Eve of Destruction (cover art for Barry’s McGuire’s single)
Don’t know what brought this up but the lyrics to Eve of Destruction, written in mid-1964, totally fit into the “every thing old is new again” category. Read them deeply and marvel at P.F. Sloan’s historic lyrics which also forecast the future – sadly.
Eve of Destruction
The eastern world it is explodin’, violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin’
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
Don’t you understand, what I’m trying to say?
Can’t you see the fear that I’m feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no running away
There’ll be none to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you, boy, it’s bound to scare you, boy
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
Yeah, my blood’s so mad, feels like coagulatin’
I’m sittin’ here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of Senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
Think of all the hate there is in Red China [North Korea?]
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama [Charleston, South Carolina?]
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space
But when you return it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor but don’t forget to say grace
And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
Published by
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
http://www.metrolyrics.com/eve-of-destruction-lyrics-barry-mcguire.html
Interesting notes on the song’s lyrics:
● “You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’” refers to the fact that in the United States at that time men were subject to the draft at age 18, while at that time the minimum voting age (in all but four states) was still 21, before a Constitutional amendment changed it in July 1971.
● “And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’” refers to The War over Water [rights].
● The song’s reference to Selma, Alabama pertains to where the Selma to Montgomery marches and “Bloody Sunday” had taken place in March of 1965. (The version by Jan and Dean substitutes “Watts, California” in the lyrics, in apparent reference to the Watts Riots.)
● “You may leave here for four days in space, but when you return it’s the same old place” refers to the June 1965 mission of Gemini 4, which lasted just over four days.
● The lyric, “The pounding of the drums, the pride and disgrace” refers to the November, 1963, John F. Kennedy assassination and his funeral, which featured muffled drumming as the casket was slowly taken to Arlington National Cemetery.
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From Wikipedia:
“Eve of Destruction” is a protest song written by P. F. Sloan in mid-1964. Several artists have recorded it, but the best-known recording was by Barry McGuire.
The song references social issues of its period, including the Vietnam War, the draft, the threat of nuclear war, the Civil Rights movement, turmoil in the Middle East, and the American space program.
The American media helped popularize the song by using it as an example of everything that was wrong with the youth of that time. Due to its controversial lyrics, some American radio stations, “claiming it was an aid to the enemy in Vietnam”, banned the song. The song also drew flak from conservatives. It was also banned by some British radio stations.
The song had initially been presented to The Byrds as a Dylanesque potential single, but they rejected it. The Turtles, another L.A. group which often recorded The Byrds’ discarded or rejected material, recorded a version instead. Their version was issued as a track on their 1965 debut album It Ain’t Me Babe, shortly before McGuire’s version was cut; it was eventually released as a single and hit #100 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970.
Barry McGuire version
McGuire’s recording was made between July 12 and July 15, 1965, and released by Dunhill Records. The accompanying musicians were top-tier Los Angeles session players: P. F. Sloan on guitar, Hal Blaine (of Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew) on drums, and Larry Knechtel on bass guitar. The vocal track was thrown on as a rough mix and was not intended to be the final version, but a copy of the recording “leaked” out to a disc jockey, who began playing it. The song was an instant hit, and as a result, the more polished vocal track that was at first envisioned was never recorded.
McGuire recalled in later years that “Eve of Destruction” had been recorded in one take on a Thursday morning, reading lyrics scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper. The following Monday morning he got a phone call from the record company at 7:00 am, telling him to turn on the radio — his song was playing. McGuire’s single hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1965.
After becoming a born-again Christian, McGuire re-recorded “Eve of Destruction” as the lead track on his second contemporary Christian release: “Lighten Up”. He updated the lyrics when he performed at a reunion of folksingers, with the line about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches replaced by the words “Columbine, Colorado”, referring to the student massacre of 1999.
On March 12, 2008, McGuire appeared on the Australian music comedy/game show Spicks and Specks, performing an updated version of “Eve of Destruction”, with new lines such as “You’re old enough to kill/you just started voting” and “… can live for ten years in space”. The reference to “Red China” was also removed, and in its place were the more generic “Now think of all the hate, still living inside us/it’s never too late, to let love guide us”.
Reception
In the first week of its release, the single was at #103 on the Billboard charts. By August 12 Dunhill released the LP, Eve of Destruction. It reached its peak of #37 on the Billboard album chart during the week ending September 25. That same day the single went to #1 on the chart, and repeated the feat on the Cashbox chart, where it had debuted at #30.[7] McGuire would never again break into the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. It went to #1 in Norway for two weeks.
Read the whole article at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_of_Destruction_(song)