Wonder Wheel Lyrics By Woody Guthrie

At first glance, the wedding of newly discovered lyrics by Okie folk legend Woody Guthrie to melodies by the Klezmatics--a band that blends the sounds and images of Yiddish culture with world music and American traditions--seems incongruous, at best. But there is method in the madness of executive producer and Woody s daughter, Nora Guthrie. In the 1940s, the Guthries family lived in the heavily Jewish borough of Brooklyn, where their visitors included not only such activist pals as Pete Seeger, but Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt--Guthrie s mother-in-law--who shared his devotion to message and idealism. The troubadour s dusted-off words, particularly on Mermaid Avenue, show his constant awareness and appreciation of Jewish culture, as well as his predictable fixation with the fleetingness of life in a time of war ( Pass Away, Goin Away to Sea ). Yet there is a new gentleness and renewed love of poetry in many of these pieces, especially in the closing song, Heaven, which reflects Guthrie s continuing social consciousness, i.e., labor struggles and the homeless. The Klezmatics, on their first English-language album, push Woody s folkie form into the 21st century, with melodies built around Middle Eastern or Slavic frameworks--put to best use on the delicate lullaby Heddy Down and the affirming Wheel of Life. --Alanna Nash
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