Free New York Music

On the plane back from Pittsburgh I got stuck in a middle seat next to a big bear-type guy who was totally prepared for the flight. Three newspapers, personal DVD player, book, food, iPod. About the only thing he didn't have (at least I didn't see it) was one of those inflatable neck pillow deals.

I didn't have squat. Except for my iBook. And my battery's about shot, so I was really trying to make the most of the one hour of battery life I can still squeeze out of it.

He was reading the New York Post, a paper I haven't seen in a long time, but I immediately found it intriguing, in a trashy way. Like a National Enquirer, but with real news. That paper kept him busy all the way to Atlanta where we changed planes. Fortunately, he left it behind and I snagged it.

So...big discovery. BD. The New York Post has free music downloads! Just go to nypost.com, then music, then MPfrees.

I love free stuff. They have five or six tunes every week. The level of eclecticity (ecletibility? eclection? eclecapacity?) is off the charts. When I was flying, for instance, you could download Innerpartysystem, The Sammies—and Pete Seeger.

Pete Seeger. Yes—the 400-year old Pete Seeger. He literally wrote "We Shall Overcome"—I shit you not. And "If I had a Hammer." He was already a legend when Bob Dylan was getting squeezed out of his mommy.

Now, true, if I had a hammer I'd probably beat the shit out of anyone who was singing either one of those songs—but come on. The guy's got a new album out. It's called, without a trace of irony, At 89. And he's smiling. Hell, he's fully mobile. He looks good, even, in a skinny Santa sort of way. He's been married for 65 years. And his life's goal—seriously—is to get people to sing around the dinner table.

I love you, Pete Seeger. I didn't used to love you. But I love you now.