PRESENT PERFECT 9TH GRADE

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE? (Pete seeger)

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.

When will they ever learn?
Oh, when will we 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? They’ve taking husband every one.

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? They’re all in uniform.

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 grassyards every one.

Where have all the grassyard gone? Long time passing.
Where have all the grassyard gone? Long time ago.
Where have all the grassyard gone? Gone to flowers every one.

Click on these links:
Where have all the flowers gone. Joan Báez (guitar)
See version by Joan Báez
See the original version performmed by Pete Segeer
Print it and bring it to class (Imprime y tráelo a clase)

The Song's Background

Seeger found inspiration for the song while on his way to a concert. Leafing through his notebook he saw the passage, "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." These lines were from a Ukrainian folk song referenced in a novel by Mikhail Sholokhov, And Quiet Flows the Don. Seeger adapted it to a tune, a lumberjack version of "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill". With only three verses, he recorded it once in a medley on a Rainbow Quest album and forgot about it. Joe Hickerson later added verses four and five.