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.
No Other Name
Peter Paul & Mary Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Know me by your bed where I've lain
Know me, and you might, if just for a night
You'll know me by no other name
Some girls will bring you silver
Some will bring you fine Spanish lace
Some will say "I love you"
Some will will bring you gold
Or babies to hold
I'll bring you only pain
You can know me if you will by the wind on the hill
You'll know me by no other name
Some girls will die for money
Some will die as their born
Some will swear they'd die for love
Some die every morn
I'll die alone
Away from my home
Nobody knows where I came
The stone at my head will say i am dead
It knows me by no other name
It knows me by no other name
The lyrics to Peter, Paul & Mary's song "No Other Name" are powerful and tell the story of a woman who is not interested in material possessions, but rather in something deeper and more meaningful. She is not one of those girls who will bring you silver or gold, but rather someone who will bring you pain. Despite this, she is still worth knowing, even if only for a night, and she can be known by the light of the fire, by your bed where she has lain, or by the wind on the hill. Her identity is not tied to anything material, but rather to her essence as a person.
The second stanza contrasts the different types of girls that exist in the world. Some will die for money or swear they'd die for love, while others exist without fanfare or recognition, dying alone and forgotten. The woman in this song is one of those who will die alone, away from her home and unknown to the world. She is a complex and intriguing character who refuses to conform to society's expectations of what a woman should be. Her gravestone will bear no other name but her own, a testament to her individuality and inner strength.
Overall, "No Other Name" is a song that celebrates those who refuse to be defined by their material possessions or social status. It is a reminder that there is beauty in individuality and that true worth can only be found by looking beneath the surface.
Line by Line Meaning
Know me by the light of the fire shinin' bright
Recognize me by the warmth and brightness of the firelight.
Know me by your bed where I've lain
Get to know me by the imprint I've left on your bed.
Know me, and you might, if just for a night
You'll know me by no other name
If you take the time to know me, you might understand me for a brief moment, but I cannot be defined by any name.
Some girls will bring you silver
Some will bring you fine Spanish lace
Some will say "I love you"
Some will have my face
Some women may offer you material goods, love, or a likeness of me, but they cannot truly know me.
Some will will bring you gold
Or babies to hold
I'll bring you only pain
You can know me if you will by the wind on the hill
You'll know me by no other name
While others may bring benefits or joy, I can only bring hardship. You can recognize me by the sound of the wind on the hill, as I cannot be called by any other name.
Some girls will die for money
Some will die as their born
Some will swear they'd die for love
Some die every morn
Some women may die for different reasons, but it doesn't necessarily define who they are.
I'll die alone
Away from my home
Nobody knows where I came
The stone at my head will say i am dead
It knows me by no other name
It knows me by no other name
I will pass away in solitude, my origins will be a mystery and my tombstone will have no name that defines me.
Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: NOEL PAUL STOOKEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind