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)
What Did You Learn In School Today?
Pete Seeger Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that Washington never told a lie
I learned that soldiers seldom die
I learned that everybody's free
That's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that policemen are my friends
I learned that justice never ends
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
Even if we make a mistake sometimes
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned our country must be strong
It's always right and never wrong
Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect them again and again
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that war is not so bad
I learned about the great ones we have had
We fought in Germany and in France
And someday I might get my chance
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school
Pete Seeger's song "What Did You Learn In School Today?" satirizes how schools indoctrinate children through a series of patriotic and rosy-colored lessons. In the first verse, the boy reports that he learned that Washington never told a lie, soldiers seldom die, and everyone is free. The teacher's portrayal of Washington is a great example of what the boy has taken away from class. Regardless, however, of the fact that Washington lied, the teacher painted him as the ideal example of a great leader.
The second verse, the boy reports how he learned that policemen are his friends and justice never ends. In addition, he learned that murderers die for their crimes, but the boy also recognizes the teacher's need to clarify that this is not always the case. The third verse is where the song takes on a darker tone. The boy reveals that he learned our country must be strong, and "it's always right and never wrong." Leaders are faultless, the country should always be respected, and soldiers should be celebrated for their conquests.
"What Did You Learn in School Today?" is a protest song, and its verses aim to convey the message that the education system's hidden agenda is to mold patriotic, unquestioning citizens. The song also conveys that reality is often not so straightforward, and facts are distorted to reflect the current state of society.
Line by Line Meaning
I learned that Washington never told a lie
I was taught a myth about the first US President and wasn't given full context
I learned that soldiers seldom die
I was taught a sanitized version of war without acknowledging its brutal reality
I learned that everybody's free
I was taught an idealistic view of American society without recognition of systemic oppression
And that's what the teacher said to me
These were the messages conveyed by the teacher
I learned that policemen are my friends
I was taught unquestioning trust in law enforcement without questioning systemic issues
I learned that justice never ends
I was taught that the criminal justice system is fool-proof and always fair
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
I was taught that there is an easy cause-and-effect relationship between crime and punishment
Even if we make a mistake sometimes
I was given a justification for the times when justice fails
I learned our country must be strong
I was taught a nationalist ideology where the country must be prioritized over individuals
It's always right and never wrong
I was taught unquestioning loyalty to the nation without questioning systemic issues
Our leaders are the finest men
I was taught a blind trust in political leaders without questioning their decision-making
And we elect them again and again
I was taught a simplistic view of democracy without examining the role of power and privilege
I learned that war is not so bad
I was taught a glorified view of war without acknowledging its human toll and violence
I learned about the great ones we have had
I was taught a sanitized and uncritical view of historical figures who were involved in war
We fought in Germany and in France
I was taught a simplistic view of history that ignores broader global perspectives
And someday I might get my chance
I was taught an idealistic view of military service without examining the political and economic factors behind it
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: TOM PAXTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ActuatedGear
Franz1987
It doesnt work like that. People talk like that, but thats not the actual plan, and it isnt what happened. In terms of that, liberalism would regulate big businesses with anti-trust laws. The "conservatives" have spent the last 20 demolishing them.
Whats ACTUALLY happening is that there are people in one group's pocket and people in another and no one is trying to actually fix the system. Theyre doing bad work on both sides for incongruent idyllic goals, with a ton of corruption thrown in and what you get is two people cutting the same tree so that it falls on the house.
Reagan emptied Social Security. Obama wrote a crappy buggy program to give free healthcare to those in need with the money from an empty bucket.
BOTH sides have been clearing the way for big business. NAFTA fucked the US good. Thanks Clinton. Ya dick.
This is an idiot and corruption problem. The rich will simply move to the next great metropolis of the world when this one is sapped dry.
@biswajitrcut
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that Washington never told a lie.
I learned that soldiers seldom die.
I learned that everybody's free,
And that's what the teacher said to me.
Chorus
That's what I learned in school today,
That's what I learned in school.
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that policemen are my friends.
I learned that justice never ends.
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
Even if we make a mistake sometimes.
Chorus
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned our Government must be strong;
It's always right and never wrong;
Our leaders are the finest men
And we elect them again and again.
Chorus
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,
Dear little boy of mine?
I learned that war is not so bad;
I learned about the great ones we have had;
We fought in Germany and in France
And someday I might get my chance.
Chorus
@Lichachron
The mpossible nail-through-wood trick brought me here. Great song!
@kartikjaggi007
same here bro!
@mitchellbrown8061
Holy crap! Same here!
@ristebozhinov9588
hahaha same here :)
@spetnaz1988
same!! :)
@TheMcSebi
same here lol
@BrutalizeURf4ce
"I learned that police men are my friends." That was fucking hardcore Pete.
@jaymercha3859
If you are not black!
@betaplain297
@@jaymercha3859 not just black people
@hobbygamer6220
@@betaplain297 right