Forgotten jewels from the Greenwich Village, NYC
When we think of Greenwich Village in the 1960s, a few famous names come to mind: Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix.
But the Village was much more than its legends. Picture a few streets in Lower Manhattan: MacDougal Street, Bleecker Street, West 4th Street. In the early sixties they were full of small, smoky basement coffeehouses, such as the Gaslight Cafe, Gerde’s Folk City, Cafe Wha? and The Bitter End.
There, every night, young songwriters played for a few dollars and a basket of tips. Some wrote songs about the news of the week, the war in Vietnam, the struggle for civil rights in the American South. Others wrote about love, loneliness and the passing of time. They listened to each other, encouraged each other, borrowed melodies and recorded each other’s songs. Famous and unknown artists shared the same small stages, and a song could pass from one voice to another until it reached the whole world.
In this seminar we will listen to some songs born in this world, written by songwriters such as Phil Ochs, Eric Andersen and a very young Paul Simon. Among them are an anti-war anthem that became the voice of a generation of protesters, a song of compassion that became a hit only when someone else sang it, a gentle love song from a singer known for his anger, a tribute to the activists coming home from the civil rights struggle, and a lonely portrait of the Village itself from an album that almost nobody bought.
Through listening, historical context and open discussion, we will ask some simple but important questions. Why do some songs become famous while others are forgotten? Can a song be political and personal at the same time? And what can these voices from the 1960s still tell us today?
No previous knowledge of the period is needed, just curiosity and a love of good songs. The seminar will be held in English.
📅 Friday 18 December 2026, at 6.00 pm
📍 Babylon Lingue, via Parenzo 9, Rovigo
🥂 €10 per person, Christmas aperitif included
