This song comes from the bible

Turn! Turn!, which was released on December 6, 1965. The Byrds' single is the most successful recorded version of the song, having reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts and number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. The lyrics of Pete Seeger's song “To Everything There Is a Season” were taken word for word from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). The only words Seeger added were “Turn! Turn! Turn!” and “I swear it's not too late.

I was five when this song was released. If you listen to the lyrics of this beautiful song, you will see that there is a season for everything. This song was so instrumental to me as a child. We sang it at our play in Kindergarten. But it comes from the bible, yes it does. This was before ninety percent of America was offended by everything.

Turn! Turn! Turn!", or "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)", is a song written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s and first recorded in 1959. The lyrics – except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines – consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. The song was originally released in 1962 as "To Everything There Is a Season" on folk group the Limeliters' album Folk Matinee, and then some months later on Seeger's own The Bitter and the Sweet.[1]

The song became an international hit in late 1965 when it was adapted by the American folk rock group the Byrds. The single entered the U.S. chart at number 80 on October 23, 1965, before reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 4, 1965. In Canada, it reached number 3 on November 29, 1965, and also peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.[2]

Contents

1 Lyrics

2 Renditions

2.1 Early folk versions

2.2 The Byrds' version

3 Chart history

3.1 Weekly charts

3.2 Year-end charts

3.3 Other cover versions

4 See also

5 Notes

6 References

7 External links

Lyrics

The lyrics are taken almost verbatim from the book of Ecclesiastes, as found in the King James Version (1611) of the Bible,[3] (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) though the sequence of the words was rearranged for the song. Ecclesiastes is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon who would have written it in the 10th century BC, but believed by a significant group of biblical scholars to date much later, up to the third century BC.[4]

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain that which is to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time of love, and a time of hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The Biblical text posits there being a time and place for all things: birth and death, laughter and sorrow, healing and killing, 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 because of 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.[1]

In 1999, Seeger arranged for 45% of the songwriting royalties for "Turn! Turn! Turn!" to be donated to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.[5] He kept 50% of the royalties for his own music and took a further 5% for the lyrics because, in Seeger's own words, "[in addition to the music] I did write six words and one more word repeated three times."[5][nb 1] Seeger's handwritten lyrics to the song were among documents donated to New York University by the Communist Party USA in March 2007.[6]

The song is notable for being one of a few instances in popular music in which a large portion of the Bible is set to music, other examples being the Melodians' (and Boney M's) "Rivers of Babylon", Sister Janet Mead's "The Lord's Prayer", U2's "40", Sinead O'Connor's "Psalm 33" and Cliff Richard's "The Millennium Prayer". Since Ecclesiastes is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon in the 10th century BC, the Byrds' 1965 recording of the song holds the distinction in the U.S. of being the number 1 hit with the oldest lyrics.[citation needed]

The song was published in illustrated book form by Simon & Schuster in September 2003, with an accompanying CD which contained both Seeger's and the Byrds' recordings of the song. Wendy Anderson Halperin created a set of detailed illustrations for each set of opposites which are reminiscent of mandalas. The book also includes the Ecclesiastes text from the King James version of the Bible.

Renditions

Early folk versions

The song was first released by the folk group the Limeliters on their 1962 album Folk Matinee, under the title "To Everything There Is a Season" The Limeliters' version predated the release of Seeger's own version by several months. One of the Limeliters' backing musicians at this time was Jim McGuinn (aka Roger McGuinn), who would later record the song with his band the Byrds and, prior to that, arrange the song for folk singer Judy Collins on her 1963 album, Judy Collins 3. Collins' recording of the song was retitled as "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)", a title that would be retained by the Byrds, though it was shortened to "Turn! Turn! Turn!" on the front cover of the album of the same name and the song became generally known by the shorter version, appearing as such on most later Byrds compilations.

In 1963 Marlene Dietrich recorded "Für alles kommt die Zeit (Glaub', Glaub)", Max Colpet's German translation of the song. Dietrich was backed by a Burt Bacharach conducted studio orchestra, and the song was released as a single. Australian folk singer Gary Shearston also recorded a version of the song for his 1964 album Songs of Our Time, with the title "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)".

The Byrds' version

"Turn! Turn! Turn!"

TheByrdsTurnTurnTurn.jpg

1965 German picture sleeve

Single by The Byrds

from the album Turn! Turn! Turn!

