The group was created by manager Albert Grossman, who sought to create a folk "supergroup" by bringing together "a tall blonde (Travers), a funny guy (Stookey), and a good looking guy (Yarrow)." He launched the group in 1961, booking them into the Bitter End, a coffee house in New York City's Greenwich Village that was a favorite place to hear folk artists.
The group recorded their first album, Peter, Paul and Mary, the following year. It included "500 Miles," "Lemon Tree","Where Have All the Flowers Gone," and the hit Pete Seeger tune "If I Had a Hammer," ("The Hammer Song"). The album was listed on Billboard Magazine Top Ten list for ten months and in the Top One Hundred for over three years.
By 1963 they had recorded three albums; released the now-famous song "Puff the Magic Dragon", which Yarrow and fellow Cornell student Leonard Lipton originally wrote in 1959 and was on the charts in 1963; and performed "If I Had a Hammer" at the 1963 March on Washington, best remembered for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Their biggest single hit came with the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind," which was an international #1 hit. It was the fastest selling single ever cut by Warner Brothers Records. For many years after, the group was at the forefront of the civil rights movement and other causes promoting social justice. Their later hit "Leaving on a Jet Plane" was actually written by the then unknown John Denver.
The trio broke up in 1970 to pursue separate solo careers, but found little of the success they did as a group, although Stookey's "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" (written for Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece of senator Eugene McCarthy) was a hit and has become a wedding standard since its 1971 release.
In 1978, they reunited for a concert to protest nuclear energy, and have recorded albums together and toured since. They currently play around 25 shows a year.[1]
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
In 2005, Travers was diagnosed with leukemia, leading to the cancellation of the remaining tour dates for that year. She received a bone marrow transplant and She and the rest of the trio resumed their concert tour on December 9, 2005 with a holiday performance at Carnegie Hall and were scheduled for several additional concerts in 2006.Sadly she passed away in Sept 2009.
Peter, Paul and Mary received in 2006 the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievment Award from Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Gone the Rainbow
Peter Paul & Mary Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shule-a-rak-shak, shule-a-ba-ba-coo
When I saw my Sally Babby Beal
Come bibble in the boo shy Lorey
Shule, shule, shule-a-roo
Shule-a-rak-shak, shule-a-ba-ba-coo
When I saw my Sally Babby Beal
Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill
Who could blame me, cry my fill
Every tear would turn a mill
Johnny's gone for a soldier
Shule, shule, shule-a-roo
Shule-a-rak-shak, shule-a-ba-ba-coo
When I saw my Sally Babby Beal
Come bibble in the boo shy Lorey
I sold my flax, I sold my wheel
To buy my love a sword of steel
So it in battle he might wield
Johnny's gone for a soldier
Oh my baby, oh, my love
Gone the rainbow, gone the dove
Your father was my only love
Johnny's gone for a soldier
Shule, shule, shule-a-roo
Shule-a-rak-shak, shule-a-ba-ba-coo
When I saw my Sally Babby Beal
Come bibble in the boo shy Lorey
Shule, shule, shule-a-roo
Shule-a-rak-shak, shule-a-ba-ba-coo
When I saw my Sally Babby Beal
Come bibble in the boo shy Lorey
The song "Gone the Rainbow" by Peter, Paul & Mary is a traditional Irish lullaby that tells a tale of lost love and heartbreak. In the first verse, the singer uses nonsensical words like "shule-a-roo," "shule-a-rak-shak," and "shule-a-ba-ba-coo" to create a playful and rhythmic tone. The second verse begins with the singer sitting on Buttermilk Hill, a metaphorical place where she is in deep sadness and crying her heart out because her love, Johnny, has gone off to war as a soldier. She expresses her undying love for him, and in hopes of his safety, she sells her flax and wheel to buy him a sword. The final verse expresses the singer's grief and heartache as she compares Johnny's father to her own love, and she mourns the loss of the rainbow and the dove, symbolizing the loss of her love and happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Shule, shule, shule-a-roo
This is an Irish lullaby line that is meant to soothe a crying child
Shule-a-rak-shak, shule-a-ba-ba-coo
This line is just a variation of the lullaby line that comes before it
When I saw my Sally Babby Beal
This is the moment when the singer saw her lover, Sally Babby Beal
Come bibble in the boo shy Lorey
This is a variation of the first two lines, meant to comfort the child
Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill
The singer’s location, which may be just a metaphor for the singer's state of mind
Who could blame me, cry my fill
The singer is sad and no one can really blame them for crying
Every tear would turn a mill
The tears are so many that they could turn a mill
Johnny's gone for a soldier
This is the reason for the singer's sadness, Johnny has left to become a soldier
I sold my flax, I sold my wheel
The singer is doing anything they can to keep their love, Johnny, safe
To buy my love a sword of steel
The singer has purchased a sword for Johnny to fight with
So it in battle he might wield
This is what the sword is meant for, so Johnny can fight in battle
Oh my baby, oh, my love
A term of endearment for Johnny
Gone the rainbow, gone the dove
This could mean that the singer feels like all the beauty is gone from the world
Your father was my only love
This is a love song about Johnny, but this line reveals that the singer may have loved someone else first
Johnny's gone for a soldier
This is the reason why the rainbow and the dove have disappeared, they've gone with Johnny
Shule, shule, shule-a-roo
The same lullaby line from the beginning
Shule-a-rak-shak, shule-a-ba-ba-coo
The same variation of the lullaby line from earlier
When I saw my Sally Babby Beal
Another moment when the singer saw their lover
Come bibble in the boo shy Lorey
The same comforting variation of the lullaby line
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MARY ALLIN TRAVERS, MILTON T. OKUN, NOEL PAUL STOOKEY, PETER YARROW
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind