This song remains the same

By MICHELLE BEARDEN
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: June 9, 2008

They had only about 15 minutes left in the rented recording studio. Time for one more song.

Barry McGuire pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket and propped it on the music stand to decipher the handwriting. It was a song his friend P.J. Sloan had written, grimly titled “Eve of Destruction.“

The Eastern world, it is exploding,

Violence flaring, bullets loading,

You’re old enough to kill, but not for voting,

You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re toting?

McGuire nailed it on the first try, albeit with an unplanned “ahhhhh” when he lost his place.

“Sometimes you just get one take,“ he says today, “and sometimes, one take is all you need.“

That was a Thursday. On Monday, he got a call at 7 a.m. from a record producer.

“Hey, McGuire! Turn on the radio! Your song is playing!“

And history was made that balmy, mid-July day in Los Angeles, 1965.

* * *

“Eve of Destruction” spoke to those turbulent times.

An unpopular war in Vietnam. Riots and racial tension triggered by the Civil Rights movement. Distrust of the Soviet Union. Drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll. Americans were angry. You could read it in the headlines and see it on the streets in protest marches.

The song’s explosive lyrics divided the country. McGuire and writer Sloan were either enemies of the people, or heroes, depending on point of view. The criticism surprised them.

“It was labeled a protest song, but it wasn’t protesting anything. It was a diagnostic of societal hypocrisy,“ says McGuire, who lives in Fresno, Calif., with Mari, his wife of 35 years.

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.

Fans went into a buying frenzy. The record quickly scaled the charts, so fast in fact, that McGuire never got a chance to go back and re-record. The “ah” stayed in, but no one seemed to notice. Within two months, the song would reach No. 1 on both the Cash Box and Billboard charts.

It would be McGuire’s first and last solo hit. But it has staying power. At 72, he has lost his hair and gained some girth, but he’s still singing “Eve of Destruction.“

Tragically, he says, the song resonates today.

“I’m surprised, but I’m not surprised,“ he says. “The stupidity of armed conflict doesn’t end. Vietnam, Korea, Desert Storm and now Iraq. How many people are still being murdered, slaughtered, blown to bits? If anything, we’re on the Dawn of Destruction.“

The song had passion but no answers.

Don’t you understand what I’m trying to say?

Can’t you feel the fears I’m feeling today?

If the button is pushed, there’s no running away.

There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave.

Take a look around ya, boy, it’s bound to scare ya boy.

McGuire got scared. After losing 16 friends over the course of a decade to drug overdoses, suicides and sexually transmitted diseases, the one-time party boy with two children by women he never married had a personal epiphany in 1971.

A chance encounter with a copy of the New Testament and a lot of inward reflection led him to Christ. At first, his friends thought it was cool he was a “Jesus freak.“ But when they realized he was serious about quitting drugs and focusing on the Bible, they didn’t like the transformation. Some fans weren’t happy, either. They walked out of his concerts when he sang Christian songs.

“People change,“ he says. “And in my case, it saved my life.“

McGuire calls himself a disciple of Christ. He doesn’t care much for organized religion. He says he belongs to an ancient church established by Christ himself.

“It’s called the church of two or more, and we’re in it right now,“ he says.

He and Mari have two grown children, a 31-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter, and he’s on good terms with his two older kids. Most weekends he’s on the road, touring with his “Trippin’ the 60s” show. Audiences from gray-haired widows to young teens hear tales of the era and the songs that made it special.

“Eve” is one of the most popular entries in the lineup. He has tweaked a few of the lines to make it more relevant for today and dumped the line about “Red China.“ Good move, since his tour heads there this summer. Late last month, he recorded the song again, this time with Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac and Roger McGuinn, formerly of The Byrds. It will be included in his upcoming CD.

Retirement isn’t an option. McGuire says he plans to sing until he dies. In fact, in a way he did die on stage about five years ago, in the middle of a concert. His heart stopped beating, and a nurse in the audience kept him alive until paramedics arrived.

He got a pacemaker put in and was back performing the next week.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad, feels like coagulating

I’m sitting here just contemplating

I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation

Handful of senators don’t pass legislation.

McGuire’s no angry young man. Life is good. He’s got perspective now. He doesn’t judge others and he has learned to forgive. He loves spending time in his backyard garden among the roses and grapevines.

When asked for his secrets to a happy life, he’s quick to answer. Always tell the truth, never make any assumptions and don’t take anything personally. The fourth rule? Do your very best on the first three.

“One of the greatest blessings is to know you are blessed,“ McGuire says. “I’m still having fun. It’s just the fun I’m having now doesn’t hurt anyone or myself.“

Michelle Bearden can be reached at or (813) 259-7613.

‘EVE’ QUICK FACTS

1) ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman dubbed former St. Louis slugger Mark McGwire “Mark ‘Eve of Destruction’ McGwire”

2) The only surviving example of a Vietnam era gun truck is named for the song. It’s on display at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum in Fort Eustis, Va.

3) A conservative group called “The Spokesmen” answered “Eve” with “The Dawn of Correction.“ Then came the patriotic “The Ballad of the Green Berets” by Green Beret medic Sgt. Barry Sandler. Johnny Sea released the spoken word recording “Day For Decision.“ Even Motown’s Temptations mention the title in the group’s “Ball of Confusion.“

4) Yes, that’s a French translation of “Eve of Destruction” in Michael Moore’s film “Sicko.“ It also was used in Michael Winterbottom’s 1997 movie “Welcome to Sarajevo” and in Stephen King’s television miniseries “The Stand.“

5) D’oh! Check out The Simpsons episode of “The Girl Who Slept Too Little” for a rendition.

6) The song came in as No. 3 in “The 10 Worst Dylanesque Songwriting Ripoffs” in “The Worst Rock n’ Roll Records of All Time” by Owen O’Donnell and Jimmy Guterman.

7) Bands love it, especially punk and New Wave groups. It’s been covered by: The Dickies, Red Rockers, Johnny Thunders, D.O.A., Screaming Jets, Crashdog and Psychic TV.

8) The line “You’re old enough to kill but not for votin’ “ got the attention of lawmakers. In 1971, “Eve” was entered in the record when Congress lowered the minimum voting age to 18.