I remember being a camper at a YMCA camp back in the summer of 1969 and our camp counselors were all college kids and I recall singing this around a campfire. I was only 10 years old at the time and didn't have the sentimental feeling of those who may have had classmates in Viet Nam.
I am 60 and this song changed my life. I was in the 2nd grade out in my yard happily listening to this song when they got to the graveyards to flower part I had my first musical epiphany. Girls picking flowers.. so sweet so happy unless you are picking them to put on your young man's grave. I was just a kid but I stopped playing to cry
The greatness of this song, imho, comes from its simplicity. You could learn this on your dulcimer in 5 min. The chords are simple, the melody is simple and the lyrics are mega-simple. But, that is what hits so hard. I saw it on your face when you 'got it.' It hits like a freight train.
It's important to keep in mind that in 1955 when Pete Seeger wrote this the draft was in effect, so most young men had no choice regarding enlisting or not. For me, this and Peter, Paul and Mary's cover of Bob Dylan's Blowing In the Wind are intricately linked. They just go hand in hand, both in style and intent. Personally, I can't listen to Dylan perform his own creations. But put them in the hands of folks like Peter, Paul and Mary and they are brilliant. For a more upbeat and fun tune by The Kingston Trio, give a listen to MTA from Scarlet Ribbons, I believe. Originally written as a campaign/protest song in Boston in 1949, The Kingston Trio had success with it 10 years later, with the name of a different candidate inserted. The more things change, the more they stay the same...
err, yup! I grew up on folk, my mother played guitar at church (UU) picnics and other social gatherings, and I would hand out song lists and lyrics, and help lead the singalong. So I've sung all these songs hundreds of times.
Completely agree with you on the Bob Dylan thing. The Kingston Trio versions of Mama, You've Been On My Mind and One Too Many Mornings being two examples. Fantastic songwriter but I just don't like his particular style.
During Vietnam there were a lot of tears with this song. It was written in the mid-50s by folk legend Pete Seeger. He was writing after the upheavals of WW I, WW II and Korea.
Thanks for this. You accurately predicted my reaction - I shed a few tears. This was released when I was in kindergarten and even then I understood the message.
When I was a toddler in the 60s, my older brother had Kingston Trio records and played them a lot. They have some beautiful ballads, but a lot of humorous songs, as well. They were a really talented folk trio.
Yeah you can do as much folk music as you want this is what I was raised on as a little kid... I still listen to Peter Paul and Mary 10 years together album frequently...
Its raining in Lakeland and the song was perfect to listen out in the patio listening to the rain. My husband says he remembers this on the radio late 60s maybe during Vietnam war. Very nice!
This brings back memories! So pleased you're exploring (and appreciating) this music. Pete Seeger was a stalwart of the folk scene and amassing influence for over 6 decades (as an octogenarian he sang at Osama's first presidential inauguration). Songs like this defined a generation (at least two, actually), and people continue to sing his songs. The Kingston Trio did a great job in their interpretation of this song, and you are right to be impressed!
Nice choice. Pete Seeger was a prominent and influential folk singer, and his music was embraced during the great folk revival that happened during the 60’s. Look up a photo of his banjo.
The world really needs another Pete Seeger ASAP. He shunned fame and fortune while writing great songs and always getting the audience to sing along. I believe he was the first one to record "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and he played a large part in cleaning up the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers in New York State. This was actually a protest song before protest songs became known as protest songs.
@@edprzydatek8398 Pete Seeger was also blacklisted by the group led my Senator Joseph McCarthy during the early 50's paranoia over the perceived communitst threat. He as unable to find work performing with his group, the Weavers, which was one of the finest folk groups ever.
Ah yeah, that brings back memories. Love is better than hate; peace is better than war; an open mind is better than bigotry. Seeger, Baez, Dylan, Melanie, CSN&Y, Tim Buckley, Byrds, and the rest - an era of hope before the darkness crept in again.
I knew you'd GET this song, it's the story of human history, man's war against man. It's subtle, easy to dismiss if you aren't listening to the lyrics. Thank you for giving this a listen. Seeger's life story is worth a perusal. Btw there's a statue to Pete Seeger in Teaneck, NJ.
The Kingston Trio were one of the biggest names in folk music in that era. I think their biggest hit might have been "Sloop John B". Pete Seeger wrote a lot of great songs "Little Boxes", "Old Time Religion" (which I heard him perform live) and many, many more classics. These were simpler times musically but the lyrics had meaning. Other people from that era includes Tom Paxton ("Rambling Boy") and Phil Ochs ("Changes").
@@jamiegagnon6390 yes, but Tom Dooley won a Grammy, and a Grammy Hall of Fame award, and was added to the Library of Congress National Registry of Historically Significant Recordings.
The Beach Boys had a huge hit with Sloop John B, which the KIngston Trio had recorded on there first album. The Trio's biggest hit was Tom Dooley, which was relaeased as a single in '57 or so. The Trio was awarded a grammy for it in the 'country' category because at that time there was no category for folk. But the following year there sure was.
We did sing this around the fireside as kids on canoe trips, along with Kumbuyjah. Deep lyrics for a bunch of Boy Scouts... Ok, different genres, different themes, different times... Brother to Brother Gino Vannelli (Try it live, from the late 70's) Montreal singer/songwriter with a Jazz/fusion band twist.
hi just jp, great selection by the kingston trio, another great folk song is --what you gonna do about me,richie havens, from the 1971 album, the great blind degree
At the most this comes to me as a childhood recollection in which this was record during which to do something else since we did not have the luxury a 'skip' function. Pleasant enough. but very repetitive to the point that reflecting upon the lyrics seemed unnecessary. Reading Wikipedia, it is surprising to read that The Kingston Trio believed that they were taking possession of a traditional song, and so claimed authorship; when they were put straight, they credited Seeger and Hickerson. But as is also described here, there really is a folk song in the roots of the lyrics, and the melody slows down a lumberjack song. None of which is to deny the contemporary inspiration that created a song for modern times. So I listen to it with fresh ears today. Thanks JP.
HUGE hit at the time. John Stewart (as noted) wrote one of The Monkees biggest hits, as well as releasing a great album in the late 70's with Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac which turned out a couple of charting songs.
The Kingston Trio, along with The Limeliters, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Joe and Eddie are some terrific folk choices. And John Stewart wrote Daydream Believer, that was a big hit for the Monkees.
Thanks for exploring different genres on the channel. The folk revival was a big part of the sixties music scene and Pete Seeger was a key part of that movement. You picked up on the profundity of the lyrics, but they had even greater significance at the time. The draft, the Korean War and later Vietnam added extra poignancy to lyrics about flowers growing on soldiers' graves.
