Origin: I Come and Stand at Every Door / Hiroshima

Subject: Hiroshima
From:
Date: 05 Dec 97 - 09:19 PM

There is a song sung by Pete Seeger and others which starts:

I come and knock on every door//though no one hears my silent tread.

It is narrated by a child killed in the Hiroshima bombing.
It doesn't seem to be in the database.
Murray

---

Multiple threads combined. Watch message titles to see which was which. -Joe Offer-

Subject: Girl of Hiroshima
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Dec 97 - 09:52 PM

I was going to type this one out for you, Murray, but then I found out it's in the database. Just put the word Hiroshima in the box in the upper right corner of this page, and the song should come right to you.
The original poem was written in Turkish by Nazim Hikmet, translated into English by Jeanette Turner. Music is from "The Great silkie," by James Waters, adapted by Pete Seeger in 1962. In his book "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," Seeger lists the title as "I Come and Stand at Every Door (Girl of Hiroshima)."
Powerful song, isn't it?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: Girl of Hiroshima
From:
Date: 05 Dec 97 - 10:27 PM

Thanks again Joe:

It is a powerful song. I think in the 60s a Biaz version was more popular, but I remember the Seeger one better. Also thanks for the history. I had always assumed that it was written by a Japanese.

Murray

Subject: Chord Req: Hiroshima child
From: GUEST,NCB
Date: 25 Feb 03 - 03:45 PM

Does anybody know the chords to the song Hiroshima child from Nazim Hikhmet as sung by Pete Seeger?

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Hiroshima child
From: masato sakurai
Date: 25 Feb 03 - 08:02 PM

Though it is unattributed in the DT as Hiroshima, the song is the translation of the Hikmet poem , which is often titled "I Come and Stand at Every Door" from the first line (See Some poems by Nazim Hikmet). Other titles include "Hiroshima Child," "Girl of Hiroshima," "(Poor Little) Dead Girl of Hiroshima," and "Dead Little Girl of Hiroshima." The tune adopted by Pete Seeger is "Grey Silkie." Chords are at this thread: Tune Req: The Great Silkie.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Hiroshima child
From: masato sakurai
Date: 26 Feb 03 - 02:24 PM

From Pete Seeger, Where Have All the Flowers Gone: A Singer's Stories, Songs, Seeds, Robberies (Sing Out, 1993, p. 106):

I COME AND STAND AT EVERY DOOR
(Girl of Hiroshima)
Original Turkish poem by Nazim Hikmet. English translation by Jeanette Turner
Music by James Waters ("The Great Silkie"). Adapted by Pete Seeger (1962)

I [D]come and [C]stand at [Am7]ev'ry [D]door,
But [Bm]none can [Em7]hear my [A7]silent [D]tread,
[G]I knock and [D/F#]yet re-[Em7]main un-[D]seen,
For [Em]I am [Em/B]dead, for [C]I am [D]dead.

Subject: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: GUEST,harvey andrews
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 12:36 PM

Can any Catter help me in finding the publisher of the song "Child of Hiroshima" which I understand was written by Nazim Hikmet. I found it 40 years ago on a Pete Seeger album I no longer have.
Thank you!

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: Little Robyn
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:24 PM

It's in Reprints from Sing Out, Vol 5, on page 39 opposite The Great Silkie.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 03:29 PM

Seeger thought at the time that the tune he set Hikmet's lyric to was traditional; in fact it wasn't, having been written not long before by Dr James Waters of Columbia University.

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: GUEST,harvey andrews
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 05:44 PM

Thank you both. So it's Seegers melody to Hikmet's lyrics, but can you tell me who the publisher of the song is please. It should be acknowledged in the Sing out reprint, and on the Seeger LP?

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: masato sakurai
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 06:15 PM

See Chord Req: Hiroshima child too.

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 06:41 PM

I may have been wrong to say that Seeger initially thought the melody traditional (though it's a story told often enough); he himself later said just that he had used the tune without permission.

I'd go with the information at http://www.peteseeger.net/Icomeandstand.htm:

Original Turkish poem by Natzim Hikmet
English translation by Jeanette Turner
Music by James Waters ("The Great Silkie")
Adaptation by Pete Seeger (1962)
Text (c) 1966 by Stormking Music Inc.
Music (c) 1966 by Folk Legacy Records

Folk Legacy is Sandy and Caroline Paton, of course. With luck Sandy will spot this thread; but you might like to pm him about it. I'm pretty sure he's commented on this in the past, but not at the Mudcat.

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 06:43 PM

This is what Pete himself writes in 'Where Have All the Flowers Gone':

[1993:] In the late '50's I got a letter: "Dear Pete Seeger: I've made what I think is a singable translation of a poem by the Turkish poet, Nazim Hikmet. Do you think you could make a tune for it? (Signed), Jeanette Turner." I tried for a week. Failed. Meanwhile I couldn't get out of my head an extraordinary melody put together by an Massachusetts Institute of Technology student who had put a new tune to a mystical ballad The Great Silkie from the Shetland Islands north of Scotland. Without his permission I used his melody for Hikmet's words. It was wrong of me. I should have gotten his permission. But it worked. The Byrds made a good recording of it, electric guitars and all. [...] I never met Jeanette Turner, who was a volunteer with a New York peace organization. She died soon after she wrote me. Bless your memory, Jeanette. And Hikmet, the Turkish Communist poet imprisoned for so many years. And thank you, James Waters, now a professor in Vermont. Your melody is one of the world's greatest. (Seeger, Flowers 195f)

So the lyrics should be credited to Hikmet, transl. by Turner / Seeger, the tune to Waters. I think (can't check just now) the credits in the book leave out Turner.

It's one of my all-time favourite songs.

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jul 05 - 06:46 PM

Text (c) 1966 by Stormking Music Inc.
Music (c) 1966 by Folk Legacy Records

Thanks Malcolm, that's what I needed!

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 03:59 PM

The melody reminds me of "Silkie" on the second Joan Baez album.

Peter OurBroker.com

Subject: RE: Child of hiroshima song/publisher
From: Jack Campin
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 04:40 PM

The reason it reminds you of that tune is because it was first written for "The Great Silkie"/The Grey Selchie". Search around here a bit and you'll find links to the older traditional tune for that song.

I wrote about settings of the Hiroshima song here: http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=118299.

---

This gave me the impetus to look at attempts to rework one of my favourite songs. Nazim Hikmet's "Kiz Cocugu" (Girl), a monologue by the ashes of a girl killed in the Hiroshima bombing, is well known on the folk scene due to Pete Seeger, as "I Come and Stand at Every Door".

Here's that familiar one, sung by This Mortal Coil with video footage from a film of the Japanese manga about the bombing, "Barefoot Gen":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UycvFgD4r-A

But they don't sing it to that in Turkey. Here's Nazim Hikmet reading his own poem, followed by the popular setting by Zulfu Livaneli, here sung by Joan Baez in Turkish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3I4OnAuZIo

Here's Livaneli singing it himself, solo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxCFBbVF85o

Here's a very fine performance he did in the early 1980s with Maria Farantouri, who sang her verses in Greek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMj51k_krxs

And here's a clip of an entirely different and rather wilder setting of the tune, by Ruhi Su, which I think predates Livaneli's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIuZOu3UtL0

The same poem has been reworked in Japanese, by Ryuichi Sakamoto. I guess they've got more right to it than anybody else:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmsRNQ57f1M

And another take on that Japanese version, a very emotional performance filmed at Ground Zero in modern Hiroshima:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCv2fS1wPU

(Most of the videos use harrowing footage of the bombing).

Other versions? There must for sure be one in Russian. There had better be one in Hebrew. (Speaking of which, where has Volgadon got to? He'll know of both).

Here's the ABC for Livaneli's setting (lines without words are instrumentals) from his book "Songs from the Past to the Future" (Ararat Verlag, 1981):

X:1
T:Kapilari calan benim
C:Zulfu Livaneli (words: Nazim Hikmet)
M:3/4
L:1/4
Q:1/4=120
K:D Dorian
"Dm"D F G|A c A|         c A          c |    d    f d|\
"Dm"g f d|c A F|"Dm7sus4"G F          C |"Dm"D3      ||
%
"G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"Dm"    d (c<    A)    |    A    A2 |
w:Ka-pi-lar-i* cal-an* ben-im
"G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"Dm"    d (c<    A)    |    A    A2 |
w:Ka-pi-lar-i* bir-er* bir-er
"G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"F"      d (A//G//F/- F)|"G"(A/G/) G2 |
w:Go-zu-nuz-e* gor-u-***ne-*mem
"Dm"F G2 |A F2 |"Cm7"   _E E2          |"Dm"D    D2||
w:Goz-e gor-un-mez ol-u-ler
"Dm"g f d|c A F|"Dm7sus4"G F         C |"Dm"D3       |
%
"G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"Dm"    d (A//G//F/- F)|"G"(A/G/) G2 |
%
w:Goz-u-nuz-e* gor-u-***ne-*mem
"Dm"F G2 |A F2 |"Cm7"   _E E2          |"Dm"D    D2||
w:Goz-e gor-un-mez ol-u-ler
%
"Dm"G A F|D C G|"Dm7sus4"F D          C |"Dm"D3      |]

The full Turkish text is attached to many of those videos and is on innumerable Turkish lyrics sites. The usual English translation changes the ending a bit.

To play or display ABC tunes, try concertina.net

---

Jack, I copy-pasted your text here so it can be seen easily with the rest of the information on this song. -Joe Offer-

Subject: DT Correction: I Come and Stand at Every Door
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Apr 09 - 08:09 PM

The Digital Tradition lyrics don't seem quite right to me. Here are the lyrics from Volume Five of Reprints From Sing Out! (page 295, the pink volume). Songwriter/tune information added from discussion above.

I COME AND STAND AT EVERY DOOR [Dead Little Girl of Hiroshima] (words by Nazim Hikmet, English translation by Jeanette Turner) I come and stand at every door, But none can hear my silent tread. I knock, and yet remain unseen, For I am dead, for I am dead. I'm only seven, though I died In Hiroshima long ago. I'm seven now as I was then - When children die, they do not grow. My hair was scorched by swirling flame; My eyes grew dim, grew dim and blind. Death came and turned my bones to dust, And that was scattered by the wind. I need no fruit, I need no rice. I need no sweets, or even bread; I ask for nothing for myself, For I am dead, for I am dead. All that I ask is that for peace You fight today, you fight today, So that the children of the world May live and grow and laugh and play! Original Turkish poem by Natzim Hikmet English translation by Jeanette Turner Music by James Waters ("The Great Silkie") Adaptation by Pete Seeger (1962) Text (c) 1966 by Stormking Music Inc. Music (c) 1966 by Folk Legacy Records Pete Seeger's Where Have All the Flowers Gone (p. 106) has two lines different: I'm only seven, although I died My eyes grew dim, my eyes grew blind. Recorded by Baez @war @child filename[ HIROSHIM SOF CLICK TO PLAY

HIROSHIMA (DT Lyrics) I come and stand at every door Tho none can hear my silent tread I come and knock yet remain unheard For I am dead, for I am dead I'm only seven tho I died In Hiroshima long ago I'm seven now as I was then When children die they do not grow My hair was scorched by swirling flame My eyes grew dim, my eyes grew blind Death came and turned my bones to dust And they were scattered on the ground I need no fruit, I need no rice I need no sweets, nor even bread I ask for nothing for myself For I am dead, for I am dead All I ask is that for peace We work today, we work today So that the children of the world Can live and laugh and grow and play Tune:Baez version of the Grey Silkie Recorded by Baez @war @child filename[ HIROSHIM SOF

Subject: RE: Girl of Hiroshima / I Come and Stand at Every Door
From: Jack Campin
Date: 25 Apr 09 - 07:20 PM

While we're at it here's Yüksel Pazarkaya's German translation, from Livaneli's book.

  X:1
  T:Kleines Mädchen
  C:Zülfü Livaneli
  A:Nazim Hikmet tr. Yüksel Pazarkaya
  M:3/4
  L:1/4
  Q:1/4=120
  K:D Dorian
  "Dm"D F G|A  c  A|         c A          c |    d     f d|\
  "Dm"g f d|c  A  F|"Dm7sus4"G F          C |"Dm"D3      ||
  %
  "G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"Dm"     d (c<    A)    |    A     A2 |
  w:Der an die* Tür- en klopft* bin ich
  "G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"Dm"     d (c<    A)    |    A     A2 |
  w:Von Tür zu Tür* klopf' ich* ein-zeln
  "G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"F"      d (A//G//F/- F)|"G"(A/G/) G2 |
  w:Doch ich kann mich* euch nicht*** zei-*gen
  "Dm"F G2 |A  F2  |"Cm7"   _E  E2          |"Dm"D     D2||
  w:Denn die Tot-en sind nicht sicht-bar.
  "Dm"g f d|c  A  F|"Dm7sus4"G  F         C |"Dm"D3       |
  %
  "G" c d2 |d (d<c)|"Dm"     d (A//G//F/- F)|"G"(A/G/) G2 |
  %
  w:Doch ich kann mich* euch nicht*** zei-*gen
  "Dm"F G2 |A  F2  |"Cm7"   _E  E2          |"Dm"D     D2||
  w:Denn die Tot-en sind nicht sicht-bar.
  %
  "Dm"G A F|D  C  G|"Dm7sus4"F D          C |"Dm"D3      |]
  

Der an die Türen klopft, bin ich
Von Tür zu Tür klopf' ich einzeln
Doch ich kann mich euch nicht zeigen
Denn die Toten sind nicht sichtbar.

