Song Help Request Help with Gbm chord (if it exists)?

Hi, guys. I'm trying to figure out this song I downloaded from www.chordie.com. It's the old folk song "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", as recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary.

The version I got starts out;

(Bb) Where have all the (Gbm) flowers gone, (Eb) long time (F) passing?
(Bb) Where have all the (Gbm) flowers gone, (Cm) long time (F7) ago?

What's up with the Gbm? I can't find a reference to it in my Hal Leonard chord finder book or my Uke Chords Itouch app. I gave it some thought, and with my limited music theory background decided that it must be the same as an F#m. My resources show F#m to be 2120.

I've tried that, and to my ear it sounds awful. Am I doing something wrong, or have I just stumbled onto a bogus chord sheet for this song?

Next month's uke club theme is 60's folk songs, and this is one of the ones I wanted to submit for the group to play....

Gbm is as you say the same as F#m which is 2 1 2 0

However the chord you're looking for is Gm 0 2 3 1

spookefoote, I think you're right about the right chord being Gm (0231). That sounds much better. The songsheet clearly says Gbm, but that's the problem with resources that are user-generated....often they are wrong.

Thanks alot for the help.

So far I've submitted "Puff the Magic Dragon", "Blowin' in the Wind", "King of the Road" and now "Where Have All the Flowers Gone". Any other suggestions for 60's folk-style songs that are easy to play and sing along with?

Yup. The chord in this case should be a Gm. I play this song in C major only a semitone higher and it's much easier.
C Am F G or G7.

the52blues said:

Yup. The chord in this case should be a Gm. I play this song in C major only a semitone higher and it's much easier.
C Am F G or G7.

Click to expand...

I like this even better! Some of the folks at our group have a lot of trouble with Bb, but everyone knows these chords. Thanks!

You say G or G7.... which should I write it up as? Is one preferred over the other? Or are both used in different parts of the song? I'm such a noob....

hi there mailman. After Charlie Brown, Pete Seeger is my hero amongst heroes...

I have an old songbook of his from 1964 where he has written the music out himself, straight from the horses mouth, so to speak. It goes like this:

(C)Where have all the (G7)flowers (C)gone? (Am)Long (D7)time (G)passing

(C)Where have all the (G7)flowers (C)gone? (F)Long time a(G)go

(C)Where have all the (G7)flowers (C)gone? (Am)Young girls have (D7)picked them (G7)every one

(F)When (C)will you ever learn? (F)When (G7)will you ever (C)learn?

Great choice of song mate.

mailman said:

You say G or G7.... which should I write it up as? Is one preferred over the other? Or are both used in different parts of the song? I'm such a noob....

Click to expand...

I like G7 better since most often the chord built on the fifth of the scale is usually called the dominant 7th when used as a partial cadence.

As for eugene's chords. I don't have the old book he has but I have been in many a folk circle and it usually is played:
(C)Where have all the (Am)flowers gone (F)long time (G7)passing.....however Pete Seeger wrote the song (but may not have written the song book)

the52blues said:

I like G7 better since most often the chord built on the fifth of the scale is usually called the dominant 7th when used as a partial cadence.

As for eugene's chords. I don't have the old book he has but I have been in many a folk circle and it usually is played:
(C)Where have all the (Am)flowers gone (F)long time (G7)passing.....however Pete Seeger wrote the song (but may not have written the song book)

Click to expand...

I know what you mean 52blues. I have always played it exactly as you describe. Too many superfluous chord changes in the Seeger version. I just thought I should be faithful to the music as the guy actually wrote it when I transcribed it for mailman above.

Just for what it's worth, the book I mentioned is called "The Bells of Rhymney" (publisher is 'Oak Archives') and yes, they are the chords as transcribed by Pete Seeger himself. He writes a commentary about each song in the book and also transcribes his version of the music - both for the traditional songs and his originals. cheers mate. eugene

You learn something every day. Thanks for the info eugene. Many song books are put together by someone other than the writer and sometimes without their knowledge so they are not always correct. That being said I'm still gonna play it my way!