JP this is alegendary tune that everyone of my era knows! How about reacting to Chuck Mangione and the song Feels So Good Which Chuck plays the flugelhorn.
The lyrics to this are great. It made me think of the poem “In Flanders Fields”, which has numerous musical adaptations. Sting has a song called Children’s Crusade which touches on the same premise; youth, war, death, and the cycle of life. It follows the track, Russians, on the Dream of the Blue Turtles album.
I remember as a child hearing it from Marlene Dietrich (emigrated from Germany to the USA during the Hitler era, returning to Germany and passing away in Paris). As a matter of fact its not only about the circle of life, but also about that nothing is learned from wars from the past. It will start anew, nothing was and nothing will be learned. When will they ever learn ...
And now you really have to experience this in Pete Seeger's own voice and phrasing. 50s and early 60s folk music IS my early childhood, and Pete Seeger's voice is downright archetypal.
"Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing. Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago. Where have all the flowers gone? The girls have picked them every one. Oh, When will you ever learn? Oh, When will you ever learn? Young girls They've taken husbands every one. Young men They're all in uniform. Soldiers They've gone to graveyards every one. Graveyards They're covered with flowers every one. Flowers Young girls have picked them every one." Powerful lyrics about war and the loss of many men and the women who grieved them. When the anti- Vietnam war protests began this song was used at many of them.
I don't know when I first heard this song. I checked versions by Pete Seger, Joan Baez, Marlene Dietrich (in German) and they all sounded familiar. I could not find any version in my first language Swedish, but I guess there is one... Like your association to a camp fire, maybe that was were I heard it first.
In the mid-50s the French gave up attempting to suppress an uprising in Vietnam, which they had colonized. The U.S. assumed the role a bit at a time, deploying advisors to bolster the military of pro-western Vietnamese in a civil war. The war was escalating as the U.S.S.R. and China supported what had become a bloody revolution. The U.S. escalated direct combat involvement especially after President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The protest movement, although fairly underground at first, paralleled all of this history, and you can imagine the role this song, among others, played in encouraging dissenters.
This was not what I was expecting today but pleasantly surprised. This was a group my dad loves. He got into them as a teen and then more when he was in the navy in the early sixties. I got into them myself as an adult in the late 90's early 2000's. Excellent folk group. Went through a few line ups even at their height. With a two being their best. Some other songs by them I love that I didn't see mentioned by others is El Matador, Bimini, Chilly Winds, Scotch & Soda, Tijuana Jail, Tom Dooley, or Greenback Dollar. Another good folk trio of that era similar to this is Chad Mitchell Trio. The latter years would be the vehicle to launch John Denver into his career.
I don't give a damn about a greenback dollar, spend it as fast as I can.... I can't remember if it is in E minor or not. I have a buddy who used to do a 30 minute medley of E minor songs. Blue Tattoo was another from that group.
Ahh yes. The Kingston Trio, The Limeliters , Glenn Yarbrough, Trini Lopez and so on. My parent's had many of the Trio's early albums. I really don't care for a lot of their 'hits' as such, but I really like their early venturing into what we would call world music now days. 'I first heard their version of 'Riu, riu, chiu' when I was a pre-teen and was immediately turned on to a different vibe of music. Of course, my go-to version of 'Ríu Ríu' these days is from Anúna. Yes. More 50's and 60s folk would be nice - it had such an influence in shaping the later 60s.
This was one of 2 Kingston Trio albums my parents owned... I grew up listening to it all the time. This is the famous cut, but there are several other awesome tunes on that album, including the incredibly obscure English Madrigal parody "The Shape of Things".
My first ever 45 I was given was "Tom Dooley" a traditional North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina by Tom Dula (whose name in the local dialect was pronounced "Dooley"). One of the more famous murder ballads, a popular hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio, which reached No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and also was top 10 on the Billboard R&B chart, and appeared in the Cashbox Country Music Top 20. U.K. Singles Chart 5
Pete Seeger along with Woody Guthrie were like the original American folk heroes. Pete also played banjo in a folk group called the Weavers, who were also forces behind the civil rights and labor union movements. They had many great songs worth looking into.
This is one of my favorite songs. It touches the soul and I've shed more than a few tears listening to it. I suggest you listen to this version done by Peter, Paul and Mary - the 25th Anniversary concert video. Just amazing. It's a song that stands the test of time. 🕯️
Simple gifts. As a boy in the '60s, ripe for plucking for war, we sang this song in our church, in Charlotte, down South, because we did not want, and they did not want, to trade young lives for graveyard flowers. You must review "Circle Game", speaking of circular themes, by the wondrous Joni...who pairs well with Pete, and represent two of the best writers ever. Ever hear of Robert Benchley? Must be related somewhere along the line. db
Talking about other genres, there's also Doo Wop from the late 50s to early 60s. Would love to hear you impressions of both The Flamingos' "I only have eyes for you" or The Platters' "My Prayer". For another cool tune try The Cactus Blossoms' "Mississippi" which is from recent but is along the same lines.
The Kingston Trio always had a sense of humour which frequently intruded into serious songs in concert. They also wrote some songs that are just plain satire like Man who never returned (M.T.A.) about a man trapped on a transit train because the fare went up while he was on it and authorities would not let him get off without paying the increase... They did a very silly version of Streets of Laredo...
Folk music back then was very beautiful but very simple music. The lyrics were fairly simple and easy to understand...if you took the time to listen. I never did. I am now.
One of the all-time great 20th-century folk songs (if it's by Guthrie, Paxton, Seeger, or Dylan, chances are it's on that list). I loved seeing your reaction on the video when you worked out where the song was heading! A more recent singer who hqs written equally heartwrenching anti-war songs in the folk idiom is Australian Eric Bogle. Well worth checking out his music.
Seeger only wrote the first three verses based on lines from a book he had read. Joe Hickerson added the final two verses in 1960 to finish the round. It's the final two verses that, IMO, add the poignancy to the song, making it more of an anti-war song by pointing out the futile cycle of warfare that mankind hasn't yet learned to break.
Yeah for folk music on this channel! If you re going to do folk music, you have to understand that in the late fifties and early sixties there was pop folk (like this version) and more authentic American folk music revival was going on at the same time. And many of the songs from the more serious folk movement would wind up as kind of watered down songs on the pop charts. Most of the new folk movement that started in the late to mid-fifties was centered around New York's Greenwich Village. They drew heavily on the earlier folk repertoire from the Depression Era and artists like Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Cisco Houston as well as incorporating Mississippi Delta Blues and Appalachian folk music that was being rediscovered. You should check out the Anthology of American Folk Music that was put out by Folkways in 1952. That had a huge impact on the folk movement in the fifties and sixties. Now that you've done some English folk rock I hope you can catch what British folk tunes ended up in America.
Comentários Adicione um comentário público… Eduardo Ferreira há 1 segundo Interesting. Well, I have somethings to say. Picking where I stopped (what a coincidence!!, isn't it?) (on the Stravinsky reaction), we're talking about life and death again. Let me say a few words about this (hope I don't get too boring). The music: 1 - this interpretation (I only knew the original) is smoothed (you'll get what I'm saying), more melodic and harmonized (this is normal, for it's three men singing) than Pete Seeger's. They beautifully fill the space with their different toned layered voices. And this marks a great difference in the interpretation and the impact it might cause in the listener. Those spaces they fill, that leads us all along the melody like being conducted, makes us feel other thing (at least to me, which I believe I understand the weight the original carries). In the original, Seeger sings with a more pausing voice, that is, we have space to breathe and reflect on what is being sung. And this is very important. 2 - I feel we can actually learn English (among other things) with Pete Seeger. He speaks and sings in a perfect spelling idiom: you can actually understand every single syllab he says - for he knew how to manage and dominate his most powerful instrument, the ability of communication. (more on the following) The lyrics 1 - I never payed attention to them really until you've read them carefully on this video. Once again, Justin, you opened my mind's eyes. It clicked. 2 - the succession, the cycle, the progression-not-progression, for it comes around again (it's a cycle!), of the story that's being told before our ears, is bigger than the core subject of the intended message. For one hand he is talking about death, the inflicted, the absurd and not wanted death of those who die in wars, and on the other hand and at the same time, he's letting pass the message passing, camouflaged, as less important comparing to the optimistic view of the whole cycle, in which life or death are only parts of. And, of course, seeing the whole picture turns less important and/or absurd each part of it. (the absurd part is intendingly the death part, because...) 3 - this is one of the most accurate anti war songs ever written. And that without mentioning the war word (not really necessary). And by talking in such a simple way, almost mythical or existentialist, all human being can deeply relate to, disregarding what differences that might dived us. 4 - so we're talking a bigger than life song, a song that transcends its writer, and how it became so popular in his own time it was widely covered. Kingston Trio 1 - Pete Seeger was put out of the way for some years (HUAC and McCarthy's years) but the genre he practiced was a more than obvious one, for all you need to is an instrument and a voice (and what such a harmless, warm and close voice he had!) but the spirit of the popular song didn't die there. Kingston trio reintroduced it again on charts in the end of the fifties. Yes, and it's said they came with a good look, more polished and harmless tone (read less political) and their interpretations reflect that. We can argue that true folk music must embrace some kind of useful meaning and message in whatever time is being made, but we vow them for having made possible the folk revival of the sixties, which was VERY important to the development of many things that were to come (Dylan, folk rock, psychedelic rock and so forth). Pete Seeger 1 - do you know what Seeger did when he was kept aside of his previous media and popularity? Being able to give less concerts he still had to live. So one thing he did was to teach children to play the banjo. Can you even imagine the impact of such a thing on the future music made in the USA? 2 - Some songs we hear today, those which seem to be here since the beginning of times, were or written by or adapted by or popularized by Seeger. Take "Oh Susanna", the most appallachian known song Wimohwe (yes, the one we all heard on Lion King movie), "We Shall Overcome" or "Turn, Turn, Turn". 3 - son of a folklorist and musicians, he wanted to know the people's songs. Every people. Everywhere he went he picked and bring some new instrument and story to tell. That's why he has so many non English songs on his recordings. Like the very popular Cuban song "Guantanamera" (you've heard that one, right?). Maybe the instrument the trio played was one of Seeger's consequences : spreading people's different cultures through music and songs. Wide look For all I've said, I'll end with this small list for you to check: Athaualpa Yupanki is for Argentina, Oum Kalsoum (the spelling has lots of variations, which is an example to remind us all our different perspectives of the same thing) is for Egypt and Mikis Theodorakis is for Greece what Pete Seeger is to the United States popular song. Each name (probably there are others, please let me know) covers almost the last century and had a deep impact on the development of popular song and, further, as in Seeger and Theodorakis cases, in society. (sorry for the long comment) A good experience for you to feel some of these notes is: 1 - see Seeger's documentary The Power of Song (perhaps the best music documentary I have ever seen) and 2 - listen his Carnegie Hall concert (both here on YT)
I’ve known OF The Kingston Trio, but never really familiar with any of their stuff. Probably not something I’d choose to listen to, but I don’t mind it. Have to say that it sounds like something that should be on a Rankin/Bass Christmas special like Rudolph or The Year Without a Santa Claus.
As I understand it, folk music was considered anti-American and bordering on Communism back then. Protest music wasn't universally accepted in the 50's and early 60's as it was later in the decade. The Vietnam War, and the brave folk singers/song writers, changed all that.
Except, the Kingston Trio were not really a part of that by their own admission. They were actually deliberately apolitical. They did not even consider themselves to be folk musicians and were under constant attack by those who considered themselves to be folkists.
In the College Concert album 1962 ( see the sleeve ), there 's a nice intro by Nick Reynolds. This version is not from College Concert, it's from the Close- Up album 1961( Their first album after the departure of their "leader" Dave Guard). It's the studio version ( In my opinion, it's the best one ) They recorded this song "live" many times as , like Nick Reynolds said, it was their "favourite song". Thank you for this new channel that will make the music of the KT available to many people who never heard of the KT. But to me good music moves you without any lengthy explanations. Some don't like the KT, some do. I've been liking the KT since 1958 ( Tom Dooley and so on...) Your channel makes me think of a really good channel called "Wings of Pegasus". But, please, don't spend too much time on boobams which are not relevant here. The KT very very seldom used them on records !! And certainly not in Where have all ....?
Actually, with all due respect, you're wrong about this being on Close Up. It was on College Concert and other 'best of' albums. It was also released as a single. These days virtually all of the Trio's recordings can be listened to on UA-cam. Look up Scotch and Soda. It was on the first album, The Kingston Trio. Their fans loved it so much he sang it in every show the did for almost 50 years, including the years he continued with new members ofter they broke up in 1967.
@@brucemeyer7907. I've been listening to the Kingston Trio for 65 years.... so I suggest you to find the CLOSE UP album and compare it to the COLLEGE CONCERT version you mentioned. Further more. When you don't know anything about a subject,🤐.....
You're mostly right, but it was an anti-war song. ''when will they ever learn'' i.e when will the cycle of unnecessary/war death be stopped, when will men stop thinking it's ''cool'' to join the army, when will militarisation, oppression, and 'ownership' of countries stop..
Ah Lad, you're hitting some old ones now...... "Greenfields", if that's the correct title, comes to mind as another ballad for that time and genre. "Where are the green fields that we used to roam...." "Green Door" "Fernando's Hideaway". Late 50's, early '60's.
