We use to sing this song In Dunedin NZ as we drove over the Lookout Point Hill and all the state housing was on the surrounding hill and the little houses were pale blue and pink and green and yellow, seems every child believed this song was for an area in their own hometowns, awesome memories from this gorgeous wee tune, thanks for sharing it x
This song takes me back to being 2 years old. I spent a lot of time lying by the fire, the radio was always on, so I developed a love of early 60s American folk songs at a very early age. When I was 3 my Aunty took me to Wellington NZ. I sang this song in my head as I looked down at the little houses on the hill from the plane
There couldn't be a musically simpler song, yet it is such a powerful a statement against conformity. Also love Seeger's and Reynolds' versions equally. Each is an interpretation in and of itself with one no more powerful than the other.
Great song written by Malvina and sung and played by Pete.I've always thought that it needed one more verse,one about the boxes that we're buried in (there's a silver one and a copper one and a gold one and a wooden one.....................)
Well, I just sang this song to my 33 yr old daughter who thinks it's nonsense, but I think it's fantastic that I've remembered all the lyrics for a lifetime. 😊
I was on a bicycle tour a few years ago when I stopped at a supermarket in the southwest US desert for resupply. I sat outside having a coffee from the mega coffee chain. I could see the local boxes from suburbia all lined up in a row. But no pink ones, no yellow ones, no blue one....they were all shades of brown or grey. I couldn't wait to get away. Several miles away I set up camp for the night in the desert. Looking out of my tent I asked myself "why do you love nature so much (in this case the unspoilt desert)"? It was the diversity, the disorganization of nature. I hate looking at cornfields, all the plants lined up in a row. I remember thru hiking the Florida Trail and camping in what might be called a tree plantation. I love pine trees, but all of the pines in this location were lined up in furrows. But get me into a real forest and I am happy and feel at peace. And when I must go to town I feel uncomfortable when all the faces look alike. But add some color, even people with different hairstyles, and I feel much more comfortable. When everyone is the same I just want to retreat into a cave. Why would I want to interact with people who "all came out the same"? (Edit) don't even get me started on the weed free lawn (not to mention that it is an environmental nightmare).
I WISH nothing has changed! Children don't play outside in our Little Boxes like back in the 1950's, women don't get to be housewives and friends with the neighbors, no more rock n roll, malt shops, drive in movies, malls, ice cream trucks, cheap gasoline... I want to go BACK THEN!!
If ya know ya know! "My mother and father were driving South from San Francisco through Daly City when my mom got the idea for the song. She asked my dad to take the wheel, and she wrote it on the way to the gathering in La Honda where she was going to sing for the Friends Committee on Legislation."
Little boxes on the hillside Little boxes made of ticky-tacky Little boxes on the hillside Little boxes all the same There's a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same And the people in the houses All went to the university Where they were put in boxes And they came out all the same And there's doctors and lawyers And business executives And they're all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same And they all play on the golf course And drink their martinis dry And they all have pretty children And the children go to school And the children go to summer camp And then to the university Where they are put in boxes And they come out all the same And the boys go into business And marry and raise a family In boxes made of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same There's a pink one and a green one And a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same
Because the sneering mockery of common decency and traditional culture, that had sustained our civilisation for hundreds of years, a sneering mockery of tradition that was heavily promoted by corporations, Hollywood, the music industry, even your CIA, has now reduced our culture to a suicidal spiral of decline and replacement. The hippies were a pawn towards global homogenisation, anti-god transhumanism, removal of any ties of identity and a mutable, low IQ, individualistic, materialist consumer who most definitely will live in a little box. How ironic. Stupid sneering hippie dupe.
This is weird! I was in the bathroom, I'll leave it at that when the words Little Boxes x 2 and Ticky Tackyand a tune just came into my head with the tune and it was driving me nuts (no comments please!) so I looked it up and here I am!!
This song perfectly describes the recent surge in construction of apartment complexes in my area over the last few years. Except these "Tiny Little Boxes" are five and ten stories tall.
