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)
All Mixed Up
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is part German, Latin and part Greek
Celtic and Arabic all in a heap,
Well amended by the people in the street
Choctaw gave us the word "okay";
"Vamose" is a word from Mexico way.
And all of this is a hint I suspect of what comes next.
I think that this whole world
Soon mama my whole wide world
Soon mama my whole world
Soon gonna be gettin' mixed up.
Soon mama my whole world
Soon mama my whole wide world
Soon mama my whole world
Soon gonna be gettin' mixed up.
I like Polish sausage, I like Spanish rice,
And pizza pie is also nice
Corn and beans from the Indians here
Washed down by German beer
Marco Polo traveled by camel and pony,
He brought to Italy, the first macaroni
And you and I as well as we're able,
We put it all on the table
[Chorus]
There were no red-headed Irishmen
Before the Vikings landed in Ireland
How many Romans had dark curly hair
Before they brought slaves from Africa?
No race of man is completely pure,
Nor is anyone's mind, that's for sure
The winds mix the dust of every land,
And so will woman and man.
[Chorus]
This doesn't mean we will all be the same,
We'll have different faces and different names
Long live many different kinds of races
It's difference of opinion that makes horse races
Just remember the rule about rules, brother
What could be right for one could be wrong for the other
And take a tip from La Belle France: "Viva la difference!"
[Chorus]
The lyrics of Pete Seeger's song "All Mixed Up" reflect on the diverse origins of language, culture, and people. The first verse explains how our language is a blend of Latin, German, Celtic, Arabic, and other languages, all amended by ordinary people. The second verse describes how our food is a product of various cultures, with Polish sausage, Spanish rice, pizza pie, corn, beans, and German beer all coming from different regions. As the song progresses, he emphasizes how no race of people is entirely pure and that diversity is something to celebrate. The song's chorus repeatedly states that the world is "soon gonna be getting mixed up."
The song represents a message of inclusivity, highlighting the beauty in cultural diversity. It acknowledges that every culture and language has a place in the world, and all of them interact to create something new. Despite the different backgrounds, Seeger argues that we are all part of the same world and should embrace each other's differences. The line about La Belle France is a reference to the French motto "Vive la différence!," which promotes the acceptance of diversity.
Line by Line Meaning
You know this language that we speak,
Our language is a unique blend of German, Latin, Greek, Celtic, Arabic and more, crafted by the masses.
Is part German, Latin and part Greek
Our language was heavily influenced by German, Latin and Greek.
Celtic and Arabic all in a heap,
Our language also has elements of Celtic and Arabic.
Well amended by the people in the street
The language we use has been shaped and evolved by the people on the streets.
Choctaw gave us the word "okay";
Even Native Americans gave us a word like okay.
"Vamose" is a word from Mexico way.
Vamose is a word from Mexico that is also popularly used.
And all of this is a hint I suspect of what comes next.
This is all leading up to an important message.
I think that this whole world
The entire world
Soon mama my whole wide world
Will soon undergo a complete transformation
Soon mama my whole world
The world as we know it
Soon gonna be gettin' mixed up.
Will undergo a major revolution..
I like Polish sausage, I like Spanish rice,
I find food from different countries and cultures delicious.
And pizza pie is also nice
I also enjoy pizza.
Corn and beans from the Indians here
Native Americans taught us how to grow and use corn and beans.
Washed down by German beer
We drink German beer along with these foods.
Marco Polo traveled by camel and pony,
Marco Polo traveled the world using camels and ponies
He brought to Italy, the first macaroni
Polo introduced Italians to macaroni.
And you and I as well as we're able,
We, as individuals
We put it all on the table
We share our cultures and experiences with each other.
There were no red-headed Irishmen
Stereotypes about Irish people are not entirely accurate.
Before the Vikings landed in Ireland
It wasn't until the Vikings arrived in Ireland that redheads became more common.
How many Romans had dark curly hair
It's hard to tell what ancient Romans looked like since they were highly influenced by other cultures.
Before they brought slaves from Africa?
It wasn't until they brought slaves from Africa that there was more racial diversity in Rome.
No race of man is completely pure,
No single race of humans is entirely homogeneous.
Nor is anyone's mind, that's for sure
People's opinions and beliefs vary widely.
The winds mix the dust of every land,
The winds carry dirt and dust from all over the world.
And so will woman and man.
People will also mix and blend with each other.
This doesn't mean we will all be the same,
We won't become identical clones of each other.
We'll have different faces and different names
We will still have distinct appearances and identities.
Long live many different kinds of races
Diversity among races and ethnicities is something to be celebrated.
It's difference of opinion that makes horse races
Our differing opinions and beliefs is what drives our debates and discussions forward.
Just remember the rule about rules, brother
Just keep in mind that even rules have exceptions.
What could be right for one could be wrong for the other
What feels like the right choice for one person might not be the same for someone else.
And take a tip from La Belle France: "Viva la difference!"
Let's all celebrate what makes us different from one another.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Peter Seeger, Traditional
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind