Memory Project

Posted on Posted in Songbook Tagged with , ,
Memory Project

Please help me remember!

Since just before I turned 50 I’ve been working on a memoir about those first 50 years. Exercising those particular brain muscles and remembering is a fascinating endeavor. It’s fraught, though — my memory is very imperfect and very spotty. It’s like peaks poking up above the clouds. I’d like to remember more of what’s in the fog.

So, as strange a request as this may be, would you tell me something about me…? I’m neither looking for praise nor criticism, though either is welcome. I just want memories, stories, even just fragments or mental pictures. Whether it’s a sentence or a 10-page reminiscence or anything in between, written or as an MP3, any format.

Stories specifically about me are welcome, but reminiscences where I’m just a tangential figure but you remember I was there are just as welcome. Of particular interest would be your best effort to recall the date, as closely as possible, related to your memory(s) — even if it’s just the year.

If it’s something as simple as “I remember seeing you on a stage at a protest in Pittsburgh sometime in 2009, and I couldn’t hear your guitar,” or “I think we talked about politics around a campfire in Utah sometime in the Nineties,” this kind of thing would be great. But the more detail the better, even if the details don’t involve me. “I remember seeing you on May 1st, 2002 in Copenhagen” followed by a description of what was going on around you that day would be wonderful. If you’re more comfortable expressing yourself in a language other than English, feel free.

If you don’t mind being public, use the comment field below (currently disabled). If you’d rather be private for any reason, or if you have attachments to send me, please email me at david@davidrovics.com.

About

Singer/songwriter, host of the podcast, This Week with David Rovics, frequent contributor to Counterpunch.

14 Comments on “Memory Project”

  1. Hi David, cool idea.
    I remember meeting you in Toronto,2004.
    You came and entertained at the International Citizens Inqyiry into 9/11. I did all the bookings and organized the video documentation. Thanks for coming out, and for all your work and play everywhere.

  2. I remember the antiNATO rallies in Östersund and Åre in summer of 2005.
    A big protest was held at Åre, basically a ski resort, that had now turned into a leftist camp. Somewhat surreal settings with lots of red and black flags with ski lifts and slopes as a backdrop.

    Me and the group I was traveling with was blown away by your performance, honestly. My girlfriend at the time cried at They’re Building a Wall, secretly so did I.
    Although this was before Spotify and Facebook I couldn’t believe that I had never heard of this guy before.
    I also remember the round of applause and praise that followed when you finished.

    Later that summer there was an auction held by the political group I was involved in, and a burnt CD with your songs sold for like 50 dollars.

  3. Hi David,

    I’ve been following your work for almost 20 years, since the lead up to the war in Afghanistan. Love what you do, hope you keep finding ways of doing that.

    Here’s a short telling of key moments over time when I either heard you, heard about you, saw you in concert and/or met you in person.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MQJ98rmBcmpJoEeuMrE6rKPdsNxqHRZQ/view

    “I’m not above you, I’m not below you –
    I’ve got your back, you’ve got my back.” – Wampanoag greeting

    Martin Hunter
    Somerville, MA

    • just listening now to your audio message. so touching, what a treasure, and book-ended with songs, perfect for a podcast…! 🙂 thank you so much, martin.

  4. Hi David,
    I remember you visiting our Boarding School in SKALs near Viborg, Denmark in 2011. We were working on a Nordplus project: SKALs Global Climate Statement. We had hired you in for a concert for our students, and a song writing workshop the day after. You slept at our school. You and your strong commitment to the political scene made a strong impression on me and our students!
    Great to see you back in DK this April!
    All the best and Meery Christmas from Denmark 😉

  5. Hi David,

    I first saw you perform on Labor Day weekend playing at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City at the remembrance of Joe Hill’s execution. I instantly loved your music, and of course “I’m a Better Anarchist than You” made me laugh out loud. I followed you on Twitter that day from the park and tweeted about your great performance. You liked the tweet as you were talking to the Wizard of Sugar House sitting on his throne near the stage in all his regalia.

