Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
Pete Seeger & Joe Hickerson
This was a much-recorded song in the '60s. A glance at Wikipedia tells me it is still being recorded. I also learned that the last 2 verses were added by Joe Hickerson. I have a 1960s recording of Pete Seeger singing this, and without the last two verses, it doesn’t seem as powerful.
It's a simple tune in the basic key of C. It featured in the repertoire of the Ringwood High School Choir of 1968, of which I was leader.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone?
Gone for husbands every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the young men gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the young men gone?
Gone for soldiers every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone?
Gone to graveyards every one
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone?
Gone to flowers every one
When will we ever learn?
When will we ever learn?
At 1C1
1C1 folk club was very much a listeners’ club, dark and silent except for the performance. I was there with Phil Day to do a set. With us were my two children, Dion aged about 6, and Jay aged about 2.
We were seated on stage, just waiting for the sound engineer to give us the go ahead. It wasn’t a very big room. I think the sound gear was for recording purposes.
The venue at that time was a two-story terrace house in Princes Hill, possibly McIlwraith Street. Most of the audience were seated on cushions on the floor. Jay and Dion were along the wall, near the back of the room. Our babysitter, Carmel, was with them. There was the expectation Jay would fall asleep.
Everyone waited in total silence, in the dark. A movement was heard in the crowd and people were heard to shift their cushions. By the time I could make out what was causing the stir, Jay had crawled three-quarters of the way across the floor, towards where I sat on the stage. When she got close, I leaned over to admonish her and send her back to her place.
In a not very loud voice, but very audible in the silence, she said, “Mum, I want a kiss.”
There was an empathetic low-level chuckle from the audience. I got off my chair, squatted down and fulfilled her request.
The crowd parted to help her find her way back to her place.
