"Eve Of Destruction"
A protest song written by P.F. Sloan who was 19 years old at the time, said he wrote it in the early morning hours between midnight and dawn in mid-1964. The song was released in 1965. |
|
The eastern world, it is exploding 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 tryin’ to say Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today? If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave [Take a look around ya boy, it's bound to scare ya 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 sitting 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 You may leave here for 4 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… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend You don’t believe We’re on the eve of destruction Mm, no no, you don’t believe We’re on the eve of destruction. Several artists have recorded it, but the best-known recording was by Barry McGuire. McGuire was the lead singer for a popular folk group at the time called the New Christy Minstrels. Writing and singing his own Number 1 hit, "Green,Green". He had just left the group and was on his own and looking for material to record. This recording was made between July 12 and July 15, 1965 and released by Dunhill Records. |
Barry McGuire above left - P.F. Sloan above right The accompanying musicians were top-tier LA session men: P.F. Sloan on guitar, Hal Blaine on drums, and Larry Knechtel on bass. It is rumored that 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 DJ, 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. When it was first released in 1965 there were some Top 40 radio stations in the northeast that would not play it when first released. The song is a grave warning of imminent apocalypse, and considered by some to be the epitome of a protest song. 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. |
