As a member of The Weavers, Seeger had a string of hits, including a 1949 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" that topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. He was formerly a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America and was a major contributor to folk and protest music in the 1950s and the 1960s.
Perhaps best known today as the author or co-author of the songs Where Have All the Flowers Gone, If I Had a Hammer, and Turn, Turn, Turn, songs that have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and which are still sung all over the world. Flowers was a hit recording for The Kingston Trio (1962), Marlene Dietrich, who recorded it in English, German and French (1962), and Johnny Rivers (1965). "If I Had a Hammer" was a hit for Peter, Paul & Mary (1962) and Trini Lopez (1963), while The Byrds popularized "Turn, Turn, Turn" in the mid-1960s.
Early work
Seeger dropped out of Harvard (where he had been studying journalism) in 1939, and he took a job in Washington, D.C. at the Archive of American Folk Song in the Library of Congress. In that capacity, he met and was influenced by many important musicians such as Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. He met Woody at a "Grapes of Wrath" migrant workers concert on March 3, 1940 and the two thereafter began a musical collaboration.
In 1948, Seeger wrote the first version of his now-classic How to Play the Five-String Banjo, a book that many banjo players credit with starting them off on the instrument. He went on to invent the Long Neck or Seeger banjo. This instrument is three frets longer than a typical banjo, and slightly longer than a bass guitar at 25 Frets, and is tuned a minor third lower than the normal 5-string banjo.
As a self-described "split tenor" (between an alto and a tenor), he was a founding member of the folk groups the Almanac Singers with Woody Guthrie and the Weavers with Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman. The Weavers had major hits in the early 1950s, before being blacklisted in the McCarthy Era.
On August 18, 1955, Pete was subpoenaed to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) where he refused to name personal and political associations stating it would violate his First Amendment rights... "I am not going to answer any questions as to my association, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my political beliefs, or how I voted in any election, or any of these private affairs. I think these are very improper questions for any American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this." Seeger's refusal to testify led to a March 26, 1957 indictment for contempt of Congress; for some years, he had to keep the federal government apprised of where he was going any time he left the Southern District of New York. He was convicted in a jury trial in March 1961, and sentenced to a year in jail, but in May 1962 an appeals court ruled the indictment to be flawed and overturned his conviction.
Seeger started a solo career in 1958, and is known for songs such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?," "If I Had a Hammer" (co-written with Lee Hays), "Turn, Turn, Turn," adapted from the Book of Ecclesiastes, and "We Shall Overcome" (based on a spiritual and later became the unofficial anthem for the civil rights movement). Seeger became influential in the 1960s folk revival centered in Greenwich Village. He helped found Broadside Magazine and Sing Out!. He was strongly associated with Moses Asch and Folkways Records. To describe the new crop of folk singers, many of whom were politically minded in their songs, he coined the phrase "Woody's children", alluding to his former bandmate Woody Guthrie, who by this time had become a legendary figure. He has often sung and is associated with the song "Joe Hill".
In the mid-sixties he hosted a regional folk music TV show called Rainbow Quest which featured folk musicians playing traditional folk music. Among his guests were Johnny Cash, June Carter, Mississippi John Hurt, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Roscoe Holcomb, The Stanley Brothers, Doc Watson, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Richard Fariña and Mimi Fariña, and many others. Thirty-eight hour-long programs were recorded at new UHF station WNJU's Newark studios in 1965 and 1966, produced by Seeger and his wife Toshi with Sholom Rubinstein.
An early advocate of Bob Dylan, Seeger was supposedly incensed over the distorted electric sound Dylan brought into the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, especially with the inability to clearly hear the lyrics. There are many conflicting versions of exactly what ensued, some claiming that he actually tried to disconnect the equipment. He is often cited as one of the main opponents to Dylan at Newport 1965, but claimed in 2005:
"There are reports of me being anti-him going electric at the '65 Newport Folk festival, but that's wrong. I was the MC that night. He was singing 'Maggie's Farm' and you couldn't understand a word because the mic was distorting his voice. I ran to the mixing desk and said, 'Fix the sound, it's terrible!' The guy said 'No, that's how they want it.' And I did say that if I had an axe I'd cut the cable! But I wanted to hear the words. I didn't mind him going electric.
Later work
Seeger achieved some notoriety in 1967 and 1968 for his song "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy", about a captain—a "big fool"—who drowned while leading a platoon on maneuvers in Louisiana during World War II. Seeger performed the song on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour after some arguments with CBS about whether the song's lyrics were objectionable. Although the song was cut from the Smothers Brothers show in September 1967, Seeger returned in January 1968 and sang the entire song. It was clearly an allegory about the U.S. under the leadership of Lyndon Johnson which was in over its head in the Vietnam War.
Another slight against Lyndon Johnson can be heard in his singing of Len Chandler's seemingly juvenile song, "Beans in My Ears" from his 1966 album Dangerous Songs!? in which he accuses "Mrs. Jay's little son Alby" (Alby Jay is meant to sound like LBJ) of having beans in his ears, or of not listening to the people.
In 1998 a double-CD tribute album was released - "Where Have All the Flowers Gone: the Songs of Pete Seeger". It contained contributions from Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, Eliza Carthy, Bruce Springsteen, Roger McGuinn, Judy Collins, Indigo Girls, Dick Gaughan, Martin Simpson, Odetta and others.
Pete Seeger still performed occasionally in public until his death, and for a number of years appeared at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough Tennessee to tell stories, mostly children's stories such as Abiyoyo. He performed at MerleFest April 27-30, 2006 in Wilkesboro, NC.
On March 16, 2007, the 88-year old Pete Seeger performed with his siblings Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger, and other Seeger family members at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where he had been employed as a folk song archivist 67 years earlier.
In April 2006, Bruce Springsteen released a collection of songs associated with Seeger or in Seeger's folk tradition, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Bruce Springsteen performed a series of concerts based on those sessions, to sellout crowds. Springsteen had previously recorded one Seeger favorite, "We Shall Overcome," on the 1998 "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" tribute album.
Seeger lived in the hamlet of Dutchess Junction in the Town of Fishkill, NY and remained very politically active in the Hudson Valley Region of New York, especially in the near-by City of Beacon, NY. He and Toshi purchased their land in 1949, and lived there first in a trailer, then in a log cabin they built themselves, and eventually in a larger house. Seeger joined the Community Church (a church practicing Unitarian Universalism), is considered a famous Unitarian Universalist, and often performed at functions for the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Seeger died in 2014 of natural causes.
Awards
Seeger has been the recipient of many awards and recognitions throughout his career, including:
A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1993)
The National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts (1994)
Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Honor (1994)
The Harvard Arts Medal (1996)
Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1996)
Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album of 1996 for his record "Pete" (1997)
A Hard Rain's a Gonna Fall
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And where have you been, my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways,
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin',
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin',
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin',
I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin',
I heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin',
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin',
I heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
I heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
Oh, what did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
And who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony,
I met a white man who walked a black dog,
I met a young woman whose body was burning,
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow,
I met one man who was wounded in love,
I met another man who was wounded in hatred,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
And, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
And, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin',
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
And the executioner's face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where the souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I'll tell it and speak it and think it and breathe it,
And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it,
And I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
But I'll know my song well before I start singin',
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
Pete Seeger's song "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is a powerful and prophetic song that paints vivid pictures of a world that is on the brink of a catastrophic event. The song is a warning to all humanity about the dangers that are lurking beneath the surface of our civilization. The first verse sets the stage by describing the journey of a traveler who has faced many challenges in his life. The speculations of the title are that the song was inspired by a young Bob Dylan helping to carry Seeger's banjo up a hill while they were both at the Newport Folk Festival, shortly before Dylan penned the work.
As the song progresses, the traveler begins to describe the horrors that he has seen on his journey. He talks about a newborn baby surrounded by wolves, a highway of diamonds with nobody on it, and a black branch dripping with blood. The imagery is powerful, and it gives us a sense of the darkness that is engulfing the world around us. The traveler also speaks about a room full of men with their hammers a-bleeding, which is widely interpreted as a reference to the McCarthy hearings.
As the song concludes, the traveler speaks of his resolve to continue his journey, no matter how difficult it may be. He speaks of his intention to go back out before the rain starts falling and to walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest. He speaks of his intention to tell the world about the dangers that are lurking beneath the surface of our civilization and to stand on the ocean until he starts sinking.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
What places have you journeyed, my son with blue eyes?
And where have you been, my darling young one?
Where have you been, my dear young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
I have faced obstacles and difficulties in my life's journey.
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways,
I have traveled on many difficult paths and roads.
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
I have wandered through many dark, mournful forests.
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
I have faced vast and lifeless seas in my travels.
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
I have been deep within the heart of despair and death.
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
The future holds great difficulties and challenges, symbolized by the hard rain that is coming.
Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
What kinds of things have you witnessed, my son with blue eyes?
And what did you see, my darling young one?
What sights have you beheld, my dear young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I have witnessed the harshness and cruelty of nature.
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I have seen things of great material value that hold no true meaning or worth.
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin',
I have encountered violent and unsettling scenes.
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin',
I have seen workers toiling and struggling in harsh conditions.
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I have witnessed things that are useless and impractical.
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I have encountered people who are unable or unwilling to speak up.
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
I have seen young people forced into violent and dangerous situations.
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
The future holds great difficulties and challenges, symbolized by the hard rain that is coming.
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
What sounds have you heard, my son with blue eyes?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
And what has caught your ear, my dear young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin',
I have heard ominous signs of danger.
I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
I have heard of overwhelming chaos and destruction.
I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin',
I have encountered intense and passionate displays of artistry.
I heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin',
I have seen people ignored and their voices unheard.
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin',
I have heard the sounds of both suffering and indifference in society.
I heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
I have heard the creative works of those who have been forgotten or overlooked by society.
I heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
I have heard the sadness and despair of those who bring joy to others.
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
The future holds great difficulties and challenges, symbolized by the hard rain that is coming.
Oh, what did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
What people have you encountered, my son with blue eyes?
And who did you meet, my darling young one?
And who have you encountered, my dear young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony,
I have seen the harsh realities of life intermingled with the innocence of youth.
I met a white man who walked a black dog,
I have witnessed the complexities of social and racial relations.
I met a young woman whose body was burning,
I have come across the horrific effects of violence and war.
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow,
I have been given moments of beauty and hope amidst a harsh reality.
I met one man who was wounded in love,
I have seen the pain and heartache of those who have lost love.
I met another man who was wounded in hatred,
I have seen the destruction and pain that is caused by hate.
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
The future holds great difficulties and challenges, symbolized by the hard rain that is coming.
And, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
What actions will you take now, my son with blue eyes?
And, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
What will you do now, my dear young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin',
I will face the coming difficulties before they are upon me.
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest,
I will not shy away from the darkest parts of life, but will face them head-on.
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
I will go where there is great need and hardship.
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
I will go where there is corruption and those in power are poisoning the people.
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
I will go where there is great contrast between those who have and those who do not.
And the executioner's face is always well hidden,
I will face injustice and cruelty that is often hidden from view.
Where hunger is ugly, where the souls are forgotten,
I will go where there is physical and emotional starvation.
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
I will go where there is great inequality and disparity.
And I'll tell it and speak it and think it and breathe it,
I will use every means at my disposal to communicate what I have witnessed and experienced.
And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it,
I will speak out from a place of strength and perspective, so that all can benefit.
And I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
I will not back down from my beliefs even in the face of great adversity.
But I'll know my song well before I start singin',
I will be well-prepared and confident in my message before I express it to others.
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.
The future holds great difficulties and challenges, symbolized by the hard rain that is coming.
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Contributed by Brooklyn V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@rodinalmondbloom8562
Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
And where have you been, my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highways
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin'
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin'
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin'
I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin'
I heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin'
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin'
I heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
I heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
Oh, what did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
And who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded in hatred
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
And, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
And, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin'
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
And the executioner's face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where the souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I'll tell it and speak it and think it and breathe it
And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it
And I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall
@jimbishop8667
You could clearly see by the faces of the audience they were very uncomfortable, confused and not ready for the depth of darkness in this song. Yet when he was done they all clapped enthusiastically, I think because they knew they had just witnessed a profound moment even if they didn't really understand it!
@fionnmcnessa
I think they were getting the message and it frightened them . sadly it would havegone right over today's teenagers heads .
What a preformance amazing
@gabbyhyman1246
Also, audiences didn't have mosh pits then. This looks like a college audience from in the day where you sat quietly at a performance until the song ended. Lots of stuffy professor types. 😆
This is the same audience that went insane and murderous when Dylan broke out the fender at the folk festival. 🤣
@HoyaSaxaSD
I’ll respectfully disagree. On all the videos I watched of Dylan and others at Newport and other folk festivals during this period, the audience is almost completely still and silent throughout the song. While that’s a bit foreign to us, it seemed perfectly normal in that setting. I think they really were studying and pondering each word. (The Beatles’ fan base would drop a nuclear bomb on any such reserved model of concertgoer, just a year or two later, lol. Couldn’t hear a single word of their singing over the interminable shrieking, which is what led the Beatles to quit playing live and focus on creating masterpieces in the studio.)
@alexisbourdages1666
Bob wrote this during the Cuban misile crisis ....the hard rain was the close possibility of nuclear war over the ego of america
@alexisbourdages1666
They knew the song was right
@charlesdavenport6094
Pete brings another dimension to this song, a sense of urgency. He makes it an anthem, a call to battle.
@edited7382
Too bad he didn't know his song well before he started singing.
@oreally8605
What battle? Good vs. Evil? And just who is good? And who is the evil?
@charlesdavenport6094
@@oreally8605 The battle of metaphors vs. similes