Really like this version, but there has always been something about the Peter, Paul & Mary version that strikes me. This is the music I grew up with as my mom was a huge Joan Baez fan and in time became fairly well acquainted with her. I have many memories of the Big Sur Folk Festivals that Joan hosted and was lucky to be exposed to so much wonderful music as a young child. With that, you need to do some Joan Baez at some point as well. While she is mostly known for interpreting the work of others, her signature song is one of the few she wrote herself and is where I would go first with Diamonds & Rust.
I think I grew up hearing the Joan Baez or Peter, Paul and Mary version (been looking in UA-cam for the female singer who didn't sing it in German). I know my mom used to like to sing it when she was young. Maybe it's her I remember. (I mean her, when she was young; she's still around and well.) I also found an explanation of the secret meaning of *Puff the Magic Dragon* while I was out on the seas of Internet, fishing like that. ua-cam.com/video/Vg2RcXC8KSk/v-deo.html
Were you named after this guy. JP Patches:~ ua-cam.com/video/3JbD1mE69go/v-deo.html Gertrude kissed me on the cheek when I was nine years old at the grand opening of the first McDonalds in Seattle. I was shocked to find out she was a man!!!
You should listen to Marlene Dietrich's version (in german better), she sings with immensely emotions. This seems almost artificial in comparison. Even if it's a great version too.
One we used to sing in school assembly that some how crept in amongst the regular hymns, courtesy of some hippie drippy sandal wearing guitar bashing social failure of a teacher. I came here just to hate it all over again. Kumbaya next please.
@@daveking9393 That's fair enough. I'm not here to spoil anyone else's enjoyment and JP is used to a diverse range of opinions on the tracks he reacts to. I appreciate the sentiments of the song, and can't fault the performance, it's just one inevitably tied in to the unforgettable horror of my school days.
i have a Peter Paul & Mary LP on the shelf, un-listened to in 50 years. My heart is hard. It occasionally catches my eye and I say No. This is Fodder designed to turn people to your death metal and repugnant rap acts that lead our youth astray. This is our Placid Consciences tryin to act responsibly but compromising with futile gestures, Justin. It's why flowers were placed in rifles it's why Elton John and the West End ultimately fail It's why Culture thrives and why Truth is ignored it's why learners never start off on the right foot it's a cloth to smother the bigger picture it's why John Major and the Queen had a brawl in the Palace it's why i never pull PP&M outta the sleeve and yet the Culture Cultivates a Desire to experience More More More Defiantly Rejecting all Solutions and the Answer to the very questions it pretends to consider, The Lilac Time reinvented Folk in the late 80s when everyone had Grunge on their horizons. Try: A Taste For Honey. Great Fun, diolch yn fawr. Hope you're well!
A lot of time spent looking for this! What a waste, haha. Jeez this is boring, uniform, with little going on. Heard this as a kid and didn't like it then, very wishy-washy. And hearing it now, I cringed from start to finish. Quite the 'hippy dippy, flower power' anthem in the 60's, but boy it's lame. Yes, PS may've had some lofty thoughts on life and the futility of war etc, but boy he could've pepped the tune up a bit. After the dizzy heights of Stravinsky, this's one hell of a fall...
There are recordings of Pete Seeger performing this live, and they are more lively. It was through tame performances such as this that made such songs listenable to mainstream, mainly white, middle America in the 50s and early 60s (think Peter Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, and Judy Collins with their covers of Bob Dylan, for example). Such renditions were many people's intro to artists like Dylan, as well as to the various issues raised by such artists. I am not arguing with your comment, for you are right in noting how boring this performance is. But such "safe" performances served a genuinely useful purpose back then. (You probably were aware of this already. I just thought it was worth mentioning). Blessings!
No matter how right you are... Easy now... Chill folks are enjoying the flash black... It has its place... Many can see the truth and still enjoy these tunes of the times...
Great perspective on the Kingston's Trio's, "Where Have All The Flowers Gone"! You Get It!
I remember being a camper at a YMCA camp back in the summer of 1969 and our camp counselors were all college kids and I recall singing this around a campfire. I was only 10 years old at the time and didn't have the sentimental feeling of those who may have had classmates in Viet Nam.
I am 60 and this song changed my life. I was in the 2nd grade out in my yard happily listening to this song when they got to the graveyards to flower part I had my first musical epiphany. Girls picking flowers.. so sweet so happy unless you are picking them to put on your young man's grave. I was just a kid but I stopped playing to cry
Thats a wonderful memory Linda, thank you for sharing that.
The greatness of this song, imho, comes from its simplicity. You could learn this on your dulcimer in 5 min. The chords are simple, the melody is simple and the lyrics are mega-simple. But, that is what hits so hard. I saw it on your face when you 'got it.' It hits like a freight train.
It's important to keep in mind that in 1955 when Pete Seeger wrote this the draft was in effect, so most young men had no choice regarding enlisting or not. For me, this and Peter, Paul and Mary's cover of Bob Dylan's Blowing In the Wind are intricately linked. They just go hand in hand, both in style and intent.
Personally, I can't listen to Dylan perform his own creations. But put them in the hands of folks like Peter, Paul and Mary and they are brilliant.
For a more upbeat and fun tune by The Kingston Trio, give a listen to MTA from Scarlet Ribbons, I believe. Originally written as a campaign/protest song in Boston in 1949, The Kingston Trio had success with it 10 years later, with the name of a different candidate inserted.
The more things change, the more they stay the same...
err, yup! I grew up on folk, my mother played guitar at church (UU) picnics and other social gatherings, and I would hand out song lists and lyrics, and help lead the singalong. So I've sung all these songs hundreds of times.
I remember my cousin giving my brother and I her entire record collection.
We discovered all those great songs from that era.
THANKS LINDA
Completely agree with you on the Bob Dylan thing. The Kingston Trio versions of Mama, You've Been On My Mind and One Too Many Mornings being two examples. Fantastic songwriter but I just don't like his particular style.
During Vietnam there were a lot of tears with this song. It was written in the mid-50s by folk legend Pete Seeger. He was writing after the upheavals of WW I, WW II and Korea.
Thanks for this. You accurately predicted my reaction - I shed a few tears. This was released when I was in kindergarten and even then I understood the message.
Thank you Carol, its a beautiful song :)
Wow! Haven't heard or seen them in 50+ years! I always like them and they were frequently on the variety TV shows. Thanks.
My father passed down the original album to me I still love it
When I was a toddler in the 60s, my older brother had Kingston Trio records and played them a lot. They have some beautiful ballads, but a lot of humorous songs, as well. They were a really talented folk trio.