Based on a true story: Little boxes on the trailer Little boxes made of ticky tacky They'e all scattered on the freeway 'Cause they flew off of the truck We were going on a trip, and there was a truck in front of us with boxes on it. And something happened that caused the boxes to fly off the truck and scatter all over the road. There were cars that got smashed up, and we thought we were going to get hit.
I think of the 'cookie cutter' subdivisions popping up around Austin and Dallas when I hear this song; little boxes with boxed in inhabitants. Mortgage, debt, and cant afford an original opinion.
This song was a reaction or a result of Herbert Marcuse's book, "Single Dimensional Man." Its message was that consumerism was soul-killing, etc. Of course, Herbert Marcuse and the Neo-Marxist Frankfurt School wanted to destroy the system on the promise that a Socialist alternative would be so much better. Well, they have won and now we have lots of excitement, folks. Only, the wonderful free socialist future is actually one of chaos, insanity, and violence. But at least you're not living in a boring little box, right? Many are living in cardboard boxes not even ticky tacky the schools aren't worth going to.
Im a lifelong musician, grew up listening to Pete Seeger and when that happens I think we tend to revere and love the voices we grew up listening to.. I certainly love listening to him.. but I do have to say I agree with some of the posting here about this song in particular. We love Protest songs but what exactly is this protesting.. the houses are just a lead in. .. the issue is its each other, at least those of us that may choose a different path then us. So in the song we demean them, their choice and their hopes for more for their children. That doesnt quite feel right to me. Pete Seeger came from the Lap of Universities.. His Grandfather was a doctor, His father was Harvard trained both of his Parents taught music at Julliard.. their home had servants.. one of which was Elizabeth Cotton. Hardly the humble beginnings and this song sings of those striving for more and labels them as made of ticky tacky.. or "crap" the meaning of the word. Its a hard song for me to sing with a smile on my face and insult half of my audience because they chose to get a degree. If the song is about all looking just the same.. then we as songwriters and folksingers fit that mold as well. Having said that.. I still say.. I love hear Pete sing.
He's not really singing about the average American's aspirations, he's singing about conformity - that these people go through their lives doing these things thoughtlessly. Conformity, whilst wonderful in some circumstances, can be awful and I interpret this song as a mimetic opposition to people's acquiescence. I'm certain if someone with this lifestyle approached Pete Seeger and said "I have chosen this conformist lifestyle because after due consideration I think this is the thing that would make me happiest" that he wouldn't rail against that decision. Who would? That's my take on the song. Maybe his intention really is to be a dick to people who live that lifestyle.
do believe the song was about enforced conformnity and the devaluing of anything that didn't fit that into those little boxes -not of striving for more. Basically if you didn't look the same, go to the same camps, same schools, etc. you had no value - likewise if you looked outside of the boxes, or walked a different path, you had no value to the people in the little boxes
First time I heard this song was today, as I was inputting data into Excell. I thought it was kind of funny how I was putting data into boxes that all looked the same while listening to this song even though I know the song isn't literal haha
Love all the mature comments by people who didnt understand this song and welcome the death of a wise visionary and a loving sweet man because they see him only as a red. Totally doesn't speak volumes about our society
Came here by a song of Chilean singer songwriter Victor Jara who was inspired by this song to write one of his (in Spanish). For which he was killed by the way.
Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky-tacky, Little boxes, little boxes, Little boxes all the same. There's a green one and a pink one, And a blue one and a yellow one, And they're all made out of ticky-tacky, And they all look just the same. And the people in the houses All went to the university, And they all get put in boxes, Little boxes all the same. And there's doctors and there's lawyers And business executives, And they all get put in boxes And they all come out the same. And they all play on the golf course And drink their martini dry, And they all have pretty children, And the children go to school. And the children go to summer camp, And then do the university, And they all get put in boxes, And they all come out the same. And the boys go into business, And marry and raise a family, And they all get put in boxes, Little boxes all the same. There's a green one and a pink one, And a blue one and a yellow one, And they're all made out of ticky-tacky, And they all look just the same.
