“Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” (also known as “The Strangest Dream”) is a song written by American Folk Singer-songwriter Ed McCurdy in 1950. Due to McCurdy’s connection with fellow musicians, it was common in repertoires within the folk music community. The song had its first album release when Pete Seeger recorded it as “Strangest Dream” for his 1956 album Love Songs For Friends & Foes. Seeger would later re-visit the song for his 1967 album Waist Deep in the Big Muddy and other Love Songs. The strong anti-war theme of the song led it to be recorded by multiple other artists, including The Weavers (1960), Joan Baez (1962), The Kingston Trio (1963), Simon & Garfunkel (1964), and Johnny Cash who released two versions of the song during the 2000’s. The song has been recorded by over 50 acts in English, and has also been adapted into several different languages, the most successful of these translations being a Swedish version by Cornelis Vreeswijk, a song that he recorded live in late 1964 along with Fred Åkerström and Ann-Louise Hanson, and released in 1965 on their album Visor och oförskämdheter. In mid-1966, Swedish rock group the Hep Stars released a version of it as a single; it became their first Swedish-language song and peaked at number 2 on Kvällstoppen and number 1 on Svensktoppen. Danish songwriter Thøger Olesen translated it into Danish in 1965, and German singer-songwriter Hannes Wader translated it to German in 1979 for his own studio album Wieder Unterwegs. Written during the prelude of the Korean War, “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” remains one of the most influential anti-war songs written, as such it is considered McCurdy’s signature song and is still referenced in popular culture to this day. Although only successful in a few languages, it was translated into close to 80 languages. It acts as the theme song for the Peace Corps.
Songs with Banjo from Harold Hagler
