Sarah Jane Morris honours Peggy Seeger in open letter — and in song
When Sarah Jane Morris published an open letter to folk elder Peggy Seeger, she did more than write a fan note. She turned memory into music. The letter accompanies a new song, Longing To Be Free, a quiet, direct tribute that Morris offers as both gratitude and an artistic reply.
A single encounter, a lasting influence
Morris traces her debt to one meeting with Seeger in 1989. That brief encounter — the kind of small, sharply felt moment that artists carry with them — opened into a long creative conversation. She remembers Seeger’s storytelling, her modest stage manner, and her unwavering commitment to social causes. Those qualities, Morris says, reshaped how she thinks about songs as public acts, not merely private expressions.
Rather than mimic Seeger’s spare folk style, Morris used it as a lesson. The new song pares back arrangement to foreground the storyteller’s voice, aiming to make the listener feel implicated. For Morris, simplicity isn’t just an aesthetic choice; it’s a way to sharpen the political clarity of a song and invite communal singing and action.
From homage to continuation
Morris frames Longing To Be Free as a response rather than pastiche. She deliberately avoids imitation while tracing Seeger’s influence in structure and purpose. The lyric closes with a plain, heartfelt line — “Thank you, Peggy, for leading the way” — that reads like a passing of the torch. An anecdote from that 1989 meeting crystallises the dynamic: Seeger, playful and authoritative, once silenced Morris’s fuller-band sound with a gesture. That moment became a symbol for Morris of how tradition survives reinvention.
Feminism, labour and song
In her letter Morris foregrounds how Seeger’s repertory combined class politics with advocacy for women. She highlights the sly satire and accessibility of songs such as Gonna Be An Engineer, which turn a simple chorus into feminist provocation and communal pedagogy. For Morris, Seeger’s songs worked on two levels — immediate emotional engagement and long-term political education — teaching listeners how melody and message can reinforce one another.
Morris argues that Seeger dissolved the boundary between stage and street, composing songs meant to awaken and recruit. That dual function — art that rallies — is something Morris wants to keep alive: she sees her tribute as both a musical offering and a blueprint for artists who want their work to matter in public life.
The record, the tour and sustaining networks
Longing To Be Free appears on Morris’s new album, The Sisterhood 2, a collection that honours influential women in music — from Etta James and Joan Baez to Dolly Parton and Patti Smith. The record, out March 6, is paired with a UK tour that kicks off on International Women’s Day, March 8, at London’s 229. Those live dates are pitched as spaces for collective listening and organising, not just promotion.
Morris chose to publish her letter in a magazine with deep roots in queer and feminist communities, a decision that underlines the project’s political as well as personal intentions. Independent queer media, she suggests, do more than amplify voices: they sustain networks. But they also face changing funding landscapes and governance challenges that demand active public support.
A practical call to action
Morris keeps returning to a practical point: cultural gestures only matter if they’re followed by sustained, organised work. The album and tour are intended as the start of that process — a way to build ongoing support for queer and feminist media and the artists who rely on them. Tickets and further details are available through Morris’s official channels.
More than a thank-you
Ultimately, this is a layered tribute. It’s a personal thank-you to a mentor; it’s a musical experiment in carrying a politicised songbook forward; and it’s a reminder that songs can be both intimate and public tools for change. Morris’s letter and song map a lineage of folk practice and civic purpose, asking new audiences to listen, learn and take up the work.