@@shawnherrington3582 Little boxes, little boxes, and they're all made out of ticky tacky...And, FYI I am not a b**ch, I am a nice lady. You should have your mouth washed out with Fels Naptha.
To those posting snide remarks, there is a lot of wisdom in the ancient Roman aphorism:De mortuis nil disi bonum.Of the Dead, nothing but good shall be said.
What are we supposed to do,rewrite history and make all malevolent tyrannical despots cotton candy and rainbow salesman ? I grew up in Texas during and after the time of LBJ and,also unfortunately, during the time of the Bushes.For the presidency,we got 2 Bushes,and we may yet get a third.We nearly got a second Clinton.But they only let us have one Kennedy,and the people responsible for that/or their kids and relatives, friends and associates,are still in power.I know your comment was about people slamming Pete,and I'm against that. I loved Pete(and still do) but I'm definitely against whitewashing history.We've got a world to save and need to learn from ALL of our history so as not to repeat it's negativities/peace
live in hongkong i fight all of my life just wanna a little boxes of myself ,i dont wanna live in a 30 square meter house with parents，i i am wanna a bedroom for myself ......
We use to sing this song In Dunedin NZ as we drove over the Lookout Point Hill and all the state housing was on the surrounding hill and the little houses were pale blue and pink and green and yellow, seems every child believed this song was for an area in their own hometowns, awesome memories from this gorgeous wee tune, thanks for sharing it x
Love the st Patrick's Day, so much beer and good mood, New zealand is my second home. Cheers
This song takes me back to being 2 years old. I spent a lot of time lying by the fire, the radio was always on, so I developed a love of early 60s American folk songs at a very early age. When I was 3 my Aunty took me to Wellington NZ. I sang this song in my head as I looked down at the little houses on the hill from the plane
There couldn't be a musically simpler song, yet it is such a powerful a statement against conformity. Also love Seeger's and Reynolds' versions equally. Each is an interpretation in and of itself with one no more powerful than the other.
Odd that he also sang "I'm working for the union". A confusion of principals.
And you have to wonder how many of those little boxes were the dream homes of so many.
Really? I guess you live in a custom home in an exclusive community, right? Or is it your mommy's basement?
@@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244 What made you such a gem of humanity? What the hell set you off, jerk???
@@encrypter46 he's a right-winger so they get triggered really easily 😂
@@realteimopielinen Who's the right winger?
@@encrypter46 not you, other person
Great song written by Malvina and sung and played by Pete.I've always thought that it needed one more verse,one about the boxes that we're buried in (there's a silver one and a copper one and a gold one and a wooden one.....................)
Dark idea and it would take the idea of protesting against conformism a bit too far in this song...but I like your creative thought! Cheers.
And the band played on.
I love your outlook.
I drove thru Westlake the other day. There IS a blue one and a pink one and a yellow one.
Great idea for that additional verse
Brilliant idea actually.
Well, I just sang this song to my 33 yr old daughter who thinks it's nonsense, but I think it's fantastic that I've remembered all the lyrics for a lifetime. 😊
thank you thank you, Pete singing about America...LITTLE BOXES...and the children all come out the same...
Holy shit! I learned this song as I child and I never knew what it meant!
I was on a bicycle tour a few years ago when I stopped at a supermarket in the southwest US desert for resupply. I sat outside having a coffee from the mega coffee chain. I could see the local boxes from suburbia all lined up in a row. But no pink ones, no yellow ones, no blue one....they were all shades of brown or grey. I couldn't wait to get away.
Several miles away I set up camp for the night in the desert. Looking out of my tent I asked myself "why do you love nature so much (in this case the unspoilt desert)"? It was the diversity, the disorganization of nature.
