This machine kills fascists

Woody Guthrie in 1943 with guitar labeled "This machine kills fascists"

"This Machine Kills Fascists" is a message that Woody Guthrie placed on his guitar in 1941,[1] which inspired many subsequent artists.

Conception

Soon after moving into a small fourth-floor walk-up apartment in Manhattan, Guthrie wrote the war song "Talking Hitler's Head Off Blues". This was printed in the Daily Worker newspaper. Then "In a fit of patriotism and faith in the impact of the song, he painted on his guitar THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS."[2]

Guthrie's stance against fascism

In Guthrie's opposition to fascism, he conceptualized the ideology "as a form of economic exploitation similar to slavery...he straightforwardly denounces the fascists, particularly their leaders, as a group of gangsters who set out to 'rob the world'."[3] This recalled a protest strategy he had used "during the Great Depression, when social, political and economic inequality had been allegedly engendered by a small rich elite."[3] During that era Guthrie had "romanticized the deeds of outlaws such as Jesse James, Pretty Boy Floyd, Calamity Jane or the Dalton Gang both as legitimate acts of social responsibility and as 'the ultimate expression of protest', thus transforming the outlaw into an archetypal partisan in a fight against those who were held responsible for the worsening social and economic conditions".[3]

In this Guthrie cast those opposing fascism not as mere outlaws in a fascist state, but as heroes rising "in times of economic turmoil and social disintegration" to fight "a highly illegitimate criminal endeavor intended to exploit the common people."[3] Guthrie joined his voice in portraying not only as "dumb gangsters" but he also "externalized the inhuman element of fascism by describing its representatives as animals that were usually held in very low esteem and were associated with a range of bad character traits."[3] For example, he talked about the "Nazi Snake" that has to be countered in his song "Talking Hitler's Head Off Blues."[3] Guthrie would declare "[a]nything human is anti Hitler" and in his song "You Better Get Read" he has the figure of Satan declare that "Old Hell just ain't the same/Compared to Hitler, hell, I'm tame!"[3] Guthrie saw the battle against fascism as the ultimate battle of good versus evil. In a letter to "Railroad Pete" he stated "fascism and freedom are the only two sides battling...[this was the war] the world has been waiting on for twenty five million years...[which would] settle the score once and for all".[3]

Critique

The author Greil Marcus questions the effectiveness of Guthrie's use of the phrase on his guitar, saying "Woody Guthrie had a sign on his guitar that said, 'This machine kills fascists.' That's just the kind of connection between music and politics that I'm arguing against. It wasn't a machine and it didn't kill fascists. It made Woody Guthrie and the people who listened to him feel noble. I'm not saying that he wasn't against fascism but to say that you could defeat it by singing songs is not helpful in the war against fascism." Marcus contrasted this to songs that say "fascism is the dominant mode of political behavior in the West today and it has seeped down to our everyday lives. If fascism now pervades our everyday lives and our interactions with each other, our whole understanding of social intercourse supports and ultimately affirms fascism." Marcus holds that songs on Elvis Costello's Armed Forces record do just that. He stated that "Woody Guthrie says, 'Sing my songs and defeat fascism.' Elvis Costello says, 'Fascism exists - look around you.'"[4]

Homage

Guitar manufacturer Gibson has replicated Guthrie's 1945 Southern Jumbo complete with sticker.

When appearing on a Glen Campbell hosted television show in the late 1960s Pete Seeger paid homage to Guthrie's phrase by writing "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces it to Surrender" on the calfskin head of his banjo and sang "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy (and the Big Fool Says to Push On)" over images of the drawn-out war in Vietnam.[5]

In his autobiography the folksinger Donovan recalled that out of homage to Guthrie he placed the words "This machine kills" on his guitar, "thinking that fascism was already dead. My machine would kill greed and delusion."[6]

In the New Orleans based show Treme, musician Harley Watt has a sticker on his guitar reading "This Machine Floats".

In a tribute to Guthrie, British folksinger Billy Bragg wrote the words "This Guitar Says Sorry" on his instrument in the 1970s.[7]

"This Machine Kills Fascists" is the title of

It is the name of two effect pedals by TYM Guitars to raise funds for humanitarian charities.[8]

John Green, host of Crash Course and Vlogbrothers has a "⚠ THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS" sticker on the laptop on his desk[9] in the Crash Course history video series, and refers to the famous photo and accompanying catchphrase in his 2008 novel Paper Towns. He commissioned the sticker design from graphic designer Karen Kavett to sell laptop stickers with the slogan on them. [10]

Hank Green, the brother of John Green and co-host of Vlogbrothers, is a musician as well, and his guitar has the words "This machine pwns n00bs" written on it.

Buzz Osborne, founding member and front man of the Melvins, named his 2014 acoustic solo album This Machine Kills Artists in reference to the phrase.

New Albanian Brewing Company sell a T-shirt with pictures of beer brewing equipment and the words "These machines kill fascists" written on it. [11]

The cover art of the sixth book in Charles Stross's Laundry Files series "The Annihilation Score" includes the image of a sticker saying "THIS MACHINE KILLS DEMONS" referring to a bone-white violin owned by one of the characters.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Robert Weir, ed. (2007). Class in America [Three Volumes]: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 337.
  2. ↑ Anne E. Neimark (2002). There Ain't Nobody That Can Sing Like Me: The Life of Woody Guthrie. Atheneurn Books.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 John S. Partington (2011). The Life, Music and Thought of Woody Guthrie: A Critical Appraisal. Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
  4. ↑ Joe Bonomo, ed. (2012). Conversations with Greil Marcus. The University Press of Mississippi. p. 116-117.
  5. ↑ Steve Martin (2007). Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life. Simon and Schuster, Inc.
  6. ↑ Donovan Leitch (2007). The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man. St Martin's Griffin. p. 69.
  7. ↑ Andrew Collins (2013). Billy Bragg: Still Suitable for Miners. Ebury Publishing.
  8. ↑ Brennan, Tim (August 1, 2013). "This Machine Kills Fascists pedals". TYM Guitars.
  9. ↑ "My Computer Just Got So Much More Awesome". John Green Tumblr. October 25, 2011.
  10. ↑ "This Machine Kills Fascists Decal". Karen Kavett blog. October 12, 2011.
  11. ↑ New Albanian Brewing Company Store Website
  12. ↑ Cover Reveal - Charlie's Diary

External links