EVE OF DESTRUCTION
(P. F. Sloan)
LOU ADLER:
I'd heard the first Dylan album with electrified instruments. This is strange, but it's really true: I gave Phil Sloan a pair of boots and a hat and a copy of the Dylan album, and a week later he came back with ten songs, including "Eve of Destruction." It was a natural feel for him - he's a great mimic.Anyway I was afraid of the song. I didn't know if we could get it played (on the radio). But the next night I went to Ciro's, where the Byrds were playing. It was the beginning of the freak period.... there was this subculture that no one in L.A. knew about, not even me, and it was growing. The Byrds were the leaders of the cult, and the place was jam-packed, spilling out on to the street.
ln the middle of it was this guy in furs, with long hair, and dancing; I thought he looked like a leader of a movement. Terry Melcher told me that he was Barry McGuire, and that he'd sung with the New Christy Minstrels. A week later we cut the record and it sold six million.
I didn't think it was a copy of anything. It was the first rock'n'roll protest song and Sloan laid it down in very simple terms, not like the folk people were doing. If you listen to the song today, it holds up all the way - it's the same problems. It's certainly an honest feeling, from a 16 year old.
Melody Maker, Feb 5, 1972, p. 43; reprinted in Dave Laing, "Troubadours and Stars," in Dave Laing, et. al., The Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock, London, 1975, pp. 58-59.
From the folk revival itself came the notion of the protest song, even though, ironically. the Bob Dylan album given to P.F. Sloan, the composer of ''Eve'' was one which contained no protest material. Nevertheless, the earlier connection of Dylan and denunciation of political evil no doubt lingered on in Sloan's mind....The crude power of the record impressed even a traditionalist like Josh Dunson. Even though he felt that "it might well win the poll for the worst written pop song of the year,'' Dunson recognized the importance of its impact:
"'Eve Of Destruction' is the first protest song dealing in specifics to reach the non-college-educated sector of the population. It is awkward and full of holes. but the earnestness with which it was bought by hundreds of thousands and blocked by dozens of stators might indicate a large segment of the young population other than college students is dissatisfied with our war policy abroad and double standards at home."The main reason for the popularity of "Eve Of Destruction'' among the mass of young people outside colleges was the fact that it's author was one of them. P.F. Sloan was sixteen and a genuine street poet. He lacked the polished satire and irony of folk singed like Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs. Instead he dealt in rushes of rhymes and images, adding up to a semi-articulate teenage shout of rage. One of his other songs, "Sins Of A Family'' had a verse which capped anything in ''Eve Of Destruction'':"What a sad environment
A bug ridden tenement
And when they couldn't pay the rent
Was because her father was out getting liquored.''Dave Laing, "Troubadours and Stars," in Dave Laing, et. al., The Electric Muse: The Story of Folk into Rock, London, 1975, pp. 58-59.
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'?
An' 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,
An' 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, will the world in a grave.
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy.
An' 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,
An' marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin',
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'.
An' 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 you return it's the same ol' place,
The poundin' of the drums, the pride an' disgrace.
You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace.
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don't forget to say grace,
An' tell me, 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.