Yeah you can do as much folk music as you want this is what I was raised on as a little kid...
I still listen to Peter Paul and Mary 10 years together album frequently...
This trio was fantastic, the music of this time was termed Folk and some great songs came from this era especially the protest songs.
Its raining in Lakeland and the song was perfect to listen out in the patio listening to the rain. My husband says he remembers this on the radio late 60s maybe during Vietnam war. Very nice!
Twas raining all morning here too! Hope you had a nice morning
You have to tear up when you realize this is all about the tragedy of war and those who had no choice and who we knew and who never came back.
My parents loved them. I remember seeing them when I was very small.
This brings back memories! So pleased you're exploring (and appreciating) this music. Pete Seeger was a stalwart of the folk scene and amassing influence for over 6 decades (as an octogenarian he sang at Osama's first presidential inauguration). Songs like this defined a generation (at least two, actually), and people continue to sing his songs. The Kingston Trio did a great job in their interpretation of this song, and you are right to be impressed!
Nice choice. Pete Seeger was a prominent and influential folk singer, and his music was embraced during the great folk revival that happened during the 60’s. Look up a photo of his banjo.
The world really needs another Pete Seeger ASAP. He shunned fame and fortune while writing great songs and always getting the audience to sing along. I believe he was the first one to record "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and he played a large part in cleaning up the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers in New York State. This was actually a protest song before protest songs became known as protest songs.
@@edprzydatek8398 Pete Seeger was also blacklisted by the group led my Senator Joseph McCarthy during the early 50's paranoia over the perceived communitst threat. He as unable to find work performing with his group, the Weavers, which was one of the finest folk groups ever.
You nailed it. A haunting song. It also touches on the futility of war.
Ah yeah, that brings back memories. Love is better than hate; peace is better than war; an open mind is better than bigotry. Seeger, Baez, Dylan, Melanie, CSN&Y, Tim Buckley, Byrds, and the rest - an era of hope before the darkness crept in again.
And don't forget Rod, Jane, and Freddy...
@@jfergs.3302 McKuen I remember... Jane and Freddy I have forgotten who they would be.
@@maruad7577 Sorry, bit of an 'in' joke this, and not that Rod. This RJ&F, were an obscure, and short lived British trio. Gone, but not forgotten.
@@jfergs.3302 Fair enough. I have my share of obscure bands that I am very fond of.
Love folk music and these guys were the bar set for others to measure themselves by. Great stuff. This is a genre that I miss today.
In 1962 this song was likely released as a single. Found it on The Kingston Trio - Capitol Collectors Series (1990)
Another group in the same genre was the New Christy Minstrels, who sang "Green, Green" and "This Land is Your Land."
lol, I keep thinking of the New Main St Singers from the movie A Mighty Wind when I here New Christy Minstrels.
One of the two groups that i have actually met, they were amazing to hear, and nice to meet.
My parents had this album, and this song enters my mind now and then. Good to hear it again - thank you.
I knew you'd GET this song, it's the story of human history, man's war against man. It's subtle, easy to dismiss if you aren't listening to the lyrics. Thank you for giving this a listen. Seeger's life story is worth a perusal. Btw there's a statue to Pete Seeger in Teaneck, NJ.
Pete Seeger was a great songwriter and social activist. The Kingston Trio were a decent easy listening chart act.
this
Loved your reaction , JP ! I heard this as a young child and it stayed with me. :)
Ty!
The Kingston Trio were one of the biggest names in folk music in that era. I think their biggest hit might have been "Sloop John B". Pete Seeger wrote a lot of great songs "Little Boxes", "Old Time Religion" (which I heard him perform live) and many, many more classics. These were simpler times musically but the lyrics had meaning. Other people from that era includes Tom Paxton ("Rambling Boy") and Phil Ochs ("Changes").
Pretty sure their biggest hit was Tom Dooley.
@@DavidB-2268 Oh, I think you are correct. I forgot about that one. I just remembered the Smothers Brothers version from Live At The Purple Onion.
@@DavidB-2268 Streets of Laredo was big too...
@@jamiegagnon6390 yes, but Tom Dooley won a Grammy, and a Grammy Hall of Fame award, and was added to the Library of Congress National Registry of Historically Significant Recordings.
The Beach Boys had a huge hit with Sloop John B, which the KIngston Trio had recorded on there first album. The Trio's biggest hit was Tom Dooley, which was relaeased as a single in '57 or so. The Trio was awarded a grammy for it in the 'country' category because at that time there was no category for folk. But the following year there sure was.
We did sing this around the fireside as kids on canoe trips, along with Kumbuyjah.
Deep lyrics for a bunch of Boy Scouts...
Ok, different genres, different themes, different times...
Brother to Brother
Gino Vannelli
(Try it live, from the late 70's)
Montreal singer/songwriter with a
Jazz/fusion band twist.
hi just jp, great selection by the kingston trio, another great folk song is --what you gonna do about me,richie havens, from the 1971 album, the great blind degree
I'm not crying, you're crying. Cutting onions.
At the most this comes to me as a childhood recollection in which this was record during which to do something else since we did not have the luxury a 'skip' function. Pleasant enough. but very repetitive to the point that reflecting upon the lyrics seemed unnecessary.
Reading Wikipedia, it is surprising to read that The Kingston Trio believed that they were taking possession of a traditional song, and so claimed authorship; when they were put straight, they credited Seeger and Hickerson. But as is also described here, there really is a folk song in the roots of the lyrics, and the melody slows down a lumberjack song.
None of which is to deny the contemporary inspiration that created a song for modern times.
So I listen to it with fresh ears today. Thanks JP.
HUGE hit at the time. John Stewart (as noted) wrote one of The Monkees biggest hits, as well as releasing a great album in the late 70's with Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac which turned out a couple of charting songs.
The Kingston Trio, along with The Limeliters, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Joe and Eddie are some terrific folk choices.
And John Stewart wrote Daydream Believer, that was a big hit for the Monkees.
..and Chad Mitchell! --Draft Dodger Rag---get out of it through Pentagonorrhea!! (better than bone spurs...)
...and the Four Freshmen!
...and the Brothers Four! (Green Fields) is frickin' perfect!
...I would add Ian & Sylvia too.
Who are Joe and Eddie?
Thanks for exploring different genres on the channel. The folk revival was a big part of the sixties music scene and Pete Seeger was a key part of that movement. You picked up on the profundity of the lyrics, but they had even greater significance at the time. The draft, the Korean War and later Vietnam added extra poignancy to lyrics about flowers growing on soldiers' graves.
JP this is alegendary tune that everyone of my era knows! How about reacting to Chuck Mangione and the song Feels So Good Which Chuck plays the flugelhorn.
