Barry McGuire had a #1 hit with Eve of Destruction. It was THE protest song of the 1960’s, “Blowin’ in the Wind” not withstanding.
Iman and I have had a back and forth about this song. My contention is that it’s as timely today as when it was released back in 1965. Iman say’s McGuire was wrong; that he is a failed prophet. To take such a stance is to miss the point. McGuire wasn’t trying to prophesize; he was protesting. The song, as it says, is an expression of frustration, anger and fear for this country and the world.
Written by P. F. Sloan, “Eve” is distinctive because of its topical references. It was written specifically for the time. As such, it’s a bit of a history lesson in a way that Billy Joel’s contrived “We Didn’t Start the Fire” isn’t.
So 44 years later, let’s see if “Eve” holds up today. My comments are in parenthesis.
EVE OF DESTRUCTION
The eastern world it is explodin’,
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’,
(Suicide bombers, beheadings, and American troops in two wars. Let’s not talk about Israel and Palestine)
You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’,
(The voting age in 1965 was 21, but 18 year olds were being drafted)
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’,
(Perhaps a general statement on the hypocrisy of the time)
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin’,
(War and killing in the “Holy Land” is nothing new. Who controls the water of the Jordan River remains a bone of contention)
But you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
Oh, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.
Don’t you understand, what I’m trying to say?
And can’t you feel the fears that I’m feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no running away,
(Remember the Cold War? The threat of nuclear annihilation was always present. Not so much today)
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,
(Unfortunately “twisting the truth” has been re-packaged as “spin”, which “knows no regulation”)
Handful of Senators don’t pass legislation,
(Today a handful of Senators can keep meaningful health care reform from passing)
And marches alone can’t bring integration,
(Gays are the new Negroes. Second-class citizenship has always been a component of American society)
When human respect is disintegratin’,
(Actually I think we’ve made a bit of progress here. Openly expressed bigotry is little tolerated now. Still, human respect remains highly equivocal)
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!
(A devastating comparison! Cult of Personality China vs. Apartheid America. In Selma police dogs and fire hoses)
Ah, you may leave here, for four days in space,
(Gemini 4)
But when your return, it’s the same old place,
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace,
(Think JFK’s funeral)
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace,
(Three Civil Rights workers murdered in Mississippi in 1964)
Hate your next-door-neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace,
(Israelis and Palestinians, Indians and Pakistanis, Catholics and Protestants)
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. mmm, no, no.
you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.
McGuire is still singing “Eve of Destruction” and he has apparently updated the lyrics to include issues like the Columbine shootings. He’s even fixed the “old enough to kill, but not for voting” lyric to reflect the fact that it’s no longer true.
That’s a shame, really. “Eve of Destruction” doesn’t need to be updated. Part of its appeal is that it captured a particularly tumultuous part of American society in the 1960’s. You just don’t update a time capsule.
As to whether we’re still on the “Eve of Destruction”, of course we are. And we always will be. The threats may grow or diminish as time passes, but human society is a fragile thing. Natural or man-made cataclysms will always loom somewhere out there. Sometimes it helps to have the words and music of protest and alarm to wake us up once in a while. “Eve of Destruction” was the clarion call of the mid 60’s. Here in the 00’s the best we can probably hope for is a ringtone.
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