We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

This week our host Jim Adams for Song Lyric Sunday has given us the weekly prompt of Death, Destruction, Pestilence, Famine.

The goal is to take the prompt and profile a song that has it part of its lyrics or title.

Please consider carving out time to read the posts of other bloggers who responded to the Song Lyric Sunday challenge.

Rules for Song Lyric Sunday

Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it contains the prompt words or not.  If it does not meet the criteria, then please explain why you chose this song.
• Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.  Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be.
• Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
• Link to the YouTube video or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
• Ping back to this post or place your link in the comments section below.
• Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
• Feel free to suggest future prompts.
• Have fun and enjoy the music.

Eve of Destruction

In 1964 a political protest song was written by a 19-year-old named P.J. Sloan called “Eve of Destruction“. Sloan who would later go on to be part of the group called “The Grass Roots“. The song criticizes racism, hypocrisy, and injustice during a volatile time in American history.

The song was originally recorded by The Turtles first album but never released as a single. After that Barry McGuire who had been with The New Christy Minstrels released his version in 1965. Many US radio stations refused to play “Eve of Destruction” because of its antigovernment lyrics and that eventually led to its popularity as a banned song. It eventually went to #1 in the US in 1965. During the 1960’s the song became the Defacto anthem of the “Hippie Movement”.

One of the quirks of Song Lyric Sunday is we sometimes learn about important verses from songs. We learn how influential those words may have been in changing society. That is the case with “you’re old enough to kill, but not for voting“. Those words galvanized the debate over voting rights in America. At the time in some states, you had to be 21 to vote. In 1971, the US Constitution was amended, lowering the voting age to 18.

Lyrics

Video

Next week the prompt will be “songs that mention fruit”.