Eve of Destruction (song) Eve of Destruction (song) "Eve of Destruction" is a protest song written by P. F. Sloan in mid-1964. Several artists have recorded it, but the best-known recording was by Barry McGuire. This recording was made between July 12 and July 15, 1965, and released by Dunhill Records. The accompanying musicians were top-tier Los Angeles session players: P. F. Sloan on guitar, Hal Blaine (of Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew) on drums, and Larry Knechtel on bass guitar. The vocal track was thrown on as a rough mix and was not intended to be the final version, but a copy of the
Day Is Done (Peter, Paul and Mary song) earlier for their "Album 1700" released in 1967). The song was released in March 1969 and reached No. 21 on "Billboard" Hot 100 for chart dated June 21, 1969. The song was written as an anti-war song during the Vietnam War era, and Yarrow performed it as the opening song at a concert during the anti-war march he helped organized in Washington in November 1969. It became one of the well-known protest songs in the era. According to Yarrow, the message of the song is that "children will lead us to a better world". The song was recorded live at