I hate looking at cornfields, all the plants lined up in a row. I remember thru hiking the Florida Trail and camping in what might be called a tree plantation. I love pine trees, but all of the pines in this location were lined up in furrows. But get me into a real forest and I am happy and feel at peace. And when I must go to town I feel uncomfortable when all the faces look alike. But add some color, even people with different hairstyles, and I feel much more comfortable. When everyone is the same I just want to retreat into a cave. Why would I want to interact with people who "all came out the same"?
(Edit) don't even get me started on the weed free lawn (not to mention that it is an environmental nightmare).
Heard this song when I was 12, and just suddenly had this desire to listen to it again. Thank you for sharing it.
My teacher shared this with me in school. I sing a version of it whenever I'm in a mood.
I remember when it first came out. Loved it then. Nothing has changed.
I WISH nothing has changed! Children don't play outside in our Little Boxes like back in the 1950's, women don't get to be housewives and friends with the neighbors, no more rock n roll, malt shops, drive in movies, malls, ice cream trucks, cheap gasoline... I want to go BACK THEN!!
Just wait a little the change will hit you soon. Then, you too can go live in a tent camp by the freeway.
Thanks!! I just started watching "Weeds" for which this is the theme song. I guess it's an anti-establishment song.
Trouble is, we all live in boxes ... remove the log out of your own eye first, as they say ...
This so reminds me of my childhood growing up in the 60s
Memorable
This song inspired to Victor Jara to make a song called "Las Casitas de Barrio Alto"
La cual suena horrible comparada a esta. Víctor Jara era un acomplejado. De todo se quejaba el tio.
idk why i like this song so much i heard it in history and now i wanna listen to it forever his voice is just soooo calming
Pete we love you.
Thank you.
Some live in really nice big boxes though.
PETE SEEGER -GREAT PERFORMER AND FREEDOM FIGHTERT-RIP.
Yes, if you believe that freedom is slavery.
I have just watched a programme on the TV about Sheds. There was a snatch of this song. Wonderful programme, wonderful song and a much-missed singer.
Peter Jones weeds ?
Great song, great singer!
We need a 2021 version.....Boxes of little apartments in ......
If ya know ya know! "My mother and father were driving South from San Francisco through Daly City when my mom got the idea for the song. She asked my dad to take the wheel, and she wrote it on the way to the gathering in La Honda where she was going to sing for the Friends Committee on Legislation."
Pete Seeger. My very most favorite American. He’s up there with Abe Lincoln and my old friend, Danny Tobin.
brilliant...timeless......
Wat briljant deze old timer uit 1897
Nice song and video!
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
Thanks for the lyrics😊
Go pete solidarity comrade
I loved hearing this one on the radio...
Hmmm
Great song still actual and it always will be...
Funny how some songs have lyrics that are just as relevant nearly 60 years later.
I've just fallen in love
So true. especially right now! Please support public schools,NSW, Australia before our future workforce is made out of ticky tacky.
Still relevant. Nobody seems to notice as much though.
A salute to this channel
love his sweater :)
What an amazing song from the past.
How does anyone come to put a dislike on Pete seeger and so much as the mention on woodie Guthrie ?!
That was Donald John Trump
@@alpinorico2 But never, ever you or your mommy would ask why people were living in those tents.
Because the sneering mockery of common decency and traditional culture, that had sustained our civilisation for hundreds of years, a sneering mockery of tradition that was heavily promoted by corporations, Hollywood, the music industry, even your CIA, has now reduced our culture to a suicidal spiral of decline and replacement. The hippies were a pawn towards global homogenisation, anti-god transhumanism, removal of any ties of identity and a mutable, low IQ, individualistic, materialist consumer who most definitely will live in a little box. How ironic. Stupid sneering hippie dupe.
This song was so good to sing to my children, when they were young. I wonder if anyone does that anymore?
Jim Sherlock I do. My little ones love it! 😊
I'm 26 and my 6yo loves this song knows it word for word
Now the latest thing spring up are "Pack & Stacks"- five story buildings with expensive apartments with stores on the ground level.
Malvina Reynolds actually lived in Berkeley in the SF Bay Area.
