Peter, Paul and Mary’s popular protest song ‘If I Had a Hammer’ was that track playing as the The Simpsons outro song last night — The Simpsons, Season 35, Episode 1, “Homer’s Crossing”.
The track begins playing as Homer is lying in the hospital, his family are arguing as usual, and he imagines his family as nails and himself as a hammer.
He then mumbles “Must hammer nails” and is outro-ed with the song.
When did Peter, Paul and Mary’s ‘If I Had a Hammer’ come out?
The song is not an original Peter, Paul and Mary track but instead was first released in 1949 after being written by singer songwriters Pete Seeger and Lee Hays as a way to support the then left-wing political party The Progressives.
The Peter, Paul and Mary version was released as the second single from the trio’s self-titled debut studio album in May, 1962, during a time when folk music was incredibly popular in the United States.
The track also became representative of the 1960s Civil Rights movement, and was ultimately one of the folk trio’s biggest hits going on to rank at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #13 on the Cashbox Top 100.
‘If I Had a Hammer’ was so well-liked by music critics and the music world, it has appeared on several high-profile Best of… lists over the last 60 years.
The upbeat folk track also won Peter, Paul and Mary two Grammy Awards the following year for Best Performance by a Vocal Group and Best Folk Recording.
Listen to Peter, Paul and Mary’s ”If I Had a Hammer’ as heard at the end of The Simpsons this week in the video, and on Spotify.