what is the meaning of eve of destruction?

Question

what is the meaning of eve of destruction by barry mcguire?
what is the meaning of this song?
and what issues does the song talk about?
thank you very much!

Answer 1

First look at the lyrics: http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/91758/



The references to "The eastern world is explodin', Violence flarin', bullets loadin'," are to the Vietnam war.

The words, "You're old enough to kill but not for votin'" refers to the fact that , in 1965, American men were subject to the military draft at age 18 and getting sent off to war, while at that time the minimum voting age (in all but four states) was 21.



"And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’" refers to The War over Water.between Israel and its Arab neighbors over control of available water sources in the Jordan River drainage basin.



References to the button getting pushed and no running away, and not being able to save the world when it's in a grave, and the Eve of Destruction itself, are to the prospect of nuclear war between the US and Russia, where there were enough nuclear weapons to guarantee "Mutually Assured Destruction" - it would wipe out both sides completely and catastrophically, a terrifying prospect. At the time the song was written, there was a group of atomic scientists maintaining what was called the Doomsday Clock, that told how close to "midnight" = global thermonuclear war, the world was, based on international events and provocations. We were very close. The Doomsday Clock is still kept, but has changed in its scope.

The song also makes references to marches for integration (civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama), and Selma, Alabama where Bloody Sunday took place and peaceful marchers were attacked by police, and marchers were murdered.

"You may leave here for four days in space, but when you return it's the same old place" refers to the June 1965 space mission of Gemini 4 orbiting the earth, which lasted just over four days.

According to song's author, the lyric "The pounding of the drums, the pride and disgrace" refers to the Kennedy assassination.

The "hate in Red China" refers to the fact that we had no diplomatic relations with Communist China at all at the time the song was written. No trade, no talk, just hostility on both sides.



In short, it was a powerful protest song about the issues of the day that were putting the entire world in jeopardy - and pointing out that young people, who were being drafted and sent off to war, had no say in the matter ("old enough to kill, but not old enough for votin').

Answer 2

"Eve of Destruction" is a protest song which was written in 1965 by P.F. Sloan. It has been recorded several times, but the definitive recording was performed by Barry McGuire. This recording was recorded between July 12 and 15, 1965 and released by Dunhill Records. His recording included master session drummer Hal Blaine on it. The vocal tack was thrown on as a rough mix and was not intended to be the final version, but a copy of the recording "leaked" out to a DJ, who began playing it. The song was an instant hit and as a result the more polished vocal track that was at first envisioned was never recorded.



The Turtles' version had been released as an album track before McGuire's version was issued.



In the first week of its release, the single was at #30 on the Cash Box charts, and #103 on the Billboard charts. By August 12, Dunhill released the LP, Barry McGuire Featuring Eve of Destruction. The LP reached it’s peak of #37 on the Billboard album chart during the week ending September 25th. That same day the single went to #1 on both charts. McGuire was never again to break into the Billboard Top 40, qualifying him to hold down slot 183 in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits as well as pages 188 and 189 in the The Billboard Book of One Hit Wonders.



The song is a grave warning of imminent apocalypse, and considered by some to be the epitome of a protest song. It expressed the frustrations and fears of young people in the age of the Cold War, Vietnam, and the nuclear arms race.



The American media helped popularize the song by using it as an example of everything that was wrong with the youth of that time. The song also drew flack from both conservatives and liberals. On the right, a group called The Spokesmen released an answer record entitled The Dawn of Correction. A few months later, Barry Sadler released the patriotic Ballad of the Green Berets.



Additional information below.



http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=799

Answer 3

The eve or evening comes at the end of the day. By the 1960's the Earth had survived two world wars, and a third seemed certain. Compared to a day, the 1960's felt like the eve of the twentieth century. Firemen were chasing black people with high pressured hoses, thousands of teens were facing a draft into an unfair war in Southeast Asia, JFK was assasinated, MLK was assasinated, RFK was assasinated, and more then enough warheads to destroy the human race sat atop opposing ICBM's.