Saturday, December 18, 2010

From The Book, By The Byrds, For All Bloggers: A Time For Love... A Time For Peace... And To Heal

It's nearly Christmas and I was looking for a suitable yuletide album to post on this blog. I couldn't find one I like. I asked around and there were suggestions. Then a phone call from a friend who was discussing Ecclesiastes reminded me of a song that has words from this Book. So without further ado dear readers, this song is for all. Thanks for your comments, good wishes and support. A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.
Words-adapted from:

The Bible, Book of Ecclesiastes
Music-Pete Seeger

TURN, TURN, TURN

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones,

A time to gather stones together
To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace,

A time to refrain from embracing
To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late

(I hardly know the Bible but with Edwin Goh's help I managed to get the source: ECCLESIASTES 3: 1 - 8. Edwin Goh was the former director at the Regional Language Centre (RELC) at Orange Grove Road, Singapore.)

Image: Embassy Records/Reissue. wikipedia.org

4 comments:

Lam Chun See said...

Friend. You should have asked me. In fact, at the end of year 2007, I too blogged about this song; or rather this passage of scripture from the Book of Ecclesiastes. Maybe it's that time of the year when oldies get nostalgic. Anyway, my article was titled; To Everything There is a Season

Lam Chun See said...

Oops forgot to mention that this is one of my favourite songs. Somehow, for a number of years, I thought it was sung by Peter and Gordon. Strange. Not sure why I made that connection. Do they sound alike?

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

Thanks Chun See, I see you mentioned the passage in your posting.

Some cliches are worth remembering.
Not that I am nostalgic at this time of the year but I think it is appropriate to read the Book during this Christmas period and reflect.

ANDY: Pop Music Not Pills. © said...

I guess there are similarities but I don't know about Peter and Gordon recording it, although there are more than two dozen other singers who did.

You can check Wikipedia for the list.