Max's Musings

Turn, Turn, Turn

Turn, Turn, Turn

The King James Bible is surely one of the most influential English-language texts ever written. It's the most-published version of the most-published book in the English language. Its influence on the culture and the language can't be over-estimated. Whether one is religious or not, its an enormous part of our shared cultural heritage.

I've always been struck by the book of Eccesiastes. It's easy to imagine everyone from Machiavelli to Voltaire to Sartre being inspired by the words of the teacher. Certainly, Pete Seeger found inspiration when he wrote the song, "Turn, Turn, Turn," which quotes famous lines from the text.

This has always been one of my favorite songs. The gentle mix of folk music and the beautiful poetry of the text imbue the text with a particular sensibilty, that of ageless wisdom.

Seeger wrote the song in 1959. Except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, the lyrics consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. The song was originally released in 1962 as "To Everything There is a Season," but it was the version by the Byrds in 1965 that we know the best. The song charted on Billboard as number one on December 4, 1965. That version must have been the one I first heard.

The song has been used in many movies and TV shows. For example, it appears in Forrest Gump and The Wonder Years. The song plays he closing credits of episode 3 of Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's 2017 documentary The Vietnam War.

Here are some links
                                                 
The Byrds 1965 version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4

                                                 
The Limelighters 1962 version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuzE5dwPCd4

                                                 
Judy Collins and Pete Seeger singing the song in 1966
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qURAnrk30ng



Max Griffin
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