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)
If You Miss Me At The Back Of The Bus
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the front of the bus
I'll be riding up there.
If you miss me on the picket line
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the city jail
If you miss me in the Mississippi River
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the swimming pool
I'll be swimming right there.
If you miss me in the cotton fields
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the courthouse
I'll be voting right there.
If you miss me at the back of the bus
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the front of the bus
I'll be riding up there.
Pete Seeger's song "If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus" is a protest song that challenges segregation and advocates for equality. The lyrics describe various scenarios in which the singer may be absent or difficult to find, but offers an alternative location where they can be found if the listener needs them. The first stanza refers to the back of the bus, a place where black people were required to sit during the Jim Crow era. The singer offers the front of the bus as a place where they will be riding instead, indicating a rebellion against segregation and a desire to ride alongside white people. The second stanza refers to the picket line - a place where protesters gather to demand change. The singer offers the city jail as an alternative location, suggesting they might be arrested for civil disobedience, but continue to fight for their cause within the confines of the jail. The third stanza references the Mississippi River, which was a significant site during the Civil Rights movement. The singer offers the swimming pool as an alternative location to where they may be found, indicating that black people were not allowed to swim in many public pools, but they will not be deterred from enjoying the simple pleasure of swimming. The fourth stanza refers to the cotton fields, symbolizing the hard work done by black people in the southern United States. The singer offers the courthouse as an alternative location, implying that they will be participating in the political process and exercising their right to vote - a right that was often suppressed for black people. The final stanza brings the song full circle, returning to the first verse with a sense of victory and defiance. The singer once again notes that they will be riding at the front of the bus, indicating progress and change by challenging the norms of segregation.
Overall, this song is a powerful expression of the struggle for civil rights and the ongoing fight against oppression. It highlights the resilience and determination of those who have fought for equality, and encourages listeners to join the cause and continue the fight for justice.
Line by Line Meaning
If you miss me at the back of the bus
If I'm not in the place where I'm supposed to be marginalized
You can't find me nowhere
You won't be able to find me in the typical place you expect me to be
Come on over to the front of the bus
Come to where I'm breaking barriers and fighting for my rights
I'll be riding up there.
I'll be moving forward and pushing for change
If you miss me on the picket line
If I'm not marching for my rights
You can't find me nowhere
You won't find me in a passive state of acceptance
Come on over to the city jail
Come to where I'm being locked up and punished for speaking out
I'll be roaming over there.
I'll still be fighting even when confined
If you miss me in the Mississippi River
If I'm not in the river where many injustices take place
You can't find me nowhere
You won't find me in a place of danger and vulnerability
Come on over to the swimming pool
Come to where I'm breaking segregation through leisure activities
I'll be swimming right there.
I'll be claiming my right to access any space, regardless of color lines
If you miss me in the cotton fields
If I'm not being exploited and oppressed in the fields
You can't find me nowhere
You won't find me resigned to the chains of slavery
Come on over to the courthouse
Come to where I'm fighting for my right to vote and be recognized as an equal
I'll be voting right there.
I'll be using my voice to make change even in the face of obstacles
If you miss me at the back of the bus
If I'm not where society tells me to be
You can't find me nowhere
You won't find me submissive and complacent
Come on over to the front of the bus
Come to where I'm taking charge and demanding respect
I'll be riding up there.
I'll be leading the way to progress and equality
Contributed by Levi M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.