(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)
Barry McGuire - "Eve of Destruction"
Hit Number 1: September 25, 1965
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
The 60s sure seemed to be a great time. You had enormous waves of new music bursting onto the scene, everyone was growing out their hair, and everyone was experimenting with new things (good and bad). After all, they call it the "Swingin' 60s" for a reason. But it was a pretty scary time too, especially if you were an 18 year old male, with a lot of your peers being involuntarily drafted into fighting in the Vietnam War. One day you could be driving around town with your friends, enjoying yourself and screwing around. The next day, you have to abandon your families and everything you've ever known, to go fighting overseas a million miles away, not knowing if you would even come back alive. Obviously, this was met with intense controversy, and unsurprisingly, there was a song about it.
"Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire mostly references the problems with the war and how they involuntarily drafted young men to go fight. But, the song brings up much more such as the space program with the line "you can leave here for 4 days in space, but when you return, it's just the same old place" which refers to the Gemini 4 mission, and referencing the "hate" in Red China and Selma, Alabama, where there were the Selma to Montgomery marches, and of course, the infamous "Bloody Sunday". Instead of acting as one big middle finger to those who disagree with the content, to me anyway, "Eve of Destruction" is instead trying to get those who were pro-war to stop and think for a second about how everything has gone wrong, and how America is just one button push away from being destroyed. (This is a reference to nuclear war)
As you can expect, the song was met with much controversy, especially from Conservatives. They thought that the song was "an aid to the Vietnam enemy". If I'm being honest, this song makes me feel a thousand different things, and coming up with a grade for it isn't easy. First, I don't like political protest songs. If you know me personally, anything that's tied to politics, I hate it. In a world where you can try and try to stay away from politics, but you just can't, is extremely frustrating. However, "Eve of Destruction" makes some valid points. I can't imagine what it must've been like for guys around my age to not know if they would be plucked away from their homeland, and forced into combat. That's the most scariest thing.
As a song though? Well, "Eve of Destruction" isn't much of one. McGuire sings the song with a rough force, that's kind of matter-of-fact and and forces you to listen to what he has to say. But it's not real catchy, and it certainly hasn't aged well at all. Again, I feel so many different things from this song, and I honestly couldn't tell you if I like or dislike the song. But as strange as that may sound, I'm just gonna go the safe route.
GRADE: 5/10
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