    After I returned home, I joined your CSA and have been able to see you at house concerts (FW Marilyn in Tacoma) with Gary Kantor, and I even had the chance to meet up with you two before the concert. I still remember when I told you my son Kyle was smitten with Lovissa Samuelsson (Joe Hill’s great grand niece who played the concert in SLC) you merely replied “Duh.”

    I am lucky to have been able to see your concerts in Olympia, Seattle, and even a recording session in Corbett. Even more, I am very fortunate to have had the chance to stop and visit you in Portland as I am coming or going to see my uncle in Eugene. I still love the fact that he, a 70-year old curmudgeon logger, is walking around Eugene in one of your “Better Anarchist” sweatshirts.

    I continue to belong to the CSA, listen to your podcasts, and generally try to follow what you are up to (not on FB so it is hard sometimes) because I find your music not only musically great, but the lyrics are a much-needed take on modern issues and historical events that more of us working class need to know about.

    In Solidarity,

    FW Blomberg

  6. David, I want to write more but for now…my favorite memory of you is when you & dear Brad Will played (I think) “Love on the barricades”, Miami FTAA meetings, Nov. 2003. then we raged it at the witches & anarchists masquerade ball!! it was a magical & most memorable evening!! so much gratitude for all you do.

  7. It’s a recent memory, but one that will stay with me a long time. I found a song you wrote about the Eureaka Stockade,having spent my first five years there, it’s a song that has deep meaning to me. I couldn’t find written versions of the song until you gave it to me. They’re in my songbook now.

  8. Hey David,

    I know this isn’t what you’re looking for and I apologize if it is inconvenient to clutter this platform, but I don’t know how else to convey this message to you.

    Though we have never met, you have been a part of my life and childhood growing up.

    When was 4 years old (2004/2005), my family spent a year in Arizona while my mum got her masters in law. On our 9 day trip from Toronto, we listened to three things: the Harry Potter Audiobook for Goblet of Fire, John Denver’s County Roads, and a cassette of your music.

    Sitting in the backseat of the van with my brother, I remember singing along to ‘who would Jesus bomb’ and ‘O-I-L’, which we would chant long after the tape stopped playing even when the tape wasn’t playing, we would continue to chant “O-I-L” for hours, as the repetition stuck well in our childs minds.

    While I was young, living in the States during George W’s re-election, I was very aware of the harm that can be caused by people in power, and though I could not fully comprehend it, your songs gave me a way to express my feelings at a level I could understand.

    Flash forward to 2016, and I decided to look up these songs on Youtube, because though my mum would sing them around camp fires, I wondered if you had written others. I was happy to find your channel with a whole bunch of songs. As an emerging activist going to a progressive school in downtown Toronto in the age of call-out culture, I immediately connected with ‘I’m a better anarchist than you’. And during the election, you put out many videos that once again were able to succinctly and positively sum up the thoughts and feelings I had.

    I am currently 18 and doing my best to make the world a more compassionate and rational place, and I listen to your songs as soon as they upload. I just wanted to write to let you know the impact you have on people’s lives beyond what you may see, your music has been a part of my upbringing and I am truly grateful for it.

    I look forward to reading your memoir whenever it is complete. Thanks for all you do and again sorry if this is totally irrelevant!

    Best,

    Dia

  9. In 2010 you came and did a show for us here in Polson, Montana and afterwards you sat in our living room and had a bowl of our venison stew. We loved having you here.

  10. I have kind of a funny story. You played in Cork must have been around 2007/2008. I had never really heard of you, but it sounded like my kind of music and more importantly my kind of message. Being half German and half South African I let my German genes come through and arrived at the venue on time. It was locked. There was just one person sitting on the steps in front. I got chatting to him, complaining that the Irish were always late (which made me feel quite at home normally when I felt South African). Anyway, turns out that the person sitting on the steps was you, also waiting. So I got to chat to you ahead of the concert, which started fashionably late, but was still great. I bought some CD’s and managed to get my 14-year-old son hooked on your music/message too. A few years later I saw you in Berlin. It again started late, but at least the venue was not locked.