♫ Eve of Destruction – Redux Again ♫

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I give no reason for playing this song again … for the fourth time … tonight.  If you don’t know the reasons, then … go on back to sleep.

Released in 1965, this song was an anti-government protest against racism, hypocrisy and injustice at a volatile time in American history.  Sound familiar?  I’m really surprised that this song hasn’t made a huge comeback in the past year or so, for it is every bit as apropos today as it was 50+ years ago.  In some ways, the issues today are different, but in other ways … not so much.  Today, instead of Vietnam we have climate change and a clown in the Oval Office, Brexit and election manipulation.  Racism is still alive and well, but today we have no Martin Luther King.  Hypocrisy?  Oh yeah, in spades, my friends.  And Injustice is the name of the game here and around the world.  I could name 100 reasons that this song is as relevant today as it was then. Different faces, same ol’ song. 😢

Eve of Destruction
Barry McGuire

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?
And 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 your 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 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.

Songwriters: P. F. Sloan
Eve of Destruction lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management

19 thoughts on “♫ Eve of Destruction – Redux Again ♫”

  1. This song has remained an anthem of mine since that time. The last time I heard it taken out and aired publicly was on an episode of Greatest American Hero. That was in the late 70’s. I fear generations since then don’t share the same zeal for saving the planet that previous ones did. From my viewpoint, at least in first world countries, most folks are too complacent to raise their fists in protest and too secretly afraid to accept that a true threat exists. 😞

    Liked by 1 person

    • I don’t know … look at Greta Thunberg and all the young people following her lead in an attempt to wake us all up. I think the activists are out there, but … Sigh.

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  2. His was the voice of a nation during that period when so many of us thought we’d change the world for the better.It seems like Barry and we forgot that Money had a huge voice and that hasn’t changed. Nowadays it still the voice of money that is heard the loudest but still there are those who hope that we can change the world and bring the voice of money crashing down.
    Cwtch

    Liked by 1 person

    • We were young and idealistic, but like you, I keep hoping that there is still some hope for humans, some ‘thing’ that will make people wake up and realize that all the money in the world won’t buy happiness if you don’t care about people. I think, given the state of the environment and people’s refusal to sit up and take notice, we’re quickly running out of time, though. Sigh.
      Cwtch Mawr

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  3. Same old world, isn’t it? Just a different setting and different characters. It is what we are as a species – violent and greedy. The path to enlightenment seems slow and tedious and many of us just throw hands in the air saying what the hell. But, we can’t do that, we need to hang on to that which centers us and gives us hope.

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  4. Just thinking that back in the day…the youth often were the driving force of progressiveness and human rights and the folly of war, but today’s youth is so much more self centered, iPhone obsessed and susceptible to the far right agenda, which is regressive instead. It is very different with today’s youth.

    I use to think the youth was the hope of our nation, but I have lost that feeling now. Look at the members of the white nationalists and hate groups…it’s the youth. Mass killers…the youth. Privileged white boys who can rape and assault and get away with it. Trump’s little conservative youth he talked with where he proclaimed he could do anything he wanted because he is president …they remind me of Hitlers youth groups.

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    • Well, I agree that it often seems that way, but I don’t think we can paint all youth with that broad brush. Think about Greta Thunberg, Emma González, David Hogg and others who have become activists for the environment, for gun control … And the young people I sometimes feature in my ‘good people’ posts who are doing their part to make the world a little better. I think it’s like with any group … the squeaky wheel gets the oil, the ones who are trouble are the ones we hear about. Let’s not give up hope just yet, for I still believe today’s youth are our best hope for the future.

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  5. I loved this song back in the day. I also liked Dawn of Correction which answered Eve of Destruction in an attempt to achieve a balanced view of the times. The 60s was an unbelievable decade of terror and hope.

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