Pete Seeger and Lee Hays wrote this song in 1949. The Weavers had a hit with it in the 50s and Peter Paul and Mary got it to #10 on the Billboard charts in 1962. I’m posting this in memory of Peter Yarrow who passed away on January 7, 2025.
My wife Camilla and I visited Pete Seeger’s house, which he had built himself in Beacon New York. He said that he could only afford to buy the land and had his friends help him construct it. If anyone visited him, he would hand them a hammer.
The picture above is Pete pointing to the house he built.
[Verse 1]
[D] If I had a hammer
[G] I’d hammer in the [D] morning
[F#m] I’d hammer in the evening
[Bm] All over this [A] land
[D] I’d hammer out danger
I’d hammer out a [Bm] warning
I’d hammer out [G] love [D] between my [G] brothers and my [D] sisters
[G] All [A] over this [D] land
[Verse 2]
If I had a bell
I’d ring it in the morning
I’d ring it in the evening
All over this land
I’d ring out danger
I’d ring out a warning
I’d ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land (If I had a song)
[Verse 3]
If I had a song
I’d sing it in the morning
I’d sing it in the evening
All over this land
I’d sing out danger
I’d sing out a warning
I’d sing out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land