Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) – The Byrds

I don’t know what’s worse to look at – Roger McGuinn’s glasses or The Byrds’ haircuts. Put both on the same album cover and you’ve got yourself a real treat. Arghhh. Don’t mind me – I’m just in a silly mood on this frigid, overcast morning in Bogotá.

I first heard this on the US coming-of-age show The Wonder Years, where it featured in three episodes. While the song became closely associated with the show, it wasn’t the main theme – that went to Joe Cocker’s cover of With a Little Help from My Friends. I’ve mentioned this series often because it left such an impression on me, and a lot of its soundtrack has made its way in here.

Now, back to today’s featured track – the sermon-like, old lefty peace song, Turn! Turn! Turn! Pete Seeger adapted the first eight verses of Chapter 3 of the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes into the song. Apart from the repeated title and the final two lines, the lyrics come directly from that passage.

Seeger recorded his own version, but it was The Byrds who turned it into a hit – something they had a knack for, especially with Bob Dylan songs. Their version reached No. 1 on the US Billboard and No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart.

From Wikipedia: The Biblical text posits there being a time and place for all things: birth and death, killing and healing, sorrow and laughter, war and peace, and so on. The lines are open to myriad interpretations, but Seeger’s song presents them as a plea for world peace with the closing line: “a time for peace, I swear it’s not too late. This line and the title phrase “Turn! Turn! Turn!” are the only parts of the lyric written by Seeger himself”

Pete Seeger gave 45% of the royalties from Turn! Turn! Turn! to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, a group critical of Israeli state policy. Seeger also had long ties to socialist and communist circles, which is reflected in the fact that his handwritten lyrics were later donated to New York University through the Communist Party USA in 2007.

To everything (Turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (Turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose under heaven

[Verse 1]
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

[Chorus]

[Verse 4]
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late

References:
1. Turn! Turn! Turn! – Wikipedia