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You may leave here for 4 days in
space
But when you return, it’s the same old
place
. . .
And… tell me over and over
and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the
eve of destruction
The world is so empty if one thinks only of
mountains,
rivers and cities;
but to know someone here and there
who thinks and feels with us,
and though distant, is close to us in
spirit...
- this makes the earth for us an inhabited
garden.
-Goethe
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Eve of
Destruction
Barry
McGuire
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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
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 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 sitting here just contemplatin’
You 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 drum, 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 prayers
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.
Note: For
those of you who are too young to know.
During the Viet Nam
Conflict, 18 year olds were not
allowed to vote. But they
could be drafted to go
fight for their country. Many felt
(including me)
that this wasn't fair. They were not allowed
to
vote for the members of Congress who were
sending
them off to die? This is the reason for the one
line
in the song referencing they can't vote but they can
die.
So Barry McGuire inserted his political
statement in this song.
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart actually
started a
"LUV" campaign (LET US VOTE) and we finally did
win!
In 1971 I believe 18 years old won the right to vote.
In
1971, I was 21 and by that time for me it didn't matter.
But we fought for all future generations, which means
YOU!
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Where this song came
from:
Phil Sloan remembers, “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!"
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Hear McGuire sing the wav file
at
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