Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

Yes, they were commercial. Yes, they were mainstream. I was mainstream, too. I loved folk songs and, when Peter, Paul and

Mary came along, I loved their versions of the folk songs.

She never spoke on stage…part of her mystique. But she sang her heart out. You could tell how passionate she was about the words she was singing. Just look at her hands, forming fists, as she sang.

The songs I loved were the songs with messages. Yes, I played “Puff, The Magic Dragon” for my children, but I played “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” for me. And I sang “The Cruel War” and played guitar to accompany it. Poorly, but passionately.

I looked to Mary and her voice as a crystal clear reminder of my own social conscience. I heard the words and I saw her fist and I knew she meant every word she sang. The harmony was inspiring and the words stayed with me.

They came on the music scene as I was growing up, and we grew up together. Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, the Weavers. All had an influence on me, and all affected the way I view the world now.

Another flower has left our garden. Another who bloomed where she was planted, at the Gaslight in Greenwich Village and beyond. Way beyond.

I wish you hadn’t left us Mary, but I am grateful that you left your songs with me….