Which Side Are You On? -- Ani Difranco on Mountain Stage

Question and answer about this song.

Kim Ruehl: I wanted to talk a little about the song "Which Side Are You On," because it’s the first song you’ve really put through the folk treatment...taking an old tune, updating it, changing the lyrics. What was it about this song that sucked you in?

Ani DiFranco: Well, I did record "Amazing Grace" once, speaking of old songs with cool histories. But, I learned this one to play at Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration. That was a great, huge gathering of musical people and activists. We all got our assignments before the show. We were all playing songs Pete had either written or recorded. I got the job to play "Which Side Are You On?" with Bruce Cockburn and "There’s a Hole in the Bucket" with Kris Kristofferson. [laughs] Which was a gas. [sings: There’s a whole in the bucket dear Henry, dear Henry.] Very cute, and sexy at 70 or whatever…but I diverge. I couldn’t help but tinker with "Which Side Are You On?". Like you say, that being the folk process. It felt like it needed some updating for the moment. I ended up recording it. Over the years of working on this record, it found its way to the top and became almost the theme of the record, so I made it the title.

KR: When it was originally written, it was pre-WWII, the US was in isolation, it was a very localized message. But your version has a much more global call. Is that what you were going for, or am I reading into it?

AD: Yeah, well it’s the 21st Century so I was going for the political now. Which is, like you say, global. I think the title can be a little deceiving. I don’t think it’s a song about taking sides. I think it’s a call to action. In that sense, I wanted to keep the message of the song the same. Back then, like you say, it was a local – and yet global – struggle for workers’ rights, union rights – was it in the coal mines? It was Harlan County…

KR: Yes, the woman who wrote it…I believe her husband was arrested for being a labor organizer with the coal miners. It was her reaction to the business of union busting.

AD: Right. Well, if you know the original song, her verses kind of echo in my verses. I start with “They say in Orleans parish,” just to relate to her original song and keep the spirit of her alive. KR: And you got Pete in there on banjo…

AD: Right. It was a year or more after his birthday party. I called him up and said, “Okay Pete I recorded it. Will you play on it?” He was immediately on the case in his incredibly energetic self. He said “Hang on!” and he went and got his banjo, came back to the phone, and said, “Okay, what key again? Shall we do it in the modal version like this, or should we do this version?” He’s great.

KR: You’re a very different sort of folksinger from him. What have you learned from him?

AD: I guess we have different-sounding music and songs, but I think the spirit of what we do is the same. I’m a different generation, I wear a different uniform. I have a different sound but it’s the same work. That was the vibe I got when I first started showing up at folk festivals, like Clearwater – Pete and Toshi’s festival – and found myself on stage with people like him or Utah Phillips or Tom Paxton...you know, this old guard of folk songs. They were totally welcoming to me. Like – Oh nice! New blood to carry on the traditions! From Pete I’ve gotten so many things, I don’t know if I could even articulate them. He’s the kind of person who emanates warmth and inclusion. That connecting and healing power of music – that thing it does for people – he just embodies it. So, just being around him is being in school.

Full interview here: http://www.nodepression.com/profiles/blogs/interview-with-ani-difranco