More about Pete Seeger and Oleanna

Oleanna is a Norwegian song, whose lyrics were written by Ditmar Meidell in 1853. There were 22 verses although the first and last verses were nearly identical. Martin B. Ruud wrote a literal translation of the entire song in 1936. Theodore C. Blegen wrote a rhyming one in 1944.

Pete Seeger translated Oleanna in 1955. His version consisted of only six verses, with the first and last verses being the same. In a live recording in 1956 Seeger also summed up five of Oleanna's other verses. His understanding of the song was based on Ruud's earlier translation. Following Seeger's comments are the same five verses in Blegen's 1944 translation.

PETE SEEGER 1956 WITH VOICES TOGETHER WE SING

(The original went on this way (in Norwegian) for thirty or forty verses. "They pay you two dollars a day for carousing, and if you carouse very well, they pay you four dollars a day." "The sun shines all night long; you can see in the dark just like a cat." "The moon is always full; I can tell you that for sure because I am observing it now with a bottle for a telescope." The song was obviously composed by a man. "In Oleanna, a man can lie around all day in his velvet jacket, smoking a meerschaum pipe which his old lady fills for him. If she doesn't like doing all the work she takes a stick and gives herself a beating."

THEODORE C. BLEGEN 1944

Two dollars for carousing they give each day, and more, Sir,
For if you're good and lazy, they will even give you four, Sir.

And all night long the sun shines, it always keeps a-glowing,
It gives you eyes just like a cat's to see where you are going.

The moon is also beaming, it's always full, I vow, Sir,
A bottle for a telescope, I'm looking at it now, Sir.

You walk about in velvet, with silver buttons bright, Sir,
You puff away at meerschaum pipes, your women pack them right, Sir.

The dear old ladies struggle, and sweat for us, and labor,
And if they're cross, they spank themselves, they do it as a favor.

THEODORE BIKEL 1959 - 1960

Theodore Bikel recorded Oleanna in 1959. He sang Pete Seeger's lyrics and gave him proper credit. In 1960 he published a book of folksongs that included Oleanna. His version of the song had four verses by Seeger and two that were completely his own invention. He also had a verse about women beating themselves with a hickory stick. This was no doubt based on Seeger's paraphrase from the 1956 recording, which was also reprinted in Sing Out! Magazine. There's no evidence that Bikel ever saw Ruud's translation. Seeger did not receive credit for his lyrics.