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)
Froggie Went A-Courtin'
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Froggie went a courtin' and he did ride
Sword and pistol by his side
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Well he rode down to Miss Mousey's door
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Where he'd often been before
Uh-huh, uh-huh
He took Miss Mousey on his knee
Uh-huh, uh-huh
He took Miss Mousey on his knee
Said Miss Mousey, will you marry me?
Uh-huh, uh-huh
I'll have to ask my Uncle Rat
Uh-huh, uh-huh
I'll have to ask my Uncle Rat
See what he do say to that
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Without my Uncle Rat's consent
Uh-huh, uh
Without my Uncle Rat's consent
I would not marry the president
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Well Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides
To think his niece would be a bride
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Well Uncle Rat rode off to town
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Uncle Rat rode off to town
To buy his niece a wedding gown
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Where will the wedding supper be?
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Where will the wedding supper be?
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
Uh-huh, uh-huh
And what will the wedding supper be?
Uh-huh, uh-huh
What will the wedding supper be?
A fired mosquito and a roasted flea
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Well first come in were two little ants
Uh-huh, uh-huh
First come in were two little ants
Fixing around, will you have a dance
Uh-huh, uh-huh
And next come in was a bumblebee
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Next come in was a bumblebee
Balancing a fiddle on his knee
Uh-huh, uh-huh
And next come in was a big tom cat
Uh-huh, uh-huh
And next come in was a big tom cat
He swallowed the frog and the mouse and the rat
Uh-huh, uh-huh
And last come in was a big old snake
Uh-huh, uh-huh
Next come in was a big old snake
He chased the party into the lake
Uh-huh, uh-huh
The song "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" is a classic folk song that dates back to the 16th century in Scotland. The song has been passed down through different variations over the centuries, and it became a popular children's song in the United States in the 20th century. Pete Seeger's version of the song tells the story of a frog who goes to court Miss Mousey, with sword and pistol by his side. The story then unfolds into a humorous and fantastical tale of a wedding supper in a hollow tree, attended by various animals, and eventually interrupted by a big tomcat who swallows up the main characters.
The song is a folktale that contains elements of humor, fantasy, and social commentary. It has been interpreted in many different ways, and the themes of the song have been analyzed from various angles. One interpretation is that the song is a satire on courtship and marriage, with the absurdity of the wedding supper and the comedic ending highlighting the foolishness of such endeavors. Another interpretation is that the song is a commentary on social class and hierarchy, with the presence of Uncle Rat as a figure of authority and the threat of the big tomcat as a symbol of disruptive power.
Line by Line Meaning
Froggie went a-courtin' and he did ride
Froggie went on a date and rode on his way
Froggie went a courtin' and he did ride
Sword and pistol by his side
Froggie went on his date with weapons by his side
Well he rode down to Miss Mousey's door
Where he'd often been before
He rode down to Miss Mousey's door which he had visited previously
He took Miss Mousey on his knee
Said Miss Mousey, will you marry me?
He sat Miss Mousey on his lap and asked her to marry him
I'll have to ask my Uncle Rat
See what he do say to that
She needs to ask her Uncle Rat for permission
Without my Uncle Rat's consent
I would not marry the president
She won't marry Froggie without her uncle's permission
Well Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides
To think his niece would be a bride
Uncle Rat found it amusing that his niece would be married
Well Uncle Rat rode off to town
To buy his niece a wedding gown
Uncle Rat went to buy a wedding dress for his niece
Where will the wedding supper be?
Way down yonder in a hollow tree
The wedding will be in a hollow tree
And what will the wedding supper be?
A fired mosquito and a roasted flea
The wedding supper will include mosquito and flea
First come in were two little ants
Fixing around, will you have a dance
Two ants showed up and asked if there would be dancing
Next come in was a bumblebee
Balancing a fiddle on his knee
A bumblebee appeared with a fiddle on its knee
And next come in was a big tom cat
He swallowed the frog and the mouse and the rat
A big tom cat showed up and ate Froggie, Miss Mousey and Uncle Rat
Next come in was a big old snake
He chased the party into the lake
A big snake appeared and chased everyone into the lake
Writer(s): Bob Dylan, Traditional
Contributed by Aubrey M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.