Eve of Destruction

[EC]

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 tryin' to say
And 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 whole 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


And 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 neighbor, but don't forget to say grace



But 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



http://www2.gol.com/users/davidr/sloan/aboutsongs.html

<snip>

How did it get recorded? Barry 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. He wound up at my publishing company and he was told there was a quirky songwriter he might want to listen to. Now, Barry didn't like the song "Eve of Destruction" that much. He liked a few other songs of mine better. One in particular called "What's Exactly The Matter With Me", which originally was the A-side of the record.When he was ready to record he picked 4 songs and "Eve" was the 4th to be recorded, if there was time. If you listen to the recording he's rushing singing thru the lyric because of the time constraints and he was reading it for the first time off a piece of paper I had written the lyric on! Okay. McGuire's record is released but "Eve" is the B-side. Somewhere in the Great Midwest of America a DJ played the wrong side by mistake! So as you can see, when people had written that this song was some calculated idea on how to capitalize on the emerging folk scene, it's simply B.S. Honest to God that's what happened and how the song got played.

One last thing. The media frenzy over the song tore me up and seemed to tear the country apart. I was an enemy of the people to some and a hero to others, but I was still only 20 years old and nobody really was looking. I have felt it was a love song and written as a prayer because, to cure an ill you need to know what is sick. In my youthful zeal I hadn't realized that this would be taken as an attack on The System! Examples: The media headlined the song as everything that is wrong with the youth culture. First, show the song is just a hack song to make money and therefore no reason to deal with its questions. Prove the 19-year old writer is a communist dupe. Attack the singer as a parrot for the writers word. The media claimed that the song would frighten little children. I had hoped thru this song to open a dialogue with Congress and the people. The media banned me from all national television shows. Oddly enough they didn't ban Barry. The United States felt under threat. So any positive press on me or Barry was considered un-patriotic. A great deal of madness, as I remember it! I told the press it was a love song. A love song to and for humanity, that's all. It ruined Barry's career as an artist and in a year I would be driven out of the music business too.

[bryant69]

1. Always liked the Turtles Version of it

The Turtles first album (where their version of "Eve of Destruction" appeared) was an attempt to be serious, and had some ok tracks on it before they realized they were better off being kind of like the Monkeys.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Webster Green]

5. I never thought The Turtles were "kind of like the Monkeys"...

...although there was a rumour that the Turtles actually played the music on the Monkees albums.

Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan were great rockers, through their years with The Turtles, The Mothers of Invention, and their own band, Flo & Eddie. I saw them live many times, and they were great!B-)

[OneBlueSky]

2. "Hate your next door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace" . . .

pretty much sums up the pseudo-Christian right, doesn't it? . . .

[gauguin57]

3. That "don't forget to say grace" is one of my favorite lines from ANY song

ever recorded.

I get chills every time I hear it. Cuz don't you know SO many people like that? Spewing evangelical claptrap all over the place, but they'd sooner run you over than help you.

[DanCa]

4. Heres a new one for you . We cant make it here by James Mcmurtry

We Can't Make it Here"
Lyrics by James Mcmurtry. CD - childish things.


Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry

[Beam Me Up]

6. K & Rd. This is an interesting story, a history I didn't know. And I agree

it IS a "love song to humanity." All the more reason to SING IT NOW!

[EC]

8. Yeah, I liked the interview too,

I think of it as a love song also...and a kick in the ass to remind people just what is at stake...the soul...

[politicat]

7. I love the D.O.A. version

(a bit punky.)