Thoughts on war: “Where have all the flowers gone…?” (Published on 08/08/2025)
One of the best-known anti-war songs is “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”, written by US singer and songwriter Pete Seeger in 1955. It became world famous in the 1960s, particularly in the version sung by Marlene Dietrich.
Each verse of the song builds on the final thought of the previous one, with the last verse returning to the opening thought of the first, thus illustrating an apparently eternal cycle of human behavior that ultimately leads to war and death and feeds on humanity’s apparent inability to learn from the mistakes of previous generations.
The text of the English version, sung by Marlene Dietrich, among others, reads as follows:
“Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls picked them, everyone.
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, everyone.
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 soldier, everyone.
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, everyone.
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 flower, everyone.
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls have picked them, everyone.
When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?”
(Head picture: Margerites in front of memorial crosses
at the German military cemetery Wallendorf, May 2024)
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