The lyrics to this are great. It made me think of the poem “In Flanders Fields”, which has numerous musical adaptations. Sting has a song called Children’s Crusade which touches on the same premise; youth, war, death, and the cycle of life. It follows the track, Russians, on the Dream of the Blue Turtles album.
I remember as a child hearing it from Marlene Dietrich (emigrated from Germany to the USA during the Hitler era, returning to Germany and passing away in Paris).
As a matter of fact its not only about the circle of life, but also about that nothing is learned from wars from the past. It will start anew, nothing was and nothing will be learned. When will they ever learn ...
And now you really have to experience this in Pete Seeger's own voice and phrasing. 50s and early 60s folk music IS my early childhood, and Pete Seeger's voice is downright archetypal.
"Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.
Where have all the flowers gone?
The girls have picked them every one.
Oh, When will you ever learn?
Oh, When will you ever learn?
Young girls
They've taken husbands every one.
Young men
They're all in uniform.
Soldiers
They've gone to graveyards every one.
Graveyards
They're covered with flowers every one.
Flowers
Young girls have picked them every one." Powerful lyrics about war and the loss of many men and the women who grieved them. When the anti- Vietnam war protests began this song was used at many of them.
Beautiful song! It was great to see your face when you "got it"!
Ty Rob :)
You allways seem to been really interested in every song you hear this is what makes you an interesting dude ...well done dude
This song brings me to tears every time. Just now, too.
Its a beautiful song :)
I don't know when I first heard this song. I checked versions by Pete Seger, Joan Baez, Marlene Dietrich (in German) and they all sounded familiar. I could not find any version in my first language Swedish, but I guess there is one... Like your association to a camp fire, maybe that was were I heard it first.
In the mid-50s the French gave up attempting to suppress an uprising in Vietnam, which they had colonized. The U.S. assumed the role a bit at a time, deploying advisors to bolster the military of pro-western Vietnamese in a civil war. The war was escalating as the U.S.S.R. and China supported what had become a bloody revolution. The U.S. escalated direct combat involvement especially after President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The protest movement, although fairly underground at first, paralleled all of this history, and you can imagine the role this song, among others, played in encouraging dissenters.
This was not what I was expecting today but pleasantly surprised.
This was a group my dad loves. He got into them as a teen and then more when he was in the navy in the early sixties. I got into them myself as an adult in the late 90's early 2000's. Excellent folk group. Went through a few line ups even at their height. With a two being their best.
Some other songs by them I love that I didn't see mentioned by others is El Matador, Bimini, Chilly Winds, Scotch & Soda, Tijuana Jail, Tom Dooley, or Greenback Dollar.
Another good folk trio of that era similar to this is Chad Mitchell Trio. The latter years would be the vehicle to launch John Denver into his career.
I don't give a damn about a greenback dollar, spend it as fast as I can.... I can't remember if it is in E minor or not. I have a buddy who used to do a 30 minute medley of E minor songs. Blue Tattoo was another from that group.
Ahh yes. The Kingston Trio, The Limeliters , Glenn Yarbrough, Trini Lopez and so on. My parent's had many of the Trio's early albums. I really don't care for a lot of their 'hits' as such, but I really like their early venturing into what we would call world music now days. 'I first heard their version of 'Riu, riu, chiu' when I was a pre-teen and was immediately turned on to a different vibe of music. Of course, my go-to version of 'Ríu Ríu' these days is from Anúna. Yes. More 50's and 60s folk would be nice - it had such an influence in shaping the later 60s.
This was one of 2 Kingston Trio albums my parents owned... I grew up listening to it all the time. This is the famous cut, but there are several other awesome tunes on that album, including the incredibly obscure English Madrigal parody "The Shape of Things".
My first ever 45 I was given was "Tom Dooley" a traditional North Carolina folk song based on the 1866 murder of a woman named Laura Foster in Wilkes County, North Carolina by Tom Dula (whose name in the local dialect was pronounced "Dooley"). One of the more famous murder ballads, a popular hit version recorded in 1958 by The Kingston Trio, which reached No. 1 in Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and also was top 10 on the Billboard R&B chart, and appeared in the Cashbox Country Music Top 20. U.K. Singles Chart 5
Another great song from back then was green fields by the Brothers Four ! I heard it when I was about 8-9 and still remember it !
Pete Seeger along with Woody Guthrie were like the original American folk heroes. Pete also played banjo in a folk group called the Weavers, who were also forces behind the civil rights and labor union movements. They had many great songs worth looking into.
This is one of my favorite songs. It touches the soul and I've shed more than a few tears listening to it. I suggest you listen to this version done by Peter, Paul and Mary - the 25th Anniversary concert video. Just amazing. It's a song that stands the test of time. 🕯️
Some may say it’s hippy dippy gobbledygook but, I quite enjoyed that.
… I love the flower girl…
Next we will be singing "The rain, the park and other things... ok, maybe I had the 45 and loved it.
Simple gifts. As a boy in the '60s, ripe for plucking for war, we sang this song in our church, in Charlotte, down South, because we did not want, and they did not want, to trade young lives for graveyard flowers.
You must review "Circle Game", speaking of circular themes, by the wondrous Joni...who pairs well with Pete, and represent two of the best writers ever.
Ever hear of Robert Benchley? Must be related somewhere along the line. db
Circle Game should be preceded by Neil Young's Sugar Mountain which inspired it.
Talking about other genres, there's also Doo Wop from the late 50s to early 60s. Would love to hear you impressions of both The Flamingos' "I only have eyes for you" or The Platters' "My Prayer". For another cool tune try The Cactus Blossoms' "Mississippi" which is from recent but is along the same lines.
My dad’s favorite singing group. He was a real folkie. Try Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport or Puff The MagicDragon
Puff always makes me howl like an infant.
The Kingston Trio always had a sense of humour which frequently intruded into serious songs in concert. They also wrote some songs that are just plain satire like Man who never returned (M.T.A.) about a man trapped on a transit train because the fare went up while he was on it and authorities would not let him get off without paying the increase... They did a very silly version of Streets of Laredo...
Folk music back then was very beautiful but very simple music. The lyrics were fairly simple and easy to understand...if you took the time to listen. I never did. I am now.
Respect... Another spot on reaction...
Ty!
One of the all-time great 20th-century folk songs (if it's by Guthrie, Paxton, Seeger, or Dylan, chances are it's on that list). I loved seeing your reaction on the video when you worked out where the song was heading! A more recent singer who hqs written equally heartwrenching anti-war songs in the folk idiom is Australian Eric Bogle. Well worth checking out his music.
