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)
Foggie Went a-Courtin
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh.
Well he rode right up to Miss Mousey's door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousey's door, uh-huh
He rode right up to Miss Mousey's door
Said, "Miss Mouse, are you within ?" uh-huh
Said he, "Miss Mouse, are you within ?" uh-huh
Said, "Miss Mouse, are you within ?"
"Yes, kind sir, I sit and spin," uh-huh.
He took Miss Mousey on his knee, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousey on his knee, uh-huh
Took Miss Mousey on his knee
Said, "Miss Mousey, will you marry me ?" uh-huh.
"Without my uncle Rat's consent, uh-huh
Without my uncle Rat's consent, uh-huh
Without my uncle Rat's consent
I wouldn't marry the president, uh-huh".
Uncle Rat laughed and he shook his fat sides, uh-huh
Uncle Rat laughed and he shook his fat sides, uh-huh
Uncle Rat laughed and he shook his fat sides
To think his niece would be a bride, uh-huh.
Uncle rat went runnin' downtown, uh-huh
Uncle rat went runnin' downtown, uh-huh
Uncle rat went runnin' downtown
To buy his niece a wedding gown, uh-huh.
Where shall the wedding supper be ? uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be ? uh-huh
Where shall the wedding supper be ?
Way down yonder in a hollow tree, uh-huh.
What should the wedding supper be ? uh-huh
What should the wedding supper be ? uh-huh
What should the wedding supper be ?
Fried mosquito in a black-eyed pea, uh-huh.
Well, first to come in was a flyin' moth, uh-huh.
First to come in was a flyin' moth, uh-huh.
First to come in was a flyin' moth
She laid out the table cloth, uh-huh.
Next to come in was a juney bug, uh-huh
Next to come in was a juney bug, uh-huh
Next to come in was a juney bug
She brought the water jug, uh-huh.
Next to come in was a bumbley bee, uh-huh
Next to come in was a bumbley bee, uh-huh
Next to come in was a bumbley bee
Sat mosquito on his knee, uh-huh.
Next to come in was a broken black flea, uh-huh
Next to come in was a broken black flea, uh-huh
Next to come in was a broken black flea
Danced a jig with the bumbley bee, uh-huh.
Next to come in was Mrs. Cow, uh-huh
Next to come in was Mrs. Cow, uh-huh
Next to come in was Mrs. Cow
She tried to dance but she didn't know how, uh-huh.
Next to come in was a little black tick, uh-huh
Next to come in was a little black tick, uh-huh
Next to come in was a little black tick
She ate so much she made us sick, uh-huh.
Next to come in was a big black snake, uh-huh
Next to come in was a big black snake, uh-huh
Next to come in was a big black snake
Ate up all of the wedding cake, uh-huh.
Next to come in was the old gray cat, uh-huh
Next to come in was the old gray cat, uh-huh
Next to come in was the old gray cat
Swallowed the mouse and ate up the rat, uh-huh.Mr.
Frog went a-hoppin' up over the brook, uh-huh
Mr. Frog went a-hoppin' up over the brook, uh-huh
Mr. Frog went a-hoppin' up over the brook
A lily-whit duck come and swallowed him up, uh-huh.
A little piece of cornbread layin' on a shelf, uh-huh
A little piece of cornbread layin' on a shelf, uh-huh
A little piece of cornbread layin' on a shelf
If you want any more, you can sing it yourself, uh-huh.
The song "Frog Went a-Courtin'" is a traditional American folk song dating back to the 16th century. It has a call-and-response structure, where the lead singer sings a verse and the group responds with "Uh-huh." It tells the story of a frog riding to Miss Mouse's house to ask for her hand in marriage, but Miss Mouse refuses until her uncle Rat approves. Uncle Rat buys his niece a wedding gown and the wedding supper is held in a hollow tree, with fried mosquito and black-eyed peas served. Various animals attend the wedding, including a flying moth, a june bug, and a bumblebee, but the celebration comes to a halt when a big black snake eats all the wedding cake.
The song has been covered by various artists, including Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. It has also appeared in popular culture in films, TV shows, and books. The song's meaning is often interpreted as a satire on courtship rituals and folk tales. The song showcases a marriage tradition in the rural south that is full of humor, magic, and absurdity. The theme of animals attending a wedding is a common motif in folk tales from around the world.
Line by Line Meaning
Frog went a-courtin' and he did ride, uh-huh
The frog went to court his love interest.
With a sword and a pistol by his side, uh-huh.
He was ready to defend himself and his love.
He rode right up to Miss Mousey's door, uh-huh
The frog went to Miss Mousey's door-step.
Gave three loud raps and a very big roar, uh-huh.
He knocked on the door very loudly.
Said, "Miss Mouse, are you within ?" uh-huh
He asked if Miss Mouse was around.
"Yes, kind sir, I sit and spin," uh-huh.
Miss Mouse replied that she was sitting and spinning.
Took Miss Mousey on his knee, uh-huh
He gave Miss Mouse some attention.
"Miss Mousey, will you marry me ?" uh-huh.
He proposed to Miss Mouse.
"Without my uncle Rat's consent, I wouldn't marry the president, uh-huh".
Miss Mouse wanted her uncle Rat's permission before she gets married.
Uncle rat went runnin' downtown, uh-huh
Uncle Rat went to town quickly.
To buy his niece a wedding gown, uh-huh.
He went to buy Miss Mouse a wedding dress.
Where shall the wedding supper be ? Way down yonder in a hollow tree, uh-huh.
The wedding supper was to be held in a hollow tree.
What should the wedding supper be ? Fried mosquito in a black-eyed pea, uh-huh.
The wedding supper was to be fried mosquito in a black-eyed pea.
First to come in was a flyin' moth, uh-huh.
The first guest to come in was a flying moth.
She laid out the table cloth, uh-huh.
The flying moth laid out the table cloth.
Next to come in was a juney bug, uh-huh.
The second guest to come in was a juney bug.
She brought the water jug, uh-huh.
The juney bug brought a jug of water.
Next to come in was a bumbley bee, uh-huh
The third guest to enter was the bumblebee.
Sat mosquito on his knee, uh-huh.
The mosquito sat on the bumblebee's knee.
Next to come in was a broken black flea, uh-huh
The fourth to come in was a broken black flea.
Danced a jig with the bumbley bee, uh-huh.
The flea danced a jig with the bumblebee.
Next to come in was Mrs. Cow, uh-huh.
Mrs. Cow was the fifth guest to arrive.
She tried to dance but she didn't know how, uh-huh.
Mrs. Cow is a terrible dancer.
Next to come in was a little black tick, uh-huh.
The next person to come in was a little black tick.
She ate so much she made us sick, uh-huh.
The little black tick ate so much, which made them all sick.
Next to come in was a big black snake, uh-huh.
A big black snake was the seventh guest to arrive.
Ate up all of the wedding cake, uh-huh.
The snake ate all of the wedding cake.
Next to come in was the old gray cat, uh-huh.
The old gray cat was the eighth guest to arrive.
Swallowed the mouse and ate up the rat, uh-huh.
The old gray cat ate the mouse and the rat.
Mr. Frog went a-hoppin' up over the brook, uh-huh.
Mr. Frog hopped over the brook.
A lily-whit duck come and swallowed him up, uh-huh.
A white duck came and swallowed Mr. Frog.
A little piece of cornbread laying on a shelf, uh-huh.
There was only a small piece of cornbread left.
If you want any more, you can sing it yourself, uh-huh.
You have to make up the song yourself if you want to hear more about it.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: TEX RITTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind