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.— Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Pete Seeger took those Bible verses, re-arranged them a bit, set them to music, wrote a half-dozen new words (plus a repeated seventh), and created a timeless international classic.
The original text was already innately comforting. Who wouldn’t find solace in the notion that life brings its share of joy and grief in turns? Especially when you’re in a valley, it’s nice to know another peak awaits you somewhere out there.
But in the late 1950s, Seeger sensed that a war-weary America needed a bit more reassurance, and he added six important words of his own: I swear it’s not too late.
In the interview below, Seeger tells Alec Wilkinson how he approached writing the song.
Pete’s own version sat in the vault for a while, though. The first recording of “To Everything There Is a Season” (as it was originally called) to reach listeners’ ears was by an American folk group called The Limeliters in 1962.
Among the backing musicians on that Limeliters track was a 20-year-old guitar player named Jim McGuinn. Jim was particularly taken with Seeger’s song, and the following year he arranged it for folk singer Judy Collins, who retitled it “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” and released it on her Judy Collins 3 album in 1963.
A year later, McGuinn teamed up with fellow folk musicians Gene Clark and David Crosby and formed a group called The Jet Set. The trio added Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman to their line-up later in the year, and by Thanksgiving, they’d renamed themselves The Byrds.
The Byrds scored their two biggest hits during their first year together. Their first and biggest came right out of the gate: a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” released in April 1965 that went to #1 in both the U.S. and U.K.
As the band was touring that summer, McGuinn’s future wife Dolores asked Jim to play Seeger’s song (which by that point was a folk standard) on the tour bus. McGuinn obliged, but by that point in his career his instincts were more rock than folk, and the resulting hybrid arrangement immediately struck the band as a potential hit.
The Byrds recorded their version of “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (now completely dropping its original title) in early September and released it as a single on October 1st. It was a smash hit, topping the charts in the U.S. and Canada, and it became a perennial standard in rock as well as folk.
The Byrds’ version became so popular, in fact, that Seeger himself adopted their version instead of his own.
Pete was a bit modest in that interview; both arrangements became classics in their respective genres. And in the 21st century, Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to each of them.
Bruce’s first performance of “Turn! Turn! Turn!’ was (appropriately) with the Seeger Sessions Band in 2006, performed as a duet with Marc Anthony Thompson at a rehearsal show for the band’s upcoming tour.
But two years later–almost to the day–Bruce had the chance to perform the more famous rock arrangement with Jim McGuinn, who had changed his name to Roger in 1967. Here’s how it came to be:
Bruce and Roger’s performance of “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with the E Street Band was one of the highlights of the Magic Tour–so much so that Bruce released it on his Magic Tour Highlights EP later that year.
Today, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” is regarded as both a folk and jangle rock classic, bearing the imprint of two of Bruce’s influencers. It’s only fitting that it remains one of the few covers that Bruce has issued on an official release.
Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”
First performed: April 25, 2006 (Asbury Park, NJ)
Last performed: April 23, 2008 (Orlando, FL)
I was in Orlando 😎