I have not been getting your notifications. This is the first one in a long time
Seeger only wrote the first three verses based on lines from a book he had read. Joe Hickerson added the final two verses in 1960 to finish the round. It's the final two verses that, IMO, add the poignancy to the song, making it more of an anti-war song by pointing out the futile cycle of warfare that mankind hasn't yet learned to break.
Thank you so much for sharing that I really appreciate it.
I didn't know that. And you're right. The last two stanzas elevate the song to greatness.
Yeah for folk music on this channel! If you re going to do folk music, you have to understand that in the late fifties and early sixties there was pop folk (like this version) and more authentic American folk music revival was going on at the same time. And many of the songs from the more serious folk movement would wind up as kind of watered down songs on the pop charts. Most of the new folk movement that started in the late to mid-fifties was centered around New York's Greenwich Village. They drew heavily on the earlier folk repertoire from the Depression Era and artists like Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and Cisco Houston as well as incorporating Mississippi Delta Blues and Appalachian folk music that was being rediscovered. You should check out the Anthology of American Folk Music that was put out by Folkways in 1952. That had a huge impact on the folk movement in the fifties and sixties. Now that you've done some English folk rock I hope you can catch what British folk tunes ended up in America.
You’ve got to hear some of John Stewart’s solo stuff. His California Bloodlines is one of the greatest ‘cult’ albums ever.
At one point during the Iraq War only one U S Senator had a son or daughter in the War. Old men start wars and your sons and daughters die in them.
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Eduardo Ferreira
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Interesting.
Well, I have somethings to say.
Picking where I stopped (what a coincidence!!, isn't it?) (on the Stravinsky reaction), we're talking about life and death again. Let me say a few words about this (hope I don't get too boring).
The music:
1 - this interpretation (I only knew the original) is smoothed (you'll get what I'm saying), more melodic and harmonized (this is normal, for it's three men singing) than Pete Seeger's. They beautifully fill the space with their different toned layered voices. And this marks a great difference in the interpretation and the impact it might cause in the listener. Those spaces they fill, that leads us all along the melody like being conducted, makes us feel other thing (at least to me, which I believe I understand the weight the original carries).
In the original, Seeger sings with a more pausing voice, that is, we have space to breathe and reflect on what is being sung. And this is very important.
2 - I feel we can actually learn English (among other things) with Pete Seeger. He speaks and sings in a perfect spelling idiom: you can actually understand every single syllab he says - for he knew how to manage and dominate his most powerful instrument, the ability of communication. (more on the following)
The lyrics
1 - I never payed attention to them really until you've read them carefully on this video. Once again, Justin, you opened my mind's eyes. It clicked.
2 - the succession, the cycle, the progression-not-progression, for it comes around again (it's a cycle!), of the story that's being told before our ears, is bigger than the core subject of the intended message. For one hand he is talking about death, the inflicted, the absurd and not wanted death of those who die in wars, and on the other hand and at the same time, he's letting pass the message passing, camouflaged, as less important comparing to the optimistic view of the whole cycle, in which life or death are only parts of. And, of course, seeing the whole picture turns less important and/or absurd each part of it. (the absurd part is intendingly the death part, because...)
3 - this is one of the most accurate anti war songs ever written. And that without mentioning the war word (not really necessary). And by talking in such a simple way, almost mythical or existentialist, all human being can deeply relate to, disregarding what differences that might dived us.
4 - so we're talking a bigger than life song, a song that transcends its writer, and how it became so popular in his own time it was widely covered.
Kingston Trio
1 - Pete Seeger was put out of the way for some years (HUAC and McCarthy's years) but the genre he practiced was a more than obvious one, for all you need to is an instrument and a voice (and what such a harmless, warm and close voice he had!) but the spirit of the popular song didn't die there. Kingston trio reintroduced it again on charts in the end of the fifties. Yes, and it's said they came with a good look, more polished and harmless tone (read less political) and their interpretations reflect that. We can argue that true folk music must embrace some kind of useful meaning and message in whatever time is being made, but we vow them for having made possible the folk revival of the sixties, which was VERY important to the development of many things that were to come (Dylan, folk rock, psychedelic rock and so forth).
Pete Seeger
1 - do you know what Seeger did when he was kept aside of his previous media and popularity? Being able to give less concerts he still had to live. So one thing he did was to teach children to play the banjo. Can you even imagine the impact of such a thing on the future music made in the USA?
2 - Some songs we hear today, those which seem to be here since the beginning of times, were or written by or adapted by or popularized by Seeger. Take "Oh Susanna", the most appallachian known song Wimohwe (yes, the one we all heard on Lion King movie), "We Shall Overcome" or "Turn, Turn, Turn".
3 - son of a folklorist and musicians, he wanted to know the people's songs. Every people. Everywhere he went he picked and bring some new instrument and story to tell. That's why he has so many non English songs on his recordings. Like the very popular Cuban song "Guantanamera" (you've heard that one, right?). Maybe the instrument the trio played was one of Seeger's consequences : spreading people's different cultures through music and songs.
Wide look
For all I've said, I'll end with this small list for you to check:
Athaualpa Yupanki is for Argentina,
Oum Kalsoum (the spelling has lots of variations, which is an example to remind us all our different perspectives of the same thing) is for Egypt and
Mikis Theodorakis is for Greece what
Pete Seeger is to the United States popular song. Each name (probably there are others, please let me know) covers almost the last century and had a deep impact on the development of popular song and, further, as in Seeger and Theodorakis cases, in society.
(sorry for the long comment)
A good experience for you to feel some of these notes is:
1 - see Seeger's documentary The Power of Song (perhaps the best music documentary I have ever seen) and
2 - listen his Carnegie Hall concert
(both here on YT)
I’ve known OF The Kingston Trio, but never really familiar with any of their stuff. Probably not something I’d choose to listen to, but I don’t mind it. Have to say that it sounds like something that should be on a Rankin/Bass Christmas special like Rudolph or The Year Without a Santa Claus.
I am mostly familiar with Peter Paul & Mary's version - the vocals are more diverse. My favorite Kingston Trio song is "Tom Dooley".
It is my wish, someday to be, fertilizer for a tree. Peace & Harmony.
Mine too! I figure a big nut tree of some kind would be appropriate for me. Not certain what would grow here though. Maybe I will settle for a maple.
Pete Seger was the true goat in folk music. Watch him live , amazing.
We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before. I believe Seeger is one of the men whose shoulders Dylan stood upon.
Live on the way in a future PO box opening....
@@maruad7577 Woody Guthrie is the giant on whose shoulders Pete Seeger stood.
@@daniellevin4174 So true. This land was made for you and me.
As I understand it, folk music was considered anti-American and bordering on Communism back then. Protest music wasn't universally accepted in the 50's and early 60's as it was later in the decade. The Vietnam War, and the brave folk singers/song writers, changed all that.
