Songs with Stories

Videos

  • Hate or Love

    There are only a few times when I write songs about stories I read in the newspaper. Even fewer where I feel I "succeeded" or did the story justice. "Hate or Love" is one of those songs. 

  • When Johnny Comes Marchin' Home

    It's interesting to try to decide what story to write about this song. In high school I was inspired by Chad Mitchell's version of this song. Then in college I was inspired to sing this song as the Viet Nam war was escalating.

  • The March for Jobs and Freedom

    Among the most important musical and personal experiences of my life were singing and doing social work in New York in 1968 and then years later adding music to tours visiting sites, singing songs and hearing stories of Civil Rights Movement.

  • What We Leave Behind

    This video is from my college graduation in 2019, 54 years after I took my first class at the University of Washington.

  • Once We Cross That Bridge

    It was my good fortune to have visited sites, heard stories, and sung songs of the Civil Rights Struggle of the 50's and 60's half a dozen times.

A Lover's Quarrel with the World

When someone asked Robert Frost what he wanted on his tombstone his answer was: He Had A Lover's Quarrel With The World. The songs and stories you’ll find in this room are part of my lover’s quarrel with the world including what I call Remembering the Dream, 21 videos sharing songs and stories from the Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s and how those songs and those stories connect with and help us understand the times we are living in now.
Image of an open doorway with Mike pearson sitting on a beach look out over the water

In This Room