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)
Arrange and Rearrange
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Gettin' some fire wood to start the fire
'Cause we heated our house with wood
And I look at the sun peakin' up
Over the mountain, I had an idea for a song
Early in the mornin', I first see the sun
I say a little prayer for the world
I hope all the little children live a long, long time
I hope they learn to laugh at the way
Some precious old words seem to change
'Cause that's what life is all about
To arrange and rearrange and rearrange
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
Early in the mornin', I'm a gatherin' the sap
I say a little prayer for the maple
Like old Mama Quad, on the northwest slope
I'll protect her as long as I'm able
She gives more sap every year
Than any single other tree
So bring on the pancakes, here's to Mama Quad
May she live for another century
Oh-wee, oh-wye, may she live
For another century
Oh-wee, oh-wye, may she live
For another century
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night
And rub my achin' old eyes
Is that a voice from inside my head
Or does it come down from the sky?
There's a time to laugh but there's a time to weep
A time to make a big change
Wake up, you bum, the time has come
To arrange and rearrange and rearrange
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
Maybe the biggest change will come
When we don't have to change much at all
When maniacs holler, grow, grow, grow
We can choose to be small
The key word may be little
We only have to change a little bit
Eat a little food, drink a little drink
And only have to
Early in the mornin', I first see the sun
I say a little prayer for the world
I hope all the little children live a long, long time
Every little boy and little girl
I hope they learn to laugh at the way
Some wicked old words seem to change
'Cause that's what life's all about
To arrange and rearrange and rearrange
Sing it
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
Once more
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
And rearrange and rearrange
The lyrics of "Arrange and Rearrange" by Pete Seeger speak of the cyclical nature of life and the need for both adaptation and preservation. The song begins with Seeger out in the snow gathering firewood and looking at the sunrise, which inspires him to say a prayer for the world and for all the children in it to live long and happy lives. He then reflects on the need to embrace change and adapt, even when it comes to the words we use, but also to preserve what is important, like the maple tree Mama Quad, which provides more sap than any other and has been protected by Seeger for many years.
He then speaks of a voice that comes to him, urging him to make a big change in the world, and notes that sometimes the biggest change is simply to change a little bit. He encourages people to resist the pressure to constantly grow and instead choose to be small, making small changes in their lives that can have a big impact. The song ends with Seeger repeating the refrain "to arrange and rearrange and rearrange," emphasizing that life is a process of continual adaptation and evolution.
Line by Line Meaning
Just a few winters ago, I was out in the snow
I remember a few winters back when I was outside in the snow gathering firewood to light our house's fire.
'Cause we heated our house with wood
We used pieces of wood to heat our home.
And I look at the sun peakin' up
When I looked up, I saw the sun rising from above the mountains.
Over the mountain, I had an idea for a song
I was inspired to write a tune after watching the sunrise from beyond the mountaintop.
Early in the mornin', I first see the sun
The sunrise is the first thing I see in the morning, and I use this opportunity to pray for the world.
I hope all the little children live a long, long time
I pray for the longevity of children everywhere, for them to live long, healthy lives.
Yes, every little boy and little girl
My prayer is for all children, regardless of their gender.
I hope they learn to laugh at the way
I hope children learn to not take life too seriously and find joy in it.
Some precious old words seem to change
I hope people can learn to find humor in the fact that words change their meanings over time.
'Cause that's what life is all about
The essence of life is to adapt and change one's ways and habits.
To arrange and rearrange and rearrange
Life requires one to continuously change and adapt, to arrange and rearrange themselves with the changing times.
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
Rearranging is something we all ought to do.
Early in the mornin', I'm a gatherin' the sap
In the mornings, I collect sap from trees in the hopes that they will keep us fed and warm.
Like old Mama Quad, on the northwest slope
Specifically, I'm protecting Mama Quad, a tree on the northwest incline.
She gives more sap every year
Out of all the trees, Mama Quad produces the most sap annually.
Than any single other tree
No other tree rivals Mama Quad when it comes to sap production.
So bring on the pancakes, here's to Mama Quad
We plan on using Mama Quad's sap for pancakes, and thus we thank her for nourishing us.
May she live for another century
As long as I'm here, I'll protect Mama Quad so that she can live for another hundred years.
Sometimes I wake in the middle of the night
Occasionally, I wake up in the middle of the night.
And rub my achin' old eyes
When I do, I rub my tired, aching eyes.
Is that a voice from inside my head
Sometimes, I'm not sure whether the voice I'm hearing is internal or external.
Or does it come down from the sky?
I'm not sure whether this voice comes from the heavens or my mind.
There's a time to laugh but there's a time to weep
It's crucial to recognize that there are times to be happy and times to mourn and grieve.
A time to make a big change
It's important to amend one's ways during a time of transformation.
Wake up, you bum, the time has come
It's time to wake up and take action.
Maybe the biggest change will come
The most significant change could occur if we stop trying to change drastically and start working with what we have.
When we don't have to change much at all
If we don't change much, it may cause the biggest change in the end.
When maniacs holler, grow, grow, grow
When people insistently demand more and more growth.
We can choose to be small
We can elect to remain humble instead of getting bigger and bigger.
The key word may be little
Becoming smaller may be the missing piece of the puzzle.
We only have to change a little bit
We only need to change a minor amount.
Eat a little food, drink a little drink
We only have to consume a small amount of food and drink to feel satisfied.
And only have to
We need only to do the minimum necessary.
Sing it
Let's sing this message.
Once more
Let's repeat this message once more.
Oh-wee, oh-wye, to rearrange
The melody reinforces the idea that rearranging is the way to go.
And rearrange and rearrange
Continuously changing and adapting is key.
Writer(s): Peter Seeger Copyright: Figs. D Music Inc. O.B.O. Sanga Music, Figs D Music, Figs. D Music Inc.
Contributed by Austin W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.