Except, the Kingston Trio were not really a part of that by their own admission. They were actually deliberately apolitical. They did not even consider themselves to be folk musicians and were under constant attack by those who considered themselves to be folkists.
In the College Concert album 1962 ( see the sleeve ), there 's a nice intro by Nick Reynolds. This version is not from College Concert, it's from the Close- Up album 1961( Their first album after the departure of their "leader" Dave Guard). It's the studio version ( In my opinion, it's the best one ) They recorded this song "live" many times as , like Nick Reynolds said, it was their "favourite song". Thank you for this new channel that will make the music of the KT available to many people who never heard of the KT. But to me good music moves you without any lengthy explanations. Some don't like the KT, some do. I've been liking the KT since 1958 ( Tom Dooley and so on...) Your channel makes me think of a really good channel called "Wings of Pegasus". But, please, don't spend too much time on boobams which are not relevant here. The KT very very seldom used them on records !! And certainly not in Where have all ....?
Actually, with all due respect, you're wrong about this being on Close Up. It was on College Concert and other 'best of' albums. It was also released as a single. These days virtually all of the Trio's recordings can be listened to on UA-cam. Look up Scotch and Soda. It was on the first album, The Kingston Trio. Their fans loved it so much he sang it in every show the did for almost 50 years, including the years he continued with new members ofter they broke up in 1967.
@@brucemeyer7907. I've been listening to the Kingston Trio for 65 years.... so I suggest you to find the CLOSE UP album and compare it to the COLLEGE CONCERT version you mentioned. Further more. When you don't know anything about a subject,🤐.....
You're mostly right, but it was an anti-war song. ''when will they ever learn'' i.e when will the cycle of unnecessary/war death be stopped, when will men stop thinking it's ''cool'' to join the army, when will militarisation, oppression, and 'ownership' of countries stop..
Ah Lad, you're hitting some old ones now...... "Greenfields", if that's the correct title, comes to mind as another ballad for that time and genre. "Where are the green fields that we used to roam...." "Green Door" "Fernando's Hideaway". Late 50's, early '60's.
Really like this version, but there has always been something about the Peter, Paul & Mary version that strikes me. This is the music I grew up with as my mom was a huge Joan Baez fan and in time became fairly well acquainted with her. I have many memories of the Big Sur Folk Festivals that Joan hosted and was lucky to be exposed to so much wonderful music as a young child.
With that, you need to do some Joan Baez at some point as well. While she is mostly known for interpreting the work of others, her signature song is one of the few she wrote herself and is where I would go first with Diamonds & Rust.
Marlene Dietrich does a stunning version of this too.
I think I grew up hearing the Joan Baez or Peter, Paul and Mary version (been looking in UA-cam for the female singer who didn't sing it in German). I know my mom used to like to sing it when she was young. Maybe it's her I remember. (I mean her, when she was young; she's still around and well.)
I also found an explanation of the secret meaning of *Puff the Magic Dragon* while I was out on the seas of Internet, fishing like that. ua-cam.com/video/Vg2RcXC8KSk/v-deo.html
❤️❤️❤️❤️👍
For a different take on this song try the Earth,Wind and Fire cover
Listen to "The Man Who Never Returned." Great review.
pete seeger wrote and sang protest songs.
Were you named after this guy. JP Patches:~ ua-cam.com/video/3JbD1mE69go/v-deo.html Gertrude kissed me on the cheek when I was nine years old at the grand opening of the first McDonalds in Seattle. I was shocked to find out she was a man!!!
I hear a Calypso beat.
Nicely done but I still prefer the original.
The lyrics make me angry because mankind doesn’t learn of its mistakes.
You should listen to Marlene Dietrich's version (in german better), she sings with immensely emotions. This seems almost artificial in comparison. Even if it's a great version too.
One we used to sing in school assembly that some how crept in amongst the regular hymns, courtesy of some hippie drippy sandal wearing guitar bashing social failure of a teacher. I came here just to hate it all over again. Kumbaya next please.
No matter how right you are... Easy now... Chill folks are enjoying the flash black... Many can see the truth and still enjoy the tunes
@@daveking9393 That's fair enough. I'm not here to spoil anyone else's enjoyment and JP is used to a diverse range of opinions on the tracks he reacts to. I appreciate the sentiments of the song, and can't fault the performance, it's just one inevitably tied in to the unforgettable horror of my school days.
i have a Peter Paul & Mary LP on the shelf, un-listened to in 50 years. My heart is hard. It occasionally catches my eye and I say No.
This is Fodder designed to turn people to your death metal and repugnant rap acts that lead our youth astray. This is our Placid Consciences tryin to act responsibly but compromising with futile gestures, Justin.
It's why flowers were placed in rifles
it's why Elton John and the West End ultimately fail
It's why Culture thrives and why Truth is ignored
it's why learners never start off on the right foot
it's a cloth to smother the bigger picture
it's why John Major and the Queen had a brawl in the Palace
it's why i never pull PP&M outta the sleeve
and yet the Culture Cultivates a Desire to experience More More More
Defiantly Rejecting all Solutions
and the Answer to the very questions it pretends to consider,
The Lilac Time reinvented Folk in the late 80s when everyone had Grunge on their horizons.
Try: A Taste For Honey.
Great Fun, diolch yn fawr. Hope you're well!
A lot of time spent looking for this! What a waste, haha. Jeez this is boring, uniform, with little going on. Heard this as a kid and didn't like it then, very wishy-washy. And hearing it now, I cringed from start to finish. Quite the 'hippy dippy, flower power' anthem in the 60's, but boy it's lame. Yes, PS may've had some lofty thoughts on life and the futility of war etc, but boy he could've pepped the tune up a bit. After the dizzy heights of Stravinsky, this's one hell of a fall...
There are recordings of Pete Seeger performing this live, and they are more lively. It was through tame performances such as this that made such songs listenable to mainstream, mainly white, middle America in the 50s and early 60s (think Peter Paul and Mary, Joan Baez, and Judy Collins with their covers of Bob Dylan, for example). Such renditions were many people's intro to artists like Dylan, as well as to the various issues raised by such artists. I am not arguing with your comment, for you are right in noting how boring this performance is. But such "safe" performances served a genuinely useful purpose back then. (You probably were aware of this already. I just thought it was worth mentioning). Blessings!
Bang on. I'd forgotten how much I hate this song. But it's still better than Kumbaya.
@@delorangeade Just about, there's not a lot in it :)
@@br.martindallyosb1147 Aye, they were different times.
No matter how right you are... Easy now... Chill folks are enjoying the flash black... It has its place... Many can see the truth and still enjoy these tunes of the times...
It's An anti-war protest song,plain and simple...