‘Let Them Wear Their Watches Fine’, originally recorded by her brother Pete, and which highlights the struggles of American textile mill workers. It’s followed by a humorous song about her favourite songwriter, ‘I Want To Meet Paul Simon’, whom she listened to whilst travelling long distances between gigs in the US. The lyrics manage to pack in almost all of Simon’s best-known song titles.
Calum MacColl plays guitar as Seeger sings the feminist folk song ‘I’m Gonna Be An Engineer’ which was written when her husband, Ewan MacColl, said to her, “Peg, we need a woman’s song”, to which Seeger says she probably replied, “Fuck off, I’m doing the accounts!” However, the accounts were put aside, and the words and the tune came together quickly. After her satirical critique called ‘Donald’s In The White House’ written during the orange one’s first term, Seeger comments that she’s old enough to remember McCarthyism before picking up her guitar to play Aaron Kramer’s ‘In Contempt’ written in 1950, which details the era’s authoritarianism and the suppression of dissent.
Getting up from her seat to “prevent her bones from ossifying”, she goes over to the piano to play ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’, the song written for her by her husband, Ewan MacColl, in 1957. It’s dedicated to MacColl and to Seeger’s current partner, Irene Pyper-Scott. For the final song of the evening, her family depart, leaving Seeger alone on stage with her guitar. She performs ‘Gotta Get Home By Midnight’. It’s a witty and tender reflection on ageing, love, and vitality. It seems an appropriate way to end proceedings. The evening has been a wonderful celebration of both Seeger’s life and musical lineage. It’s also been inspirational to see someone who has led such a full, interesting and meaningful life, although it’s also poignant to know that this is one of her last performances; as Seeger sings in ‘Apple Tree’, “Life’s a game that time always wins”.
