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.
Greenland Whale Fisheries
Peter Paul & Mary Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the whale makes a flunder with its tail
And the boat capsized and I lost my darlin' man
No more, no more Greenland for you, brave boys
No more, no more Greenland for you
Twas in eighteen hundred and fifty three,
on June the thirteenth day
And for Greenland sailed away, brave boys,
And for Greenland sailed away.
The lookout on the crosstree stood
With a spyglass in his hand
There's a whale, there's a whale, there's a whalefish, he cried
And she blows at every span, brave boys
She blows at every span!
Well we struck that whale and the line played out
But she gave a flunder with her tail
And the boat capsized and four men were drowned
And we never caught that whale,
We never caught that whale.
Oh, to lose that whale, my captain cried,
It grieves my heart full sore
But to lose four of my gallant men
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It grieves me ten times more!
Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place
It's a land that's never green
Where there's ice and snow and the whalefishes blow
And daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
And daylight's seldom seen
When the whale gets strike, and the line runs out
And the whale makes a flunder with its tail
And the boat capsized and I lost my darlin' man
No more, no more Greenland for you, brave boys.
No more, no more Greenland for you.
In "Greenland Whale Fisheries," Peter Paul & Mary take us on a journey to the Arctic Ocean to experience the dangers and hardships of a whaling expedition. The song opens with a description of the intense struggle that occurs when a whale is struck by a harpoon and begins to fight back, making a "flunder" with its powerful tail. As the boat is overturned, the singer loses her "darling man," a tragic consequence of the violent hunt. The chorus laments the loss of the "brave boys" who must now leave Greenland, recognizing the stark reality of the dangers they face in pursuit of their livelihood.
The second verse sets the scene for the expedition, which took place in 1853. The captain and crew of the ship set out from their home port, leaving behind loved ones to venture into the unknown territory of the Arctic. The lookout spots a whale and signals to the crew, and they harpoon the massive creature. However, it fights back, causing the boat to capsize and claiming the lives of four sailors. The song ends with a melancholic refrain about the harsh land of Greenland, where the whale fish blow and daylight is scarce.
Overall, "Greenland Whale Fisheries" is a mournful tune that speaks to the brutal realities of a dangerous occupation. It highlights the loss of life and the personal tragedies that can occur in the hunt for valuable resources such as whale oil. However, it also serves as a reminder of the courage and bravery of those who risked it all to provide for their families and communities.
Line by Line Meaning
When the whale get strike and the line runs out
When we finally snag a whale and the line starts to run out
And the whale makes a flunder with its tail
And the whale thrashes its tail around, making it harder to catch
And the boat capsized and I lost my darlin' man
And the boat flipped over, and my beloved partner drowned
No more, no more Greenland for you, brave boys
We can't keep risking our lives in this dangerous fishery
Twas in eighteen hundred and fifty three, on June the thirteenth day
It was in 1853 on the thirteenth of June
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed
When our brave ship finally set sail
And for Greenland sailed away, brave boys
We set off for the treacherous waters of Greenland
The lookout on the crosstree stood
The sailor tasked with keeping a lookout was high above the deck
With a spyglass in his hand
Using a telescope to scan the endless sea
There's a whale, there's a whale, there's a whalefish, he cried
Exclaiming that he's spotted a whale in the distance
And she blows at every span, brave boys
And it's spouting water into the air with every breath
Well we struck that whale and the line played out
We finally hooked the whale and the rope started to slip away
But she gave a flunder with her tail
But then it started thrashing around, making it hard to keep a hold
And the boat capsized and four men were drowned
And the boat flipped over, and we lost four brave sailors to the icy water
And we never caught that whale,
And in the end, we weren't even able to catch the whale
Oh, to lose that whale, my captain cried,
The captain lamented the loss of the whale we had struggled so hard to catch
It grieves my heart full sore
It saddens me deeply
But to lose four of my gallant men
But to lose four brave sailors is even more devastating
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It hurts my heart ten times as much
Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place
Greenland is a harsh and unforgiving land
It's a land that's never green
It's a place where vegetation struggles to grow
Where there's ice and snow and the whalefishes blow
Where it's cold and wintry, and whales swim through the waters
And daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
And the darkness of winter is pervasive
No more, no more Greenland for you, brave boys.
It's time to call it quits and find safer ways to make a living
Lyrics © THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY
Written by: TRADITIONAL, FRED HELLERMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
H H
The father of a friend of mine whistles this song while out on his walks. It's a serene and charib breaking through the green as you know who's coming from 1/4 of a like away. I've heard this time for ten years without either of us knowing what it was, until my friend (his son) told me.
Daniel Young
I saw them live in Eugene, Oregon in they early 80's. That night was the 1st time l heard this and "Light One Candle. Ion the last verse of Greenland, they put down their guitars, joined hands and sang to the finish, a cappella. And for a moment time vanished. They were three kids on MacDougal street again. I burst into tears during the applause.
Daniel Young
@gusneaker indeed!
gusneaker
Lucky you!
mcpeanutful
I read from notes on the first version of this song that I heard that even when this song was written, practically everybody knew that whales are air-breathing mammals (not fish), they just liked to use the term "whalefish".
Liquid Coffin
Mary is rocking this shit!
Liquid Coffin
cool!
Kathy Meinberg
Greenland was indeed "a dreadful place." https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/study-sheds-new-light-on-polar-explorers-final-hours-100-years-later/
Doug Birkeland
The Chad Mitchell Trio sings this song just a little faster.