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)
Do as the Doukhobors Do
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you have a protest no one wants to hear,
Just attend a rally where the big shots meet
Strip to your hide and walk down the street.
Way up in Canada, Doukhobor lads
Were sent to public schools disapproved of by their dads,
So the Doukhobor mamas said "That's enough"
And they went to the meeting in the buff.
Do as the Doukhobors do, honey,
Do as the Doukhobors do.
If public policy gets on your nerves
And no one pays attention to you
Throw away your dresses and your lingerie too,
And do as the Doukhobors do.
Our women hold meetings to stop atom tests,
They're not afraid of billy clubs, cops and arrests,
They sign those petitions 'til they're sad in the face
And still they seem to be getting no place.
They little boat EVERYMAN couldn't leave port,
Bomb tests continue of every sort
We've got to do something that's wild and new,
And do as the Doukhobors do.
Do as the Doukhobors do, honey,
Do as the Doukhobors do.
If public policy gets on your nerves
And no one pays attention to you
Throw away your dresses and your lingerie too,
And do as the Doukhobors do.
Of course, down in Cannes on the coast of France,
You'd get no attention minus bras and pants,
If you'd hit the beach in a grin or less,
They'd think you had on last year's bathing dress.
But up there in Canada at twenty below
People keep covered from head to toe.
Kennedy would send a cup of coffee or two
If we did as the Doukhobors do.
Do as the Doukhobors do, honey,
Do as the Doukhobors do.
If public policy gets on your nerves
And no one pays attention to you
Throw away your dresses and your lingerie too,
And do as the Doukhobors do.
The song Do as the Doukhobors Do by Pete Seeger highlights the use of nudity as a form of peaceful protest when people feel that their voices are not being heard. The Doukhobors were a religious group in Canada who believed in pacifism and communal living. When their children were forced to attend public schools that went against their beliefs, their mothers organized a public meeting where they stripped naked, showing their commitment to their beliefs and making a bold statement that garnered attention.
Seeger uses this event as an example of how people can use unconventional methods to make their voices heard. He laments the fact that peaceful protests, petitions and meetings are often ignored, and people are left feeling frustrated and unheard. The song suggests that if people were to take more extreme measures like the Doukhobor women, they might get more attention and achieve their goals.
The song also compares the more conservative attitudes towards nudity in Canada to the more liberal attitudes in France. The implication is that if people were more accepting of nudity, then this method of protest would be more effective. Seeger argues that if people were to do what the Doukhobors did, then it would be a revolutionary act, and real change might be achieved.
Overall, the song encourages people to think creatively and to take bold actions to achieve their goals. It suggests that peaceful protests may not always be enough, and that more radical forms of protest might be necessary to effect real change.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a new tactic to use, my dear,
I have discovered a fresh and innovative method to apply, my beloved.
If you have a protest no one wants to hear,
In the event that you possess a demonstration or objection that nobody is willing to listen to,
Just attend a rally where the big shots meet
It is sufficient to merely show up at a gathering attended by influential individuals.
Strip to your hide and walk down the street.
Disrobe entirely, and go down the street.
Way up in Canada, Doukhobor lads
Very far north in Canada, the Doukhobor young men
Were sent to public schools disapproved of by their dads,
Were dispatched to state educational institutions that their fathers did not approve of,
So the Doukhobor mamas said "That's enough"
Responding to this, the Doukhobor mothers stated, "Enough is enough"
And they went to the meeting in the buff.
And proceeded to attend the assembly without any clothing.
Do as the Doukhobors do, honey,
Follow the Doukhobors' example, sweetheart,
Do as the Doukhobors do.
Emulate the behavior exhibited by the Doukhobors.
If public policy gets on your nerves
In the event that governmental policies agitate you,
And no one pays attention to you
And nobody is giving you any heed,
Throw away your dresses and your lingerie too,
Sans hesitation, discard all of your garments and underclothes,
And do as the Doukhobors do.
And perform in the identical manner as the Doukhobors.
Our women hold meetings to stop atom tests,
Our women engage in gatherings to impede atomic weapons testing,
They're not afraid of billy clubs, cops and arrests,
They exhibit no fear of police brutality, law enforcement, or being taken into custody,
They sign those petitions 'til they're sad in the face
They sign petitions until they are emotionally dejected and weary,
And still they seem to be getting no place.
Yet, they don't appear to be making any progress.
They little boat EVERYMAN couldn't leave port,
The vessel called EVERYMAN was unable to embark from shore,
Bomb tests continue of every sort
Explosive experiments of all kinds persist,
We've got to do something that's wild and new,
We must implement something that is unconventional and novel,
And do as the Doukhobors do.
And act just like the Doukhobors.
Of course, down in Cannes on the coast of France,
Naturally, in Cannes, situated along the southern coast of France,
You'd get no attention minus bras and pants,
You would receive no attention unless you were wearing bras and pants,
If you'd hit the beach in a grin or less,
In the event that you appear on the beach completely naked,
They'd think you had on last year's bathing dress.
Those observing you would believe that you are wearing last year's swimwear.
But up there in Canada at twenty below,
However, over there in Canada, where it is twenty degrees below freezing,
People keep covered from head to toe.
People stay bundled up from the top of the head to the tips of their toes.
Kennedy would send a cup of coffee or two
Even John F. Kennedy would be obliged to send a couple cups of coffee
If we did as the Doukhobors do.
In the event we carried out the practices of the Doukhobors.
Do as the Doukhobors do, honey,
Follow the Doukhobors' example, sweetheart,
Do as the Doukhobors do.
Emulate the behavior exhibited by the Doukhobors.
If public policy gets on your nerves
In the event that governmental policies agitate you,
And no one pays attention to you
And nobody is giving you any heed,
Throw away your dresses and your lingerie too,
Sans hesitation, discard all of your garments and underclothes,
And do as the Doukhobors do.
And perform in the identical manner as the Doukhobors.
Writer(s): Bob Dylan
Contributed by Kaitlyn K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.