B-side "She Don't Care About Time"

Released October 1, 1965

Recorded September 1, 10, 14–16, 1965,

Studio Columbia, Hollywood, California

Genre Folk rock, jangle pop

Length 3:49

Label Columbia

Songwriter(s) Pete Seeger (words from the Book of Ecclesiastes)

Producer(s) Terry Melcher

The Byrds singles chronology

"All I Really Want to Do"

(1965) "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

(1965) "Set You Free This Time"

(1965)

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" was adapted by the Byrds in a folk rock arrangement and released as a single by Columbia Records on October 1, 1965. The song was also included on the band's second album, Turn! Turn! Turn!, which was released on December 6, 1965. The Byrds' single is the most successful recorded version of the song, having reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 charts and number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. The B-side of the single was band member Gene Clark's original composition, "She Don't Care About Time".

"Turn! Turn! Turn!" had first been arranged by the Byrds' lead guitarist Jim McGuinn in a chamber-folk style during sessions for Judy Collins' 1963 album, Judy Collins 3. The idea of reviving the song came to McGuinn during the Byrds' July 1965 tour of the American Midwest, when his future wife, Dolores, requested the tune on the Byrds' tour bus. The rendering that McGuinn dutifully played came out sounding not like a folk song but more like a rock/folk hybrid, perfectly in keeping with the Byrds' status as pioneers of the folk rock genre. McGuinn explained, "It was a standard folk song by that time, but I played it and it came out rock 'n' roll because that's what I was programmed to do like a computer. I couldn't do it as it was traditionally. It came out with that samba beat, and we thought it would make a good single." The master recording of the song reportedly took the Byrds 78 takes, spread over five days of recording, to complete.

Music journalist William Ruhlmann has pointed out that the song's plea for peace and tolerance struck a nerve with the American record buying public as the Vietnam War escalated. The single also solidified folk rock as a chart trend and, like the band's previous hits, continued the Byrds' successful mix of vocal harmony and jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar playing. Billboard described the song as a "fascinating entry with words from the Book of Ecclesiastes and music adapted by Pete Seeger" that is "performed with respect and taste and a solid dance beat backing." Pete Seeger expressed his approval of the Byrds' rendering of the song.

During 1965 and 1966, the band performed the song on the television programs Hollywood A Go-Go, Shindig!, The Ed Sullivan Show, and Where the Action Is, as well as in the concert film, The Big T.N.T. Show. Additionally, the song would go on to become a staple of the Byrds' live concert repertoire, until their final disbandment in 1973. The song was also performed live by a reformed line-up of the Byrds featuring Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and Chris Hillman in January 1989. In addition to its appearance on the Turn! Turn! Turn! album, the song also appears on several Byrds' compilations, including The Byrds' Greatest Hits, History of The Byrds, The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1, The Byrds, 20 Essential Tracks From The Boxed Set: 1965-1990, The Very Best of The Byrds, The Essential Byrds and There Is a Season.

The recording has been featured in numerous movies and TV shows, including 1983's Heart Like a Wheel, 1994's Forrest Gump, and 2002's In America. Following Joe Cocker's cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends", the song was the first to be played in the initial episode of the television series The Wonder Years. It was also used in a Wonder Years parody, during The Simpsons episode "Three Men and a Comic Book". In 2003, it was used in the closing sequence of the Cold Case episode "A Time to Hate" (Season One, episode 7) and for the closing credits of episode 3 of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's 2017 documentary The Vietnam War. (Wikepedia).

This song wouldn't have significant meaning in my life again until July 1999, some thirty-four years later when my grandfather passed away. I had forgotten about this song and I had just received a new Byrds collection in the mail and this was the first song on the cd. Thank God I was on the city bus at the time because I would have had an accident if I weren't. This song has made many difficult times for me bearable and it can for you as well,

All I know is I had to remember the words to this song and practice this song for several months until we got it right. I hated it, back then everyone thought it was really cute at least the grandparents, me I was embarrassed as hell and was like where is the nearest exit. We do these things to our children all of the time. When it came time for my grandchildren's shows, they knew their father wouldn't even make the effort to come see their event, but their grandfather would be there even if he had to hitchhike from Denver to Charlotte to do it.

This song should be played today in my opinion. If you look at the turbulent times in the world and especially the United States, then this song should be played as a way to ease off the tensions between political parties and races. This song was sung as a protest to the Vietnam War, but in the verse it says there's a time for peace and a time to fight. So if this is in the bible, then God is saying to us we have to fight to protect ourselves, families. According to this song, there is a time to live, a time to die, the lyrics are beautiful and so well written. I loved the fact that the Byrds recorded this song and it was a number one for them.

This song will never grown old for me, matter of fact it is a requested song for my funeral. My children and grandchildren know it.