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)
Come All Fair Maids
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Take warning how you court your men
They're like a star on a summer morning
They first appear and then they're gone
If I'd known before I courted
I never would've courted none
I'd a lock my heart in a box of golden
I wish I were some little sparrow
And I had wings and I could fly
I'd fly away to my false true lover
And when he'd speak, I would deny
But I am not some little swallow
I have no wings, neither can I fly
So I will sit down here to weep in sorrow
And try to pass my troubles by
Oh don't you remember our days of courting
When your head lay upon my breast
You could make me believe by the falling of your arm
That the sun rose in the west
Come all ye fair and tender ladies
Take warning how you court your men
They're like a star on a summer morning
They first appear and then they're gone
Pete Seeger's song "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies" is a warning for women to be mindful of who they choose to court. The lyrics warn that men can appear like a bright star on a summer morning, but just as quickly, they can disappear. The singer regrets courting her lover, expressing that if she had known then what she knows now, she would have never courted him. She wishes that she had locked away her heart, as she is now left to weep in sorrow.
The singer wishes that she had the freedom of a little sparrow to fly away to her false true lover, but alas, she is unable to do so. The song reminisces about a time when her lover's head laid upon her breast, and he could make her believe the impossible. The song ultimately serves as a warning to women to be mindful of who they choose to court, as, ultimately, they can disappear as quickly as they appeared, leaving the woman to weep in sorrow.
Line by Line Meaning
Come all ye fair and tender ladies
Addressing all the young women out there who are pure, and tender-hearted.
Take warning how you court your men
Be careful and vigilant while wooing a man. One must be cautious while expressing their feelings of affection towards someone.
They're like a star on a summer morning
Like a bright and shiny substance that is most attractive and presentable when seen when it is about to set, men can also shine brightly and quickly vanish right after that moment.
They first appear and then they're gone
Men tend to disappear after the glitz and glory of the first meeting or conversation are over. They lose interest and move on.
If I'd known before I courted
Had I been aware of this reality before expressing love or commitment towards anyone,
I never would've courted none
I would have never stepped up and made the first move.
I'd a lock my heart in a box of golden
I would have locked my heart in a precious box like gold.
And fastened it up with silver pin
I would have locked the box with a pin of silver to keep it secured tightly.
I wish I were some little sparrow
The artist desires to be a small flying bird, that can easily escape reality by flying away.
And I had wings and I could fly
If the artist had wings and the power to fly, they would be liberated and independent from earthly miseries.
I'd fly away to my false true lover
In an imaginary scenario, if the singer's lover who professed love, and would later betray or deceive her, she would leave him swiftly.
And when he'd speak, I would deny
If her lover tried to justify their actions or make false promises, she would refute them.
But I am not some little swallow
The singer now accepts that reality is not a fairyland and she is not free like a bird.
I have no wings, neither can I fly
The singer has no great powers that allow them to escape reality.
So I will sit down here to weep in sorrow
Therefore, the singer has no other choice but to sit and weep to show the grief and pain she is going through.
And try to pass my troubles by
She tries to move on and cope with the hard reality of love.
Oh don't you remember our days of courting
The tone here changes to a reminiscent mood where the artist addresses her former lover. She takes us to the flashback while talking to him.
When your head lay upon my breast
In those moments of intimacy, when he laid his head onto her chest.
You could make me believe by the falling of your arm
The lover had the power of persuasion and could make the singer believe by influencing her with just a motion of his arm.
That the sun rose in the west
The lover had such convincing power that he seemed to have changed the way the sun rises and sets, and the artist started to believe in reversed occurrence.
Come all ye fair and tender ladies
The song comes to full circle, returning to the chorus that addresses all the young women to be careful while courting men.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: DAVE GUARD, GRETCHEN GUARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@seamoremonster
A classic and a living legend. Pete Seeger sang songs and made a difference.
@HEADSUPBERKELEY
lovely