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Ryan Daw

29 April 2014

COM 301

Instructor: David Bollinger

My analysis on the rhetoric of Marlene Dietrich’s performance of Where Have All The Flowers Gone

(Question #4)

Marlene Dietrich, the wartime entertainer whose legs were ensured for a

million dollars by Lloyd’s of London. Dietrich was one of the most passionate and

prolific singers of her generation. I would like to focus on her delivery of an

American folksong of the nineteen sixties. Where Have All The Flowers Gone,

was composed by Pete Seeger, a singer-songwriter who believed in non-violence

and peaceful coexistence throughout the world. Dietrich loved the song, and it

was said to be her favorite song ever written. The question is, what did Marlene see in the lyrics

of this particular song?

The early and mid-nineteen sixties were a time of civil unrest. With President Kennedy’s

assassination in nineteen sixty-three, and the Vietnam War beginning in nineteen sixty-five many

people thought peace was a fleeting illusion. The lyrics state, “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. Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will

they ever learn?” The song is a story of young men going to war, and then dying in the line of

duty. This reminds me of theorist, Rudolf Agricola, who said “[Rhetoric] provides us with

linguistic embellishment, and elegance of language, along with all the baits of capturing ears.” I

also look back on the theory of Robert Basevorn. He thought preaching was not “principally

theological investigation; it was, rather moral persuasion.” The song uses both of these theories,

in the sense that is beautifully written and catches the ear with its lilting and haunting melody

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[Agricola] and the message it teaches (or preaches) is peace, we need to learn from our mistakes

of the past [Basevorn]. We also see the use of dictaminis in the lyrics.

This song, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, was a popular recording for many folk

groups associated with the flower children and beatniks of the “beach party” generation.

However, when Marlene performed it for the first time at a concert in Tel-Aviv, Israel, in

nineteen sixty, she brought down the house. People were in tears as she sang with such passion,

wishing the world would live together in harmony. She was living vita activa, as she spread a

persuasive message of peace and activism through the world on her concert tours.

In an interview on French television, Dietrich spoke of the song, “I believe in this [song]

because no one on earth loves war. So I believe this song speaks to everyone. How ridiculous

that this song, constantly repeats itself as a song of this world – but no one ever listens.” She was

referring to the question in the lyrics, “When will they ever learn?”

To conclude, the main reason I like Marlene’s rendition, and why it is so powerful, is its

arrangement, done by Burt Bacharach. When he was doing the arrangement, Dietrich kept telling

him to make the violin pizzicato sound like gunshots. She had gone through both World Wars,

and had seen what damage it had done. She wanted to convey

that the song was anti-war; the result is a masterpiece of

orchestration. Whilst performing, Marlene would put on an air

of anger and frustration, and toward the end, she would shout

the final question “when will they ever learn?” Although, this

time it would resemble an emotional and heartbreaking statement. The inventio (invention) of

this particular segment of the song is a most persuasive argument, and certainly supports the case

of world peace. Personally, it brings me to tears every time I listen.