"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is a folk song written by American singer-songwriter Pete Seeger in 1955. Inspired lyrically by the traditional Cossack folk song "Koloda-Duda", Seeger borrowed an Irish melody for the music and published the first three verses in Sing Out! magazine. Additional verses were added in May 1960 by Joe Hickerson, who turned it into a circular song.
Its rhetorical "where?", and meditation on death, place the song in the ubi sunt tradition. In 2010, the New Statesman listed it as one of its selections of the "Top 20 Political Songs".
The 1962 album version of the song was released as part of the Columbia Records Hall of Fame 45 single series in 1965 as 13–33088. The recording of the song by Pete Seeger was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002 in the Folk category with the release year given as 1964 as a Columbia Records single. In June 2026, CBS News included the song in its list of the 250 essential American songs of the past 250 years.
Contents
Composition
Seeger found inspiration for the song in October 1955 while he was on a plane bound for a concert at Oberlin College, one of the few venues that would hire him during the McCarthy era. 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 taken from the traditional Cossack folk-song "Koloda-Duda" (Russian: Колода-дуда), referenced in the Mikhail Sholokhov novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1934), which Seeger had read "at least a year or two before". In a 2013 interview, Seeger explained that he borrowed the melody from an Irish lumberjack song with the words 'Johnson says he'll load more hay.' He simply slowed the tune and incorporated the lines into it.
He recorded and released a version with three verses on The Rainbow Quest album (Folkways LP FA 2454) in July 1960. Later, Joe Hickerson, then a graduate student who that summer became folk-music director at Camp Woodland in the Catskills, added two more verses with a recapitulation of the first in May 1960 in Bloomington, Indiana.
Seeger published the song in Sing Out in 1962 as a copyrighted composition.
The 1962 recording of the song appeared on the compilation album Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits (1967) released by Columbia Records as CS 9416.
Pete Seeger's recording from the Columbia album The Bitter and the Sweet (November 1962), CL 1916, produced by John H. Hammond, was also released as a Columbia Hall of Fame 45 single as 13-33088 backed by "Little Boxes" in August 1965.
Versions
1961−1964
The Kingston Trio recorded the song in 1961. Believing it to be a traditional song, they claimed authorship, although upon notice from Seeger, they had their name removed and credited Seeger and Hickerson. Seeger acknowledged their success with this song.
The Landsmen released the song in 1961 as a 45 rpm single on Arvee.
Peter, Paul and Mary included the song on their eponymous debut album (which spent five weeks as the number-one album in the United States) in 1962.
Marlene Dietrich performed the song in English, French, and German. The song was first performed in French (as "Où vont les fleurs") (French lyrics by Francis Lemarque and Robert Rouzaud) by Dietrich in 1962 at a UNICEF concert and released on the EP "Marlène" in July 1962. Her German rendition was titled "Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind", with lyrics translated by Max Colpet, which she performed on a tour of Israel, where she was warmly received. Dietrich was the first performer to break the taboo of publicly using the German language in Israel since the Second World War. The single "Sag Mir, Wo Die Blumen Sind" was released in Germany in September 1962. The UK music weekly Record Mirror published a highly favourable review of the German-language version in August 1963. It praised Dietrich's performance, noting that while she delivered it in her "curious, staccato style," she nonetheless managed to extract "the maximum warmth and emotion" from the song. In March 1964, Dietrich's English-language version of the song was released in the US (as a 7" single) and in the UK (on the EP "Marlene Dietrich Returns To Germany").
Dalida (1933−1987), an Italian-French singer, also recorded the song in French as "Que sont devenues les fleurs?", adapted by Guy Béart in 1962 (Les Années Barclay, vol. 5, 1962).
The Folkswingers recorded an instrumental version of the song for their second album 12 String Guitar! Vol. 2 (1963).
Jaap Fischer recorded the song in Dutch as "Zeg me waar de bloemen zijn" (single, B side of "Jan Soldaat", 1963).
1965−1969
Joan Baez included the German version (Sagt mir wo die Blumen sind) on her 1965 album Farewell Angelina.
Johnny Rivers had a 1965 U.S. top-40 hit with a folk rock version, reaching number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 in Canada.
Grady Martin released an instrumental version in 1965 on his Instrumentally Yours album.
The Lennon Sisters recorded a vocal pop version on their 1965 album Our Favorite Songs.
Harry Belafonte has made one recording of it at a benefit concert in Stockholm, Sweden, 1966 on the album BEL-1.
Sława Przybylska (born 1931), a Polish singer, recorded a version in Polish in 1966, with the title Gdzie są kwiaty z tamtych lat?
Walter Jackson recorded a R&B version in Chicago for Okeh Records in 1967.
Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs included the song on their 1968 album Changin' Times.
Jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery recorded an instrumental version in his trademark style on the 1968 LP Road Song.
The Chambers Brothers recorded the song for their 1968 album A New Time – A New Day.
The Peddlers recorded a studio version of the song for their 1969 album Birthday.
