The Vietnam War protest song lifted verbatim from the bible
Around the mid-1960s, The Vietnam War started to drive a wedge between the American people. For all those willing to give their lives for their country, there were just as many unlucky soldiers drafted into a war that they didn’t ask for, making their way through the jungle and swampland without any hope for survival. While the war raged half a world away, the best that the world’s creatives could do was write the ultimate retort to such violence.
In the wake of the carnage on Vietnam soil, artists like Bob Dylan began cutting his teeth in the Greenwich Village folk circuit, making songs that had to do with the problems in the human psyche that drive men towards violence. As much as Dylan might have been the voice of the generation for most, Pete Seeger had a condemnation of biblical proportions for the warmongers in Washington.
Between writing some of his future folk classics, Seeger’s song ‘Turn Turn Turn’ was lifted from Scripture, taken from the book of Ezekiel. Although the lyrics are taken almost verbatim from the bible, most of the teachings in the lyrics speak to the ongoing nature of the human condition, knowing that every season will pass away eventually. Though Seeger didn’t have to do a lot of editing when putting the lines to music, the context of those words had more to do with what was happening on the ground floor of America.
Since a majority of the population was going through the devastation of losing some of their family members to an unjust war, the calming sounds of every season one day passing away gave people a lot of comfort at the time. Although Seeger may have been able to say what was on many Americans’ minds at the time, it would take another group of legendary musicians to spend it to the top of the charts.
Having already been spending their career arranging jangly versions of Bob Dylan songs like ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, The Byrds sent this humble folk tune into the stratosphere, complete with Beatles-esque harmonies and the main melody line being echoed by Roger McGuinn’s electric guitar figure. Compared to the news aired on television nearly every day, The Byrds gave young rock fans the sense that just maybe everything would be okay.
Then again, more protest songs were bound to follow. In the midst of The Byrds making their first in-roads to success, other artists threw their hat into the ring to say their piece on the war, from The Beatles advocating against violence on ‘Revolution’ to Buffalo Springfield warning what kind of dangers still existed on American soil on ‘For What It’s Worth’.
Despite some of the pushback from the government officials in Washington wanting to put an end to protesting, ‘Turn Turn Turn’ always remained a vital part of the counterculture, reminding every suit that young people still had a voice and were willing to express any of their grievances with the way their government handles violence. It would never be easy taking on a topic like The Vietnam War in song, but it always helps when one has spiritual guidance on their side.
