The song has been covered and reinterpreted by a variety of artists including Pete Seeger and Hans Theessink . Seeger recorded and released both live and studio versions of the song on several of his albums . In Australia , the song was reworked as " Canberra Blues " by The Bitter Lemons , an R & B band . The lyrics speak of the problems faced by young Australians in the Australian Capital Territory in the 1960s . Theessink adapted the song to his style of European blues for the album Journey On in 1997 .