Long neck banjo ..... very wonderful
love this
Hey...I'm on a rainbow quest too...
Not for little coffins in the hill side ..
***** this is right up your alley man. I can see you covering this
All in the service of good-ole Uncle Joe.
This is weird! I was in the bathroom, I'll leave it at that when the words Little Boxes x 2 and Ticky Tackyand a tune just came into my head with the tune and it was driving me nuts (no comments please!) so I looked it up and here I am!!
This song perfectly describes the recent surge in construction of apartment complexes in my area over the last few years. Except these "Tiny Little Boxes" are five and ten stories tall.
J adore
We should all look the same until the 90 s
This song is about Daly City, Calif. and it's all true!
Humanity is close to liberty
"The Middle Class Ghetto," explained in a song.
love
Based on a true story:
Little boxes on the trailer
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
They'e all scattered on the freeway
'Cause they flew off of the truck
We were going on a trip, and there was a truck in front of us with boxes on it. And something happened that caused the boxes to fly off the truck and scatter all over the road. There were cars that got smashed up, and we thought we were going to get hit.
We all live in boxes, but some got bigger boxes than others.
SF Baby!!!
I think of the 'cookie cutter' subdivisions popping up around Austin and Dallas when I hear this song; little boxes with boxed in inhabitants. Mortgage, debt, and cant afford an original opinion.
Great song legend, liked and subscribed
Makes me think of the Ian Dury song "Blockheads."
This song was a reaction or a result of Herbert Marcuse's book, "Single Dimensional Man." Its message was that consumerism was soul-killing, etc. Of course, Herbert Marcuse and the Neo-Marxist Frankfurt School wanted to destroy the system on the promise that a Socialist alternative would be so much better. Well, they have won and now we have lots of excitement, folks. Only, the wonderful free socialist future is actually one of chaos, insanity, and violence. But at least you're not living in a boring little box, right? Many are living in cardboard boxes not even ticky tacky the schools aren't worth going to.
A good hedge against government inflation 😂
I always thought this song was about Levittown, NJ, a "utopian suburb" in the 1950s.
I believe she was inspired by Daly City, CA, although Levittown is another great example.
This was a strange time. Because of cars, suburbs came to be. If not for the car, it wouldn't have happened.
Im a lifelong musician, grew up listening to Pete Seeger and when that happens I think we tend to revere and love the voices we grew up listening to.. I certainly love listening to him.. but I do have to say I agree with some of the posting here about this song in particular. We love Protest songs but what exactly is this protesting.. the houses are just a lead in. .. the issue is its each other, at least those of us that may choose a different path then us. So in the song we demean them, their choice and their hopes for more for their children. That doesnt quite feel right to me. Pete Seeger came from the Lap of Universities.. His Grandfather was a doctor, His father was Harvard trained both of his Parents taught music at Julliard.. their home had servants.. one of which was Elizabeth Cotton. Hardly the humble beginnings and this song sings of those striving for more and labels them as made of ticky tacky.. or "crap" the meaning of the word. Its a hard song for me to sing with a smile on my face and insult half of my audience because they chose to get a degree. If the song is about all looking just the same.. then we as songwriters and folksingers fit that mold as well. Having said that.. I still say.. I love hear Pete sing.
He's not really singing about the average American's aspirations, he's singing about conformity - that these people go through their lives doing these things thoughtlessly. Conformity, whilst wonderful in some circumstances, can be awful and I interpret this song as a mimetic opposition to people's acquiescence. I'm certain if someone with this lifestyle approached Pete Seeger and said "I have chosen this conformist lifestyle because after due consideration I think this is the thing that would make me happiest" that he wouldn't rail against that decision. Who would? That's my take on the song. Maybe his intention really is to be a dick to people who live that lifestyle.
do believe the song was about enforced conformnity and the devaluing of anything that didn't fit that into those little boxes -not of striving for more. Basically if you didn't look the same, go to the same camps, same schools, etc. you had no value - likewise if you looked outside of the boxes, or walked a different path, you had no value to the people in the little boxes
actually this song was written by a lady in the bay area about the houses we had in certain areas here at that time. they were real houses.