In 1969, Rufus Harley recorded a jazz instrumental version on his trademark bagpipes, but the track was never commercially released until it was included in his posthumously released, limited-edition collection Courage – The Atlantic Recordings in 2006.
1970−1979
Roy Orbison recorded a version of the song, which appears on the album The Connoisseur's Orbison (1970).
American country singer Bill Anderson recorded the song on his December, 1970 album Where Have All Our Heroes Gone, and on his eponymous 1971 album.
American R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire covered the song on the 1972 album Last Days and Time.
Richie Havens recorded the song in 1972.
Alberto Y Lost Trios Paranoias, an English comedy rock band, included a version on their 1978 album Skite.
The Hi-Marks, a popular 1970s group in New Zealand, recorded a version on their first album Showtime Spectacular (1979).
Patty Pravo published an Italian version ( Dove andaranno i nostri fiori) in her 'Tanto' album in 1978.
1980−1989
Yellow Magic Orchestra recorded the song in 1980 and released it in the 1999 compilation album YMO GO HOME!
Hannes Wader recorded a German version as the final track for his 1982 album Daß nichts bleibt wie es war.
City, a then-East German rock band formed in East Berlin in 1972, recorded a German-language version in their 1983 album Unter der Haut.
Bernie Sanders covered the song on his 1987 album We Shall Overcome.
1990−1999
Croatian folk band Zlatni Dukati performed a version of the song entitled "Iznad polja makova" ("Above the fields of poppy") during the Croatian War of Independence (1991−1995), and recorded the song in their 1991 album U Meni Hrvatska.
Serbian actor Dragan Maksimović performed a part of this song in the movie Mi nismo anđeli ("We are not Angels") recorded in 1992 in Yugoslavia.
British folk-rock group The Tansads included a version on their 1995 live album Drag Down the Moon.
Scottish-Nigerian singer-songwriter Nicolette covered the song on her 1996 album Let No-One Live Rent Free in Your Head.
Kabir Suman translated the song to Bengali ("Kothaye Gelo Tara"). Suman and Seeger performed the English and Bengali versions one after the other twice during their Tour of Kolkata in 1996.
A Russian version of the song was recorded in 1998 by Oleg Nesterov, a lead singer of Megapolis, and later performed in duet with Masha Makarova (of the rock band Masha i Medvedi) in a music video.
Irish folk band The Fureys recorded it for their albums Twenty One Years On (1999) and The Times They Are a Changing (2014)
2000−2009
A Polish-language version was sung by Sława Przybylska (Polish title: "Gdzie są kwiaty z tamtych lat?"). The song was released on the 2001 compilation album Pamiętasz Była Jesień.
Adhunik Bengali singer Anjan Dutt covered the song in his 2001 album Rawng Pencil.
Green Day thematically and lyrically mimic the song on the track "Letterbomb" from the 2004 album American Idiot.
Olivia Newton-John recorded the song on her 2004 album Indigo: Women of Song.
Country singer Dolly Parton has also recorded a rendition of the song, on her 2005 album Those Were the Days.
Chris de Burgh has recorded a version, which is featured on his 2008 album Footsteps.
The song was sung at the funeral of Harry Patch, the last British soldier of the First World War, in Wells Cathedral on August 9, 2009.
A piano version of the song by Scottish pop singer and songwriter Jimmy Somerville appears on his 2009 album Suddenly Last Summer.
Classical guitarist Sharon Isbin recorded an instrumental version in her 2009 album Journey to the New World.
2010−2019
Danish-German songwriter and entrepreneur Kirsten Hasberg, of Kassel, Germany, recorded a parody entitled "Sag, die Energiewende, wo ist sie geblieben?" about the German transition to renewable energies and "energy democracy" (2012).
Lara Veronin, a Russian-Taiwanese-American singer, recorded a version for the 2012 Taiwanese drama Alice in Wonder City.
German avant-garde group Einstürzende Neubauten recorded a German version of the song for their 2014 album Lament.
The Armistice Pals recorded a version in 2014 that was released as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of World War One, and as a tribute to Pete Seeger, who had died earlier that year. The voice of Pete Seeger is heard in the recording along with that of his half-sister Peggy Seeger.
2020−present
Canadian singer-songwriter Pierre Lapointe recorded the German version ("Sag mir wo die Blumen sind?") for his 2022 album L'heure mauve.
Russian actress and director Renata Litvinova performed a recitative on Russian ("Когда же Вы наконец поймёте?") over Marlene Dietrich's singing as a background, which can be an act against the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022).
Greek singer-songwriter Vasiliki Nika recorded the Greek version ("Τα λουλούδια χάθηκαν"). The video directed by Alexandros N. V. refers to the Kalavryta massacre.
Belarusian singer-songwriter and artist Lavon Volski recorded the version in Belarusian "Dzie kvietki?" ("Дзе Кветкі?") in 2022. The video directed by Ihar Nazaranka contains drawings made by Lavon Volski himself.
Grammy Hall of Fame
Pete Seeger's recording of his composition was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance."