In the other thread („Pete Seeger on CNN") in Kat's post Seeger says:

„Once I had an idea for a line: "Long time passing." Later in the year I'm reading a book describing the Cossack soldiers galloping off to join the Czar's
army, like 150 years ago, singing, "Where are the flowers? The girls have plucked them. Where are the girls? They're all married. Where are the men? They're all in
the army." Within 20 minutes, I had a song."

This motif is well known in the East European folklore. Here's a German translation (with my English translation) of an old song from one of the Baltic countries. Read it and you'll see that it's a quite old precursor of Seeger's fairly new song. It has a great melody too. You'll find it where I copied this song from: http://ingeb.org/Lieder/zogenein.html.



ZOGEN EINST FÜNF WILDE SCHWÄNE



1. |: Zogen einst fünf wilde Schwäne,
Schwäne leuchtend weiß und schön. :|
"Sing, sing, was geschah?"
Keiner ward mehr gesehn.
"Ja, sing, sing, was geschah?"
Keiner ward mehr gesehn.

(There once flew five wild swans,
swans white and beautiful.
Sing of what happened then:
None of them was seen anymore)

2. |: Wuchsen einst fünf junge Birkchen
Grün und frisch an Bachesrand. - :|
"Sing, sing, was geschah!" -
Keins in Blüten stand. -
"Ja, sing, sing, was geschah? "
Keins in Blüten stand.

(There once grew five young birch trees,
green and fresh at the banks of a stream.
Sing of what happened then:
None of them came into bloom.)

3. |: Zogen einst fünf junge Burschen
Stolz und kühn zum Kampf hinaus. - :|
"Sing, sing, was geschah? " -
Keiner kehrt nach Haus. -
"Ja, sing, sing, was geschah? "
Keiner kehrt nach Haus.

(There once marched five young lads
proudly and boldly into the fight.
Sing of what happened then:
None of them returned home.)

4. |: Wuchsen einst fünf junge Mädchen
Schlank und schön am Memelstrand. - :|
"Sing, sing, was geschah?" -
Keins den Brautkranz wand. -
"Ja, sing, sing, was geschah? "
Keins den Brautkranz wand.

(There once grew five young girls,
slender and beautiful at the banks of the river Memel.
Sing of what happened then:
None of them wore the wedding dress.
[bad translation, but I don't know what 'Brautkranz' is and whether this custom is known in the Anglo... etc. Culture])

Wolfgang