Summerhood anyone?
One little word added and the song really makes sense: "And the children go to Jewish summer camp"...
Fucking love him
First time I heard this song was today, as I was inputting data into Excell. I thought it was kind of funny how I was putting data into boxes that all looked the same while listening to this song even though I know the song isn't literal haha
it is literal. we had these little pastel colored houses all over the hills of the bay area back in those days.
Boxtrolls´s song =)
Ah, the days when people channeled their frustration through music. Nowadays they go on a shooting rampage.
cancer music
Ah the days when channeling your frustrations though music could actualy be effective, not that shooting rampages work either mind...
Love all the mature comments by people who didnt understand this song and welcome the death of a wise visionary and a loving sweet man because they see him only as a red. Totally doesn't speak volumes about our society
Came here by a song of Chilean singer songwriter Victor Jara who was inspired by this song to write one of his (in Spanish). For which he was killed by the way.
Weeds!
I had never heard this song before watching the series.
The Surrey Anthem
Genau, und aus meiner vorgefertigten Bahn, aus meiner Schachtel wollte und kam ich - RAUS!!
🌼🌼🖤🌼🌼
It’s funny if you don’t realize how dark this song really is. Sure sounds cute, though, huh?
Here from the Birocratic remix "ticky tacky" :)
RIP
🌼
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one,
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky,
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes all the same.
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives,
And they all get put in boxes
And they all come out the same.
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martini dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp,
And then do the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
And they all come out the same.
And the boys go into business,
And marry and raise a family,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one,
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky,
And they all look just the same.
Brilliant
Only a few were correct = about conformity. Welcome to the machine
Elliott bailes the guy was Woody Guthrie.
victor jara
Tabonyemek
You should look at the modern architectural trends--bland, little boxes, all the same.
Brutalism can be ok its suburbia that is the true poison
@@user-rt8sh7xt1d What a stupid, absolutely clueless, useless, nonsensical remark.
@@sagrammyfour aye stfu and stop being a bitch
@@shawnherrington3582 Little boxes, little boxes, and they're all made out of ticky tacky...And, FYI I am not a b**ch, I am a nice lady. You should have your mouth washed out with Fels Naptha.
Very Orwellian.
To those posting snide remarks, there is a lot of wisdom in the ancient Roman aphorism:De mortuis nil disi bonum.Of the Dead, nothing but good shall be said.
really? so does this rule apply to everyone dead LOL
What are we supposed to do,rewrite history and make all malevolent tyrannical despots cotton candy and rainbow salesman ? I grew up in Texas during and after the time of LBJ and,also unfortunately, during the time of the Bushes.For the presidency,we got 2 Bushes,and we may yet get a third.We nearly got a second Clinton.But they only let us have one Kennedy,and the people responsible for that/or their kids and relatives, friends and associates,are still in power.I know your comment was about people slamming Pete,and I'm against that. I loved Pete(and still do) but I'm definitely against whitewashing history.We've got a world to save and need to learn from ALL of our history so as not to repeat it's negativities/peace
So we shouldnt speak ill of hitler?
live in hongkong i fight all of my life just wanna a little boxes of myself ,i dont wanna live in a 30 square meter house with parents，i i am wanna a bedroom for myself ......
And same one have the boxes when they born and have many ,and they children's will look like a same.....
that is not very respectful ... what don't you like about his truth? Is it too much truth for you?
"...the songs she sAng, Pete! Hay, Pete wasn't even born
that young... fake?
And we need a new verse about an orange mess living in White House
At the end, is he talking about Dylan?
cumomsandcureloms I think so but im not sure. I wouldnt really consider Duluth Minnesota the east though
He was talkin about Arlo Guthrie
Interesting, considering how similar almost all american folk songs are. Especially when we examine chord structure.