The trio Peter, Paul and Mary (often PP&M) is an American musical group tha… Read Full Bio ↴The trio Peter, Paul and Mary (often PP&M) is an American musical group that was one of the most successful folk-singing groups of the 1960s. The trio comprises Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers.

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.

The Cruel War
Peter Paul & Mary Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The cruel war is raging, Johnny has to fight
I want to be with him from morning to night
I want to be with him, it grieves my heart so
Won't you let me go with you?
No, my love, no

Tomorrow is Sunday, Monday is the day
That your captain will call you and you must obey

Your captain will call you it grieves my heart so
Won't you let me go with you?
No, my love, no

I'll tie back my hair, men's clothing I'll put on
I'll pass as your comrade, as we march along
I'll pass as your comrade, no one will ever know
Won't you let me go with you?
No, my love, no

Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, I fear you are unkind
I love you far better than all of mankind
I love you far better than words can e're express
Won't you let me go with you?
Yes, my love, yes

Uh
Yes, my love, yes

Overall Meaning

The song "Cruel War" by Peter, Paul and Mary is a story about a young woman named Johnny who wants to be with her lover, who is going off to fight in the Civil War. The first verse sets the stage for the story, as Johnny's lover tells her that he must fight in the war, and she expresses her desire to be with him throughout. In the chorus, she begs him to let her go with him and fight by his side, but he repeatedly says no.

In the second verse, Johnny tries to reason with her lover by explaining that the Captain will call him on Monday and he must obey. But Johnny is still desperate to be with him, to the point where she is willing to dress up like a man and pass herself off as a comrade. She begs him again to let her come along, but again he says no.

In the final verse, Johnny tells her lover that she loves him far better than anyone else in the world, and she begs him one last time to let her go with him. This time, he relents and says yes.

The lyrics of this song vividly portray the themes of love, war, and gender roles. The woman's desire to go to war with her lover is not only a testament to the strength of their love, but also a critique of the society that restricts women's roles to the domestic sphere. The song also highlights the harsh realities of war, as Johnny's lover must make the difficult decision to go fight and leave his loved ones behind.

Line by Line Meaning

The cruel war is raging, Johnny has to fight
There is a war going on and Johnny is one of the people fighting in it.

I want to be with him from morning to night
I want to be with Johnny all the time because I love him and I don't want to be apart.

I want to be with him, it grieves my heart so
It really upsets me that I can't be with Johnny all the time and I wish things were different.

Won't you let me go with you?
Can I come with you to fight in the war?

No, my love, no
No, you can't come with me because it's too dangerous and I don't want you to get hurt.

Tomorrow is Sunday, Monday is the day
The days of the week are passing by and soon it will be time for Johnny to go fight in the war again.

That your captain will call you and you must obey
Johnny is in the military and he has to follow orders when his captain calls him.

Your captain will call you it grieves my heart so
It makes me really sad that Johnny has to leave and follow orders from his captain.

I'll tie back my hair, men's clothing I'll put on
I'll dress up like a man so that I can come with Johnny and fight in the war.

I'll pass as your comrade, as we march along
I'll pretend to be Johnny's friend and fellow soldier so that no one will suspect that I'm really a woman.

The Cruel WarPeter Paul & Mary Lyrics

The Cruel War
Peter Paul & Mary Lyrics