♫ Day Is Done ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music, Social commentary

When I think of Peter, Paul & Mary, this is not the first song that comes to mind, but it is one that was quite relevant back in its day.  Released in 1969, Day Is Done was written by Peter Yarrow as an anti-war protest song of the Vietnam War era.  It was also the last single the group would ever record together — (their next single Leaving on a Jet Plane released later that year was recorded earlier for their Album 1700 released in 1967).  Had it not been for Scottie mentioning this one and asking if I would consider playing it, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it, but I’m glad he did!

According to Yarrow, it was written from the perspective of his younger brother who faced the possibility of getting drafted into the army. Yarrow performed it as the opening song at a concert during the anti-war march he helped organized in Washington in November 1969. It became one of the well-known protest songs in the era. Yarrow said that the message of the song is that “children will lead us to a better world”.  And isn’t that what we’re still saying and hoping for today?

The single version of the song was recorded live at Carnegie Hall, and an orchestra was then arranged and overdubbed at A&T Studios by Chris Dedrick. The studio version features a children’s choir from the nursery school of the Westchester Ethical Society and this version was used for the album, Peter, Paul and Mommy, released in May. Yarrow later released a children’s book based on the lyrics of the song as part of his Songbook Series. It contains a three-song CD with a version of the song he recorded with his daughter Bethany.

As far as I can tell, this song only charted in the U.S. (#7) and Canada (#5).

Thank you, Scottie, for reminding us of this song!!!

Day Is Done

Peter, Paul & Mary

Tell me why you’re crying, my son
I know you’re frightened, like everyone
Is it the thunder in the distance you fear?
Will it help if I stay very near? I am here

And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done
And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done
Day is done, day is done, day is done, day is done

Do you ask why I’m sighing, my son?
You shall inherit what mankind has done
In a world filled with sorrow and woe
If you ask me why this is so, I really don’t know

And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done
And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done
Day is done, day is done, day is done, day is done

Tell me why you’re smiling my son
Is there a secret you can tell everyone?
Do you know more than men that are wise?
Can you see what we all must disguise through your loving eyes?

And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done
And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done
Day is done, day is done, day is done, day is done

And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done
And if you take my hand my son
All will be well when the day is done

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Peter Yarrow

Day Is Done lyrics © Silver Dawn Music

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63 thoughts on “♫ Day Is Done ♫”

  1. Pingback: ♫ Wasted On The Way ♫ | Filosofa's Word

  3. Jill, I love this song and this version. I had seen it before on PBS, but it makes my heart feel good to see all the kids listening and watching. Keith

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Good choice to mark the two year anniversary of America’s’ departure from our last war. If we play our cards right we can be in one with Mexico before two more pass.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Another wonderful song. Makes me think that one of the reasons (or symptoms?) of this new world of “sorrow and woe” that is opening under our feet… I don’t see/hear singers of that magnitude (or Leonard Cohen’s) anymore…
    (I’m getting old, right)

    Liked by 3 people

  7. Released in 1969? And I never heard it? No. 5 in Canada? I must have been sitting in jail. They wouldn’t let us hear songs like that in jail. Hell, we couldn’t even get rock music without a contraband trsns8stor radio, and I didn’t have access to one.
    Good suggestion, Scottie.

    Liked by 5 people

  8. I will never forgive them for ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’. Although I detested that song, it stuck in my head for years after I heard it.
    I’m not even going to play this clip, just in case… 🙂
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 3 people

  9. I’ve always loved this song. It’s always been relevant, because I can’t recall a time in my life where there wasn’t a crisis of some kind. However, it seems singularly apt in terms of the current climate urgency — the debate between those who would “let nature take its course” (as if we’ve ever allowed that), “let god fix our stupidity” (if he exists, we can tell him what to do?), or take whatever actions we can. However, as we approach the next New Year celebration (Muslim just past, Jewish next), “Light One Candle” or the pro-union songs that PPM revived from the 1930s may be just as relevant. Henry Ford called out the rich for underpaying the people whom they need to buy their products. I guess we need to relearn that obvious truth again.

    Liked by 3 people

  10. I’ve never heard this before. Apart from Jet Plane they had very little chart success here, and this doesn’t feel strong enough to have worked as a single for the UK market, especially as we didn’t have the Vietnam War to act as a backdrop for it.

    Liked by 3 people

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