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This is a cross-university blog project between Clemson University and the University of South Carolina - Upstate for the Spring 2008 semester. In this forum, our collaborative efforts will discuss the arguments found in popular war-based music from the 1960s.
Contributors
- Joey Schumacher - Clemson University
- Erin McCoy - USC Upstate
- Chase Hart - Clemson University
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24 comments:
P.F. Sloan/Barry McGuire – “Eve of Destruction” (1965)
The eastern world, it is exploding
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 ya boy, it's bound to scare ya 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’
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
You may leave here for 4 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
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.
Hello my name is Brandi Manley and I am a student at USC Upstate. The song is an anti war anthem, no doubt about it. The song opens up by talking about the Vietnam war going on and how America had children fighting the war. The boys were not even old enough at the time to vote and there-for had no say in what they believed politically. They were forced to fight in a war that they had no control over. This song however played a roll in helping change that and the 26th amendment soon came into existence.
The song then starts referencing nuclear bombs. The thought that everyone could be in their graves by the push of a button is nerve racking. It’s not the bombs however that are dangerous, it’s the people living on this earth. With so much power, violence, and hate going on, one can only assume that we were on the eve of destruction. The song talks of how marches and parades cannot bring people together because everyone is corrupted anyways.
People could leave the world for four days on drugs but when they sobered up again, the problems would still be there. All in all, people would turn the other cheek. They could hate their neighbors but pretend everything was alright when they sat down for dinner and said grace. People pretended the war was not going on and they also pretended that things were not on the eve of destruction. I believe the narrator is referencing America when they say “you keep telling me we’re not on the eve of destruction.”
Hey Everyone,
My name is Helen, I’m a freshman Travel and Tourism major at Clemson, though I’m currently trying to transfer to marketing. I took two years of AP English in high school during which time we studied poems extensively, however we didn’t study lyrics very much, and this is a first time experience for me. “Eve of Destruction” by P.F. Sloan and Barry McGuire holds a deep message, written in the time of the Cold War as a protest song.
The title “Eve of Destruction” represents the message that the lyrics are presenting, “eve” being the time before an event, and destruction-describing what people began to consider the youth of this era. During the early days of the Cold War people began to view the world’s youth as destructive. This was a time when the youth broke out in retaliation, brought on by fear of the Cold War, Vietnam, nuclear disaster, and the Civil Rights Movements. The lyrics describe the world’s hypocrisy at the time. “You’re old enough to kill, but not for voting,’” most likely represents how the young men were forced to go to war at a young age, before they were even old enough to have a say in government policies. “Hate your next door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace,” is another hypocritical statement saying that we do so much hating and fighting in the world, yet we still claim to be “great” and “powerful” and “Christian”. However, I’m still confused about what Sloan meant by putting in the last line of that first stanza in brackets.
Hope these comments help with your understanding of the lyrics.
- Helen O. (26).
Hey! My name is Keely and I am a freshman in the Prerehabilitative Science program at Clemson. My junior year of high school, we studied all kinds of poems and what the author meant by each of them, so hopefully I can add some good thoughts to the group. The first stanza, talks about war with all the violence and shootings, it talks about how there are young people fighting, when they aren’t even old enough to have a say in their government yet. The lyrics then continue with the stanza that continues to be repeated throughout the song. The repetition of this stanza kind of questions how no one can believe that destruction to the world is coming after he presents everything that is going on in the world at this time. The third stanza is referencing to nuclear bombings and how with the push of one button, everyone will be dead and in a grave. Then the lyrics repeat again with how he just can’t understand why no one is afraid like he is. In the next stanza, he talks about how his blood is boiling he is so frustrated. He can’t pretend like nothing is wrong in the world. He says that marches along can’t bring a community together despite race, religion, etc. because people’s respect for each other just keeps dwindling. In the next stanza, he references Red China and how much hate there is there, but how there is also hate right in the place we live. I feel like he is wondering how we can judge others, when we show the same kind of hatred towards people within our own country because of race. He continues to say you can leave here 4 days in space, which I would assume to mean drugs since it was the 60’s but when you come down from your high nothing will have changed. A momentary get away doesn’t solve any problems. He is confused on how people can claim to be so religious, yet they hate their neighbors when God says to love thy neighbor. He then ends the song by the repetition of how the eve of destruction is coming.
-Keely A. (60)
Hey everyone- Im Jesse, a Clemson management student.
This song is a very emotionally song discussing the irony of the American public during the Vietnam time period. the song will have a few lines talking about all these bad things going on, then revert to questioning how people cannot see these things happening.
