traditional • seeger • hickerson
First of April - no joke - writing year 2022, a very famous old song came to me, with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraina, escalating to probably be worldwide. I've never sung this before, because everybody else did and have been doing for several reasons during my lifetime ... the song is exactly as old as me. And the origin is found in the area where the conflict is centered.
In 1934, Mikhail Sholokhov released "And Quiet Flows the Don". One of its four volumes refers to the traditional Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda" and the phrase "Where are the flowers, the girls have plucked them. Where are the girls, they've all taken husbands. Where are the men, they're all in the army". Pete Seeger read this, and noted it down.
In 1955, he recalled the notes and wrote the first version consisting of three verses, borrowing most of the tune from an old irish lumberjack song. In 1960, Joseph C. Hickerson - a Librarian and Director of the Archive of Folk Song for 35 years (1963–1998), added two more verses, making it recurring. Seeger himself recorded it the same year, followed by The Kingston Trio in '61, and then it exploded. I haven't got a clue how many translations and versions there has been made.
At the birth of this song, Vietnam was in mind. In 2022 we sang it for Ukraina. Now, 2025, we still do. When will we ever learn? Here we go.
where have all the flowers gone : long time passing?
where have all the flowers gone : long time ago?
where have all the flowers gone?
gone to young girls 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 to young men 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 to soldiers every one
when will they ever learn : when will they ever learn?
and where have all the soldiers gone : long time passing?
where have all the soldiers gone : a long time ago?
where have all the soldiers gone ?
gone to graveyards every one
when will they ever learn : when will they ever learn?
and 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 they ever learn: oh when will they ever learn?
For the following CHORD section, fullscreen/horizontal mobile is recommended.
Chords in brackets may be omitted.
G Em C D ...D7 where have all the flowers gone long time passing G Em Am D7 where have all the flowers gone long time ago? G Em G7 where have all the flowers gone C D gone to young girls every one C Am Em E7 Am D7 C G when will they ever learn when will they ever learn
