The Flowers of Urban Decay

By Cameron Meier

Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone,
Long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Gone to small towns every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the small towns gone,
Long time passing?
Where have all the small towns gone,
Long time ago?
Where have all the small towns gone?
Grown to Detroits every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the Detroits gone,
Long time passing?
Where have all the Detriots gone,
Long time ago?
Where have all the Detroits gone?
Gone to decay every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where has all the decay gone,
Long time passing?
Where has all the decay gone,
Long time ago?
Where has all the decay gone?
Gone to pastures every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the pastures gone,
Long time passing?
Where have all the pastures gone,
Long time ago?
Where have all the pastures gone?
Gone to flowers every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

 

© 2026 MeierMovies, LLC

This poem was inspired by my 2026 trip to Detroit, where I witnessed the inevitability of urban decay: entire neighborhoods reduced to fields. It is, of course, based on “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” created in 1955 by Pete Seeger, who borrowed an Irish folk melody. In 1960, Joe Hickerson revised the lyrics, turning the composition into a circular song.