Eve Of Destruction II

Eve Of Destruction II

No one believed we were on the Eve of Destruction in the 60s. What are the chances they'll believe it now? The more things chage...

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"Eve Of Destruction II"

The western coast, it is erodin’

Grievance airin’, norms imposin’

Your salary is high, from all that codin’

Enlightened to the core, so why’s debate verboten?

We’d rather a cancellation than honest votin’   


But you text me

Links to a TikTok and Snapchat and YouTube clip

‘Cause you’d still prefer,

Some quick allure and seduction


Kleptocrats emerge from each election day,

Sipping their champagne and their cabernet,

In an oligarch’s world, there’s no piper to pay   

Just some shells owned by knaves, as their largesse depraves 

From their native equipoise, with yachts and other toys 


And you text me

Copying LinkedIn and Facebook to tell your “friends”

How you’re not deceived

We’re all bereaved by corruption


Russian bots diffuse debased disinformation,

Bezos and Musk buy aggregation

Meta wants your thoughts, and toothless regulation

While octogenarians debate procreation

As folks in Ukraine endure devastation

Suburbanites whine about the inflation

And satirists spout their exasperation


And you tweet me

Warn me and scold me and caution me, “don’t offend”

That the woke are peeved,

We’re all aggrieved by obstruction


The bloodshed in Darfur, the Uiguhrs in China

Producing goods for cheap to sell in Alabama

While DC prepares to gin up each base

We’re re-writing rhymes ‘bout the same sad place

The suffering ignored, the risks we efface,

Feel the tribal despair, the absence of grace, 

Insult half the country, but say it with a straight face 


And you tell me,

Posters and poseurs and donors and voters and friends, again,

We’ve all been screened, we’re on the eve of disruption

No no, there’s no reprieve, we’re not redeemed from destruction

Written By: "Weird Ev" Coopersmith & AE Studio

"Eve Of Destruction"

The Eastern world, it is explodin'

Violence flarin', bullets loadin'

You're old enough to kill but not for votin'

You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?

And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'


But you tell me

Over and over and over again, my friend

How you don't believe

We're on the eve of destruction


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 runnin' away

There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave

Take a look around you boy, it's bound to scare you, boy


And you tell me

Over and over and over again, my friend

How you don't believe

We're on the eve of destruction


Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin'

I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'

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

Handful of senators don't pass legislation

And marches alone can't bring integration

When human respect is disintegratin'

This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'


And you tell me

Over and over and over again, my friend

How you don't believe

We're on the eve of destruction


And 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 old place

The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace

You can bury your dead, but don't leave a trace

Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace


And you tell me

Over and over and over and over again, my friend

You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

No no, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Written By: Barry McGuire, 1965