I think that the eve of destruction can be looked at as two different things. It can be taken in a literal sense such as nuclear bombs going off, and destroying the world, or it can be seen as the destruction of our society, as the government kept on doing such drastic things.
Sloan, who I believe actually wrote the song, references issues at home such as the Selma Bloody Sunday event, and issues abroad like middle eastern conflicts when he says "and even the Jordan River has bodies floatin'".
Hey Everyone-
My name is Andrew Buchan and I am a freshman at Clemson studying microbiology, After reading the lyrics and listening to the song, the intent of the song seems clear. It seems that Barry McGuire and P.F Sloan were trying to warn everyone of the problems of the world, and make a point. Obviously the title says it all, the world is on the brink of falling apart. Whether it is nuclear bombs, hate, a struggling government, all things were leading to what was believed a declining world, that could end in a second. The song protested all that was perceived wrong. I think this song that emerged during the protests does a good job of addressing the issues, and makes a firm point of trying to open peoples eyes to what needed changed.
Hey everybody.
My name is Chase and Im a Psychology student at USC Upstate. When you read the first verse of the song, you immediately know it's a war based song. Obviously there is a lot of gunfire and explosion. The line, " And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin," really sets the mood of the song. This automatically lets you know this was a sad period of time to be involved with. What I find interesting about this song is the boy he talks about. It brings back the old days when boys that were to young to vote were fighting in war not even knowing their own political stance. When you are that young, war has to scar you in some way and that's crazy to me. He also talks about how frustrating these times are and he makes it sound like you are trapped. The entire song, Sloan repeats the title of the song, "Eve of Destruction." The title represents everything in the song. In times of war things are getting blown up, people are getting shot, things are exploding like "the eastern world." All of these things lead to destruction. Overall I liked the song and thought it was quite meaningful.
Chase R.
Hi everyone,
My name is Lina and I attend USC UPSTATE. When I first read this song the first thing that came to my mind was the Iraq war. It is unbelievable that after so many years we are still fighting some kind of war. This song is very meaniful and I really like that about it. What I liked the best was "You're old enough to kill, but not for votin" Why is that true? Why did they made young kids go to war against their wishes. I believe if we keep going at this paste we are going to destruction.
Hello everyone,
My name is Arsenio H. and I attend Clemson University and I am an engineering major. After reading the lyrics within the song the message wasn't as clear to me as it is now. I had to listen to the song and feel the pain that existed within that time. It's sad to see how things were during the 60's and to see how far we've come as a nation. Although there has been alot of change from the past racism still exists. The hatred of neighboring countries and even the hatred within our own can and if we don't change will lead to the destruction of our own nation.
Hello again everyone.
First off I think that everyone did fair job on the first comments. I read the song and got the gist of what it meant, but after reading other students comments, everything kind of fell into place. I could obviously see that the song was based around war, but after reading Brandi's comment, I understood it that much more. When she stated that it's not only the bombs and war itself that is dangerous, but the people themselves. The people have all this power that is leading them to destruction. The second thing I want to comment on is what keely had to say. I thought she had a very good point. "I feel like he is wondering how we can judge others, when we show the same kind of hatred towards people within our own country because of race."
This is a great point because you notice all this turmoil around the world, but the same things are going on right here where we live. I thought that was well said.
Chase R.
Hey Again!
After reading everyone’s posts it sounds like we all have a pretty good understanding for the lyrics and meaning of the song. Since our first posts, I downloaded the song to listen to and found it even more meaningful to hear. Destruction is all around us and I think the lyrics explain that. To comment on what Jesse said that in this song the “eve of destruction” can be looked at in different ways. In the 1960’s destruction was viewed as nuclear bombs and of the destruction of society from drugs and racism. Today we still see this destruction present in our everyday lives, and people don’t understand it now any more than they did fifty years ago. What I especially like about Sloan’s lyrics is that he’s not trying to blame the world’s problems on other countries, ethnicities, or social classes. Sloan clearly proves that this destruction is hitting home, right here in America, even today. Lina and Arsenio both make comments similar to this. Arsenio said that it’s sad to see how things were during the 60’s and to see how far we’ve come as a Nation today. I agree that our country has changed since those times, but not enough. All aspects that Sloan speaks of in his song are still present in some way or form today in our own Nation. The lyrics to this song are still relevant today; an alteration in a couple of words can send the same message to today’s society.
-Helen O. (26).
Hello Again-
After reading through the comments, I was able to look at a few parts of this song from different angles and with more insight. When Helen addressed the issues as they where looked at in the 60’s, I was able to better gain perspective on the song. I was not completely aware at how the youth were perceived. Not being around in this era, it helped to hear another person’s interpretation, and better gain insight on society’s opinions at the time the song was released. Also, after listening to the song, I also am not sure why that line is bracketed. After reading Brandi’s comments, I also was able to look at this song much more critically. It is true that Sloan does much to address the hypocrisy in the song, but upon first reading I did not notice its prominence as much as others. It seems that society many times rather ignore its problems, and in the 60’s it seemed quite predominate. –Andrew B (50)
Hey again everyone!
After reading all the posts it seems we all kind of have the same perception of the song lyrics presented to us. It really helped me to read everyone else’s post because it opened my mind to other thoughts and perspectives. I really like how Brandi pointed out that it really isn’t the nuclear bombs that are dangerous, it’s the people that have built and possess them. I’m not really up on my time periods so I like how Helen brought to my attention that this was a time period when the youth was breaking out in retaliation. I also liked how she highlighted the hypocritical statements in the lyrics. Jesse made me think of the lyrics from a different stand point. I didn’t really think at first that the “eve of destruction” could possibly be pertaining mainly to our society and nation, instead of the entire world. I really enjoyed reading Lina and Arsenio’s post because they related the lyrics to today and how we are still fighting in war. The only thing is that I disagree that we as a nation haven’t changed. Yes, we are still fighting in a war, but I feel that this war is different from any war we’ve ever fought in before. I think that we have become a stronger nation and more united ever since 9/11, and this war is necessary because if these people aren’t stopped they will continue to kill innocent people that aren’t like them.
-Keely A. (60)
Hello again everyone. First off i would have to say i agree with Helen about the brackets in the last stanza.I don't know why Sloan did that and I don't really know what it means but if I had to guess i would say "ya boy" is a soldier and if you were looking at his surroundings from an aerial view and seeing what is going on around him you would fear for him. You could realise what he's going through for our country and how dangerous it is. I would also have to agree with Lina about the Iraq war going on. It didn't really strike me at first but some parts of the song go hand in hand with what is going on right now in our country. If you think about it,you could say that our country is again on the " eve of destruction."
Brandi Manley
Hey everyone-
I think that Helen helped me understand the context a little better when she talked about the hypocrisy that Sloan was showing. It kind of set my mind on how the song should be understood before even fully reading into it.
Chase also brings up a interesting point of being "trapped" in the time and how Sloan must have felt trapped. I think this is completely true because most of the nation did not like this war that was happening, but couldnt do anything about it. The protests did not help, as shown by the Kent State shootings. One of the big things that the government was pushing onto people was the idea of democracy where the people control what the government does. It is so ironic that while most of the nation was against this war, they couldnt do anything about it because the government was not listening to the people.
Jesse
I also found what Lina was saying to be a good point. We definitely are getting to a point where our actions can be felt at a global level. We need to be careful with what we do. What Andrew B. was saying made sense to me as well, discussing how we would ignore our problems in the 60's. I think that this is true today as well. There are certain issues in our society that get glazed over by other ones that are deemed more important by legislators such as health care ect. This ties in somewhat with Sloan's lyrics when he states the riots in Selma Alabama- Why are we fighting abroad, when we have problems at home?
I found this picture online, and I think that it ties in with the theme of the song. If no one is listening to these protesters, they end up doing vigilante things. The stop sign is a perfect example where people begin to deface government property because the government just wont listen.
http://worcester.indymedia.org/files/stop-war.jpg
Jesse-
Hello once again-
I think after reading through the second comments, Keely A and Jesse both bring up interesting points in comparing thoughts and attitudes in the 60’s on war to the war today. While I agree with Keely that the nation seems much more united now then back then, I think that it is also true that there still remains much turmoil surrounding it. Five years later we still are in a country over the ocean fighting, and as Jesse said, with the majority of the country not in support of the governments choices. I think the Vietnam War that occurred throughout the 60’s lasting for 16 years was much different, but there are some similarities. The image I choose as it related to the song is linked below, and I thought I related to how Sloan talked about nuclear warfare ending life, and how the people protested. http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/images/Historical%20Page/radioactive1.JPG
-Andrew B (50)
Hello again everyone!
It has been so interesting to read what everyone else is saying about the lyrics in this poem. It definitely gives me a different insight than I would have gotten from reading it myself. One that that really stood out to me was what Keely said about our nation being stronger after 9/11. I previously said that I thought our country is no better off now than it was in the 60’s but the point she made about 9/11 bringing us closer as a nation is really true. Unlike other wars such as the Cold War or Vietnam where nothing was really resolved, we are doing our best to make this war have a final resolve. During this day in time we see a lot less of revolting and retaliation against the war and more of people trying to work to get us out of, whether they think it’s a good idea for us to be overseas or not. This also ties into what Jesse said, “most of the nation did not like this war that was happening (Vietnam), but couldn’t do anything about it.” In the 60’s I think the government didn’t want to listen to the people, where as now they are. Brandi I liked what you said in response to my question about the brackets in the first stanza, what you said makes since to me know and I can understand the message better now.
On that note, I think when it comes down to it, this song is about unity in our nation, coming together as a country for the better. Sloan is trying to make a point about how hypocritic the world is. The image I chose just shows what Keely and Jesse sort of said about America coming together after 9/11. Even though people don’t agree with the war, we are working to mediate the problems overseas and in America.
http://www1.ecxmall.com/stores/familyestore/catalog/9-11%20Patriotic%20Fireman.bmp
Hey everyone.
It's Chase again back for the last comment. The more and more I read these lyrics the more memories and thoughts that come to mind. Again this is a song that was based around the war time. My grandfather actually fought in the Vietnam War. He has told me one particualr story each time we have talked about the war. His partner and him were undergoing attack as they were staking out in a fox hole. The next thing he knew there was a grenade inside the hole that blew part of his foot off. After reading this, it makes me think of him and aopreciate what these folks dealt with. To comment on someone elses work, i think Jesse brought a lot of things together with just the picture she posted in her comment. Overall I had fun with this project and gook luck to everyone.
Chase R.
hellllo again. I pretty much think we all had the same interpretation of the song and it's lyric breakdown. I'm glad I had to chance to blog with everyone and to get better insight as to what the song really brings to the table. I definately agree with Jesse when saying we need to watch what we do because our actions can be reflected globally. In some places in the world you can't even walk down the street alone at night for fear of being attacked or something of that nature. I'm not sure who wrote this post but i agree with the author who said " Even though people don’t agree with the war, we are working to mediate the problems overseas and in America." We have come a long way since the 1960s and have grown more mature as a country. I chose this image of an apple to represent the song.
http://thumbs.photo.net/photo/6721434-sm.jpg
Usually you find fruits to be vibrant and full of "life", but in this picture it is quite the opposite. This apple is on it's "eve of distruction." The apple looks as if the tough, peel/layer has began to crumble away. Before war, we find the world to be a happy and colorful environment. As war approaches, the lively atmosphere diminishes away, leaving the world to be a dark place in time of war, much like this apple.
Brandi Manley
Hey everyone!
I have really enjoyed hearing everyone’s comments and thoughts about the lyrics. I think everyone provided some very good insight. I really liked how Chase used the word “trapped” in the time period. It really shows how far people have come along in accepting one another, even though there is still some prejudice in society still today. I still don’t really understand the purpose of the brackets around those few words as Helen was also questioning about. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and it opened my mind to many things from that period. The picture I chose was from the 1960’s, it is a group of African- Americans protesting the prejudice of the time. I picked this picture because in the lyrics it talks about how we can criticize other countries, when we have our own problems on our own soil.
-Keely A. (60) http://www.everyculture.com/multi/images/gema_01_img0008.jpg
Hello again,
After reading the comments of the other students it's pretty clear that we got kind of the same message from the song. It's basically a war based song that tries to rebuild the trust of and ensure the peace in America. Though what is spoken of as peace is far from what existed or what even exists today. There are still major forms of injustice or even prejudice. In the workplace is one of the main places that prejudice exists today. There are invisible barriers in the workplace that may hinder certain ethnicities from exceeding. Though times have changed and there alot better. There is still some room for change.
I think doing this blog was a great idea for everyone to put their mind and let everyone express how they feel. After I did my first comment I only notice a few things about the song but after reading the comments on everyone my mind just opened to new ideas. It is unbelievable how people have so many different opinions to define a song. I was glad to notice that many of the comments were so positive about the meaning of this horrible sad moment in life.
Lina O
I am very glad that many people are opened mind. What I kept thinking about this song was that it was more like a story than a song. I did not wanted to listen to it i just wanted to read it and read it until i kinda memorize some stuff. It made just realize how bad things were for the people living in the 1960s. People were actually feeling destruction was around the corner.
LINA O
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