Seit ich starb inHiroschima
Sind schon zehn Jahre vergangen
Bin ein Kind von sieben Jahren
Tote Kinder wachsen nicht mehr.

Ja, zuerst mein Haar aufflammte
Versengt wurden meine Augen
Jäh ward ich zur Handvoll Asche
Und verstreut in alle Lüfte.

Ich klopfe an eure Türen
Unterschreibt doch, Onkel, Tante,
Kinder soll man niemals töten
Bonbons soll'n sie lutschen können.

Subject: RE: Girl of Hiroshima / I Come and Stand at Every Door
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 12:20 PM

Thanks for refreshing and adding to this thread.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Girl of Hiroshima / I Come and Stand at Every Door
From: Jack Campin
Date: 26 Apr 09 - 05:33 PM

It occurred to me that Pazarkaya's version set to Livaneli's tune was a bit odd, as German songs go. Maybe somebody's done a version to go with the Waters/Seeger tune, or some other tune, with a more conventional German stress pattern?

Subject: RE: Origin: I Come and Stand at Every Door (P Seeger)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 Aug 11 - 08:32 AM

Nothing to add except it's Hiroshima Day today.

Subject: RE: Origin: I Come and Stand at Every Door (P Seeger)
From: GUEST,999
Date: 06 Aug 11 - 08:43 AM

Union Songs
songs articles recordings books films song links union links
Hiroshima Song   (We Will Never Allow Another Atom Bomb to Fall)

A song by Ishiji Asada and Koki Kinoshita©1955
English words by Ewan MacColl

In the place where our city was destroyed,
Where we buried the ashes of the ones that we loved,
There the green grass grows and the white waving weeds,
Deadly the harvest of two atom bombs.

Then brothers and sisters you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes.

The sky hangs like a shroud overhead
And the sun's in the cage of the black, lowering cloud.
No birds fly in the leaden sky,
Deadly the harvest of two atom bombs.

Then, brothers and sisters you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes,

Gentle rain gathers poison from the sky
And the fish carry death in te depths of the sea;
Fishing boats are idle, their owners are blind,
Deadly the harvest of two atom bombs.

Then, landsmen and seamen you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes,

All that men have created with their hands
And their minds, for the glory of the world we live in,
Now it can be smashed, in a moment destroyed,
Deadly the haryest of two atom bombs.

Then, people of the world, you must watch, and take care
That the third atom bomb never comes.



Notes

The Singing Voice of Japan, formed after the Second World War, had a choir of 5000 by 1955. This famous Japanese song was written by Ishiji Asada and set to music by Koki Kinoshita. It became popular in England in 1955 and has played a big part in numerous peace campaigns.

Ewan MacColl's English translation was sung on the Aldermaston Marches by the London Youth Choir.


from

Hiroshima Song unionsong.com/u236.html


Another site worth checking is

Antiwar Songs (AWS) - Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Subject: RE: Origin: I Come and Stand at Every Door (P Seeger)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Aug 20 - 07:05 PM

Hiroshima, a modern city on Japan’s Honshu Island, was largely destroyed by an atomic bomb during World War II. Today, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park commemorates the 1945 event. In the park are the ruins of Genbaku Dome, one of the few buildings that was left standing near ground zero. Other prominent sites include Shukkei-en, a formal Japanese garden, and Hiroshima Castle, a fortress surrounded by a moat and a park.

The United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, with the consent of the United Kingdom, as required by the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in armed conflict.

It's already August 6 in Hiroshima. It's a good day to remember what happened 75 years ago today.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origin: I Come and Stand at Every Door (P Seeger)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 06 Aug 20 - 01:54 PM

There's a Hiroshima Never Again concert on Facebook today, 3-5:30 PM Eastern Time

https://www.facebook.com/events/705207820041966/