On this date in 1965 The Byrds released the album Turn! Turn! Turn! The single featuring the song had been released several weeks earlier and reached #1 in December 1965. The Byrds were one of my favorite bands in the 65-67 period and the first rock concert I attended was in March 1966, when The Byrds performed to a half-full auditorium in White Plains NY. The closing song was Turn! Turn! Turn!
The song was composed by folk singer Pete Seeger in the late 50s. Roger McGuinn, lead guitarist of The Byrds, came from the folk music scene which is why he adapted Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man for the band's first single. In the case of Turn! Turn! Turn! he added a rock beat, made some alterations to the chord structure of the song and devised, with David Crosby, those beautiful harmonies. You can listen to Seeger's original here.
What makes the song so unusual is that the lyrics are 2,500 years old. Seeger took them from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible, a philosophical reflection on life and its meaning. You can read interpretations of the book's meaning here and here. The lyrics are from Chapter 3, verses 1-8. For the full text of Chapter 3 read this, and for one of many interpretations of the chapter you can read this.
Lyrics to Turn! Turn! Turn!
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
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
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Good day Mark.
ReplyDeleteLong time reader here if not a frequent commentor. I've paid particular attention to your analyses on all the goings-on viz the Steele Dossier and relateds eg, the Mueller Report. (Matter of fact I read them all in full myself.)
Last week I received in my email a (link) query along the lines of "This is seeming to be more of a SOP than *I ever considered possible. Opinion/thoughts?" (My email correspondent having a great curiosity resulting from the 'Kidnap Governor Whitmer Operation'.)
At any rate - and possibly you've already addressed this fellow Sergei Millian and I've neglected paying attention; or simply forgot - But I in turn following my friend's interest turn to a person who, in my opinion, has provided the most complete non-partisan thorough study of the subject. The link she sent me:
https://amgreatness.com/2021/11/18/durham-investigation-intrigue-sergei-millian-an-fbi-plant/
And I in turn ask, Opinion/Thoughts?
Respectfully, Justin K. (from rural Arkansas)
I briefly covered Millian in my November 8 post on the Danchenko indictment. Another unfortunate caught up in this charade. There are many others - Svetlana Lokhova for instance, about whom I've barely written but had her career wrecked by a smear published in many papers.
DeleteThanks. And yes, if ever there was 'collateral damage' personified it is Svetlana Lokhova.
DeleteJK/AR