This week's pick was written as a Vietnam War protest song by 19 year-old P.F. Sloan in 1965. Originally viewed as a Dylan-type tune, the song was first offered to and rejected by The Byrds. The Turtles, another LA band, also recorded the song on an album released shortly before Barry McGuire's version. The song was again recorded by Jan and Dean (1965) on their Folk 'n Roll album. And The Grass Roots recorded another version on their debut album, Where Were You When I Needed You (1966).
Mid-July 1965 Barry McGuire, formerly of The New Christy Minstrels, was in the studio with a group of top-tier LA musicians that included P.F. Sloan, Hal Blaine, and Larry Knechtel. McGuire has claimed that "Eve of Destruction" was recorded on a Thursday morning in one take from words scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper. It was done as a rough mix and never was intended to be the final cut; however a copy of the recording was "leaked" out. A disc jockey began playing it on air. The following Monday, at 7 a.m., McGuire's record company called, telling him to turn on the radio - - his song was being played. It was an instant hit; the plan for completing a more polished vocal track never happened. By September, Barry McGuire's version of "Eve of Destruction" was number one on the charts.
The song is a grave warning of imminent apocalypse, and considered by some to be the epitome of a protest song. It was banned by some radio stations in the U.S. and was placed on a 'restricted list' by the BBC - - it could not be played on 'general entertainment programs.' It expressed the frustrations and fears of young people in the age of the Cold War, Vietnam, the nuclear arms race, and the Civil Rights Movement. Antigovernment, hypocrisy, racism, injustice; "Eve of Destruction" has it all.
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Eve of Destruction (1965) by Barry McGuire
(Warning: Contains graphic photos)
Written by P.F. Sloan
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, but 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 feel the fears I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away,
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave,
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy,
And 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
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama!
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-neighbour, but don't forget to say grace,
And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend,
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
No no you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
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