"Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season)", often abbreviated to "Turn! Turn! Turn!", is a song adapted entirely from the the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (with the exception of the last line) and composed to music by Pete Seeger in the 1950s. Seeger waited until 1962 to record it, releasing the song on his album The Bitter and The Sweet on Columbia Records.

Lyrics and title

The lyrics are taken almost verbatim from the King James version of the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3, verses 1–8).

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time
to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time
to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is
planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to
break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time
to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather
stones together; a time to embrace, and a time
to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to
keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to
keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of
war, and a time of peace.

The Biblical text posits there being a time and place for all things: laughter and sorrow, healing and killing, war and peace, and so on. The lines are open to myriad interpretations, but as a song they are commonly performed as a plea for world peace, with stress on the closing line: "a time for peace, I swear it's not too late," the latter phrase being the only part of the lyric written by Seeger himself.

The song is one of a few mainstream songs to set a large portion of scripture to music, other examples being The Melodians' "Rivers of Babylon", Sister Janet Mead's "The Lord's Prayer (Sister Janet Mead song)" and U2's ""40""

The song was published in illustrated book form by Simon & Schuster in September 2003, with an accompanying CD which contained both Seeger & The Byrds recordings of the song. (ISBN-10: 0689852355 & ISBN-13: 978-0689852350) 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.

Handwritten lyrics to the song were among the documents donated to New York University by the Communist Party USA in March 2007¹.

Early folk versions

The song first appeared several months before the Seeger version, on an album by the folk group The Limeliters on RCA Records, Folk Matinee, under the title "To Everything There Is a Season". One of their backing musicians, Jim McGuinn (a.k.a. Roger McGuinn), would later work with folk singer Judy Collins, rearranging the song to suit her style, now entitled "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)", for her Elektra album of 1964, Judy Collins #3.

The Byrds recording

The most successful recorded version of the song is the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit single by McGuinn's pioneering folk-rock band The Byrds, released in October 1965 (b/w "She Don't Care About Time" Columbia 43424). In December, it became the title song to the group's second studio album. The group performed it in the 1966 concert film The Big T.N.T. Show.

Nearly three decades after the Byrds released the song as a single, the recording featured prominently in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump.

The song was also featured in Jim Sheridan's 2002 film, In America, although it was not included on the official soundtrack.

After Joe Cocker's cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends", the song was the first to play on the first episode of the television series The Wonder Years.

Other cover versions

The song has been covered by a number of other artists:

• The Seekers recorded the song for their 1966 album Georgy Girl (also known as Come the Day)
• Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin covered it as the b-side of 1968 hit "Those Were the Days". She later did a Welsh language version, titled "Tro, tro, tro".^{citation needed}
• Country music singer Dolly Parton recorded it in 1984 for her The Great Pretender album, and again in 2005 for Those Were the Days.
• In 2000, David Pajo's post-rock band Papa M recorded an extended improvisation based on "Turn! Turn! Turn!," agreeing to continue playing their version of the song in a studio in Portland, Oregon until the tape ran out. Their first and only take, containing no lyrics, is 16 minutes and 22 seconds long, and appears their 2004 release Hole of Burning Alms.
• Singer and pianist Nina Simone recorded two versions of the song, one of which was released on her album To Love Somebody (1969).
• Canadian country music singer Jim Witter covered the song for his 2003 album Forgiveness.
• Adrienne Camp (Adie) also recorded the song on September 26, 2006 for her album Don't Wait, released through BEC Recordings.
• Bruce Springsteen, during his 2006 tour with the Seeger sessions band, covering Springsteen's release We Shall Overcome, played the song incidentally. Roger McGuinn subsequently appeared with Springsteen and the E Street Band at their Orlando show in 2008; McGuinn came onstage to perform a short set that included "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Mr. Tambourine Man"."Lebanese Tribute To Bruce Springsteen". Retrieved on 2008-08-10.
• Sister Janet Mead covered the song on her 1999 album A Time to Sing.
• Dave Perkins did a cover of the song, a duet with Steve Taylor, on his 1987 album The Innocence.
• Larry Norman covered the song on his album Copper Wires (1998)
• Michael Knott covered the song on the Lifesavers' 1995 A Kiss Of Life album.
• In 1999, the Japanese rock group Plastic Tree recorded the song with new lyrics written by the vocalist Ryutaro Arimura; the cover, titled Inori (祈り, Inori^? "Prayer"), was recorded for the single Tremolo.
• Andy Sturmer, lead singer and songwriter of Jellyfish recorded a cover of the song for an unknown project.
• The trio Wilson Phillips covered the song on their 2004 album California.
• Singer and songwriter Amy Grant closed each show of her 20th Anniversary "Lead Me On" tour in 2008 with a cover of the song.

Notes

External links

• Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 King James Version
• Lyrics and info about the duet with Bruce Springsteen