Did you know the great final two verses of Pete Seeger’s classic “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” antiwar song — the ones in which the soldiers went to graveyards, and the graveyards to flowers — were added by singer, songwriter, and folk music archivist Joe Hickerson, who died Aug. 17 at age 89?
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When will they ever learn
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXN...
Peter, Paul and Mary - Where Have All the Flowers Gone (25th Anniversary Concert)
YouTube video by ShoutFactoryMusic
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Joe Hickerson may not have written the original song, but his contribution shaped its haunting, cyclical message about war and loss. Those final verses remind us how music can preserve memory and teach us the cost of conflict. Rest in power.
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Thank you! I did not know this and at 75 every version of that song still makes me cry! This thread is what makes bsky great as we're all sharing knowledge learning something new every day.
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I do now❣️ Thanks Professor😎🖖🏼🇺🇸
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I bet he believed in court expansion
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This could be about our children. 😔
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As commenter Michael mentioned it, I found Peter, Paul and Mary’s version with lyrics, on you tube:
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I did not know that!
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Interesting. I like that song a lot, I didn’t know that.
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Did not know that.
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Seeger wrote the song in 1955. I remember the lyrics were in Sing Out Magazine. Hickerson added the add'l lyrics in 1960. Peter, Paul & Mary made it a hit song in 1962. During the Vietnam war, a multitude of artists sang the song in protest to the war. The song received the 1972 Grammy Hall of Fame.
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Good info. One of the defining songs of Viet Nam era.
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I used to sing and play that song. My Birthday is August 17.
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I did know the song was about the war. I didn’t know he has passed. Thank you.
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Really! You’re on the wrong media buddy.
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Well, I do now.
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Didn't know that, thank's. It's a timeless song.
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Nope
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Bless him
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Thank you! I did not know that.
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Yes
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No! I did not know. Uncelebrated. sigh.
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One of the most poignant songs I've ever heard.
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I did not know that. Thanks for sharing it. Side note: that song was the first one I learned on the ukulele at 4 years old. I started school in Hawaii and we all learned to play.
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You are just too cool. Can I say smart too? 😉
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Marlene Dietrich has a haunting version auf Deutsch
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Thanks for sharing that, Lawrence.
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Timeless song
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Thanks, I didn’t know this.
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Weren't the flowers all in the hair of the hippies watching him? Must have had his eyes closed.
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I really like Buffy Saint Marie's lyrics to her song "The Universal Soldier" But without him, how would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau? Without him, Caesar would have stood alone He's the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war And without him all this killing can't go on
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In Germany we know this version: Marlene Dietrich „Sag mir wo die Blumen sind“
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I did not know. But more of those protest songs please. Call me nostalgic, but a huge crowd of people singing them back in the day was powerful. Personal iPhone playlists plus earphones just don't have the same effect.
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I knew of him as a librarian for Smithsonian's folk archive but didn't know this! I've been a volunteer show host at @westernu.ca's campus radio station since 1982 and traditional North America & British Isles folk music are specialties of mine. I've also recorded & aired 3,000 hours of local music.
Merchant Marine - The Canadian Celtic Choir live at St. James Westminster 240525
This is a song commemorating the bravery and sacrifice of the Canadian Merchant Marine during The Battle of the Atlantic in World War Two. Thousands served during this longest battle of the war and ov
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when will they ever learn when will they eeeeeever learn youtu.be/RUspOMMFW4A
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And Marlene Dietrich singing ✌🏻
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I do 5th grade music class
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Thank you for that
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I didn’t know that. Thank you!
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Yes, but only because my parents were connected to the Progressive Party through Pete Seeger who lived near us. Does The Library of Congress even still exist? Or is it next on their chopping block?
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I did not!
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I did not! Thank you Lawrence!
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Well, I guess I just ever learned something today, to answer the song's question.
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My mom used to sing this to my brother and myself when we were kids…
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No Laurence. Thanks for sharing.
The Greeks equate mental well-being with justice
Mental health and justice.
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I did not know that! Great lyrics. It reminds me of the ending of Thurber’s The Last Flower. Which reminds me of where we are right now. The poem begins…
“World War 12, as everybody knows, brought about the collapse of civilization…”
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Beautiful song I learned as a child. I adore Mary's soulful, lusty voice
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Thanks for this, Professor!
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Heard that song initially when in the fifth grade (1972-1973) at school in class. My teacher, Miss Ellis, brought her Peter, Paul and Mary album to class and played it for us. I have never forgotten it. Loved her so much! ♥️♥️♥️
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Thank you!
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I did not know this! When my friends and I sang this beautiful song in the mid-60s, we assumed Seeger wrote it all. Thank you for the info.
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I did not
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I only learned that from his obit and it BLEW MY MIND because I thought that lyrical circle was the WHOLE POINT!
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I actually learned this an hour ago while listening to NPR.
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One of my favorite childhood songs. Of course, I didn't know what it meant at that time. We need to bring back the anti-war anthems.
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Great music 🎶🎶
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I did know about a second writer, did not know he was still around until recently until now. Thanks and may he be remembered.
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I did not know that about the last verse. I have been singing that song ever since I first heard in in the 1960's. In my other life of theatre and music, I got to see Pete perform it.
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Humans are the smartest & the dumbest species on Earth. Stupid is war e.g. the animal & juvenile 'us versus them'. Smart is 'we are all in this together' e.g. an all-nation cooperative in response to the consequences of & solutions to climate change.
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Great song.
Another one to revive is One Tin Soldier.
And what's that one, um, I think the verse is Come on people now, smiling you brother, everybody get together. Try to love one another right now.
Would be nice if someone in the industry would start remaking these.
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aww! 😭
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When I was a kid I did not know it was an anti-war song, but a reminder not to pick all the flowers or they would be gone the next year.
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No I didn't know that. I love that song. And RIP to Mr Hickerson for his genius in the ending verses.
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Yes, I was reading about it yesterday. He worked in the archives of the Library of Congress for a very long time.
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I did not!
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I did not know that but have always loved the song.
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RIP Pete and Joe 💔
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❤️🩹
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We sang this in my UK Middle School (ages 10-13) back in the 80s. Our Teachers had great taste.
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When will it ever end, When will it ever end.
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Didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing.
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When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
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Never knew, thanks for sharing.
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I do remember the last 2 verses and Pete Seeger was a favorite of mine.
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Yep!
Where have all the soldiers gone. Gone to graveyards everyone.
Where have all the graveyards gone. Gone to flowers everyone.
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the flowers gone?
And the cycle begins again.
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oh didnt know that ... thanks
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Thank you- I learned something new!
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Joan Baez does a haunting version live on an album called “Early Joan”, recommend the whole thing.
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Beautiful song.
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I did not know that. Those verses return the meditation home. Thank you, professor.
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Have you ever heard Earth, Wind & Fire's version from 1972?
It's Amazing
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No - I didn’t know that. Pretty interesting. That’s always been one of the more poignant parts of that song.
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I sung that song for the school when I was 6. It made people cry.
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I wonder what Pete Seeger would think of the modern Democrat Party being the party of the War Machine and Death Merchants?
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I listened and I thought I want this song at my protest on Labor Day. Here we are again, Lawrence.
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Thanks Lawrence, I remember this song as a child and for you I will play it on Spotify.
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I didn't.
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Thank you, sir, I did not know this.
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Did you know that the Billie Holiday song "Strange Fruit" was written by Meeropol, the lawyer who represented the Rosenbergs who were being prosecuted by Roy Cohn?
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Thanks LT. I miss Pete.
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Thanks for bringing this to light. No, I didn’t know. It was a favourite song of my childhood. What comes to mind is, “When will we ever learn?”.
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No. I didn't know. I'm a songwriter and appreciate the info.
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I didn't know that. Thanks Laurence.
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Love the song, and Pete, but did not know this. Thank you! I love learning something new every day.
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I first heard that in high school in 1982. I was like, “Yeah, right, how do you know what’s going to happen in 2025?”
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My 6th grade teacher used to have us sing this.
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No, didn't know that! Thanks.
🎶Sag mir wo die Blumen sind,
Wo sind sie geblieben, Sag mir wo die Blumen sind, Was ist geschehen....🎶Always loved that song. In any language.
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No. But I valued Pete's and his music very much.
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*Pete Seger
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Yes, but thanks for reminding us of this meaningful song that we are all singing again. 😍
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Seeger took the first 3 verses of the song from a Cossack folk-song "Koloda-Duda" (Russian: Колода-дуда), referenced in a Mikhail Sholokhov novel he had read "And Quiet Flows the Don" (1934). In a 2013 interview, Seeger said he borrowed the melody from an Irish lumberjack song.
