My Tribute to "Eve of Destruction" written by P. F. Sloan so Relevant to Today

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Why am I Singing This Song
August 11, 2016 11:30 p.m.
Franklin, Wisconsin USA

This was the year from hell.

I was going through a major down fall in my personal life. You see my father passed away March of that year, and my best friend passed away four days after that. Both died of cancer. It was a huge destructed riff in my psychological prowess. I was in New Orleans at the time working a dead beat late shift job for some extra cash.

During the week I got the phone call from my brother that our dad pasted away. He had major complications stemming from a stroke that he had on one Halloween night while I was still living in Wisconsin a few year prior. There were other major problems also stemming from a list of internal breakdowns. He had full blown cancer in some of his major organs, so you could say that we knew that this was going to happen soon. I was ready for it, but the news that I found out the night I was going to drive back up north would change me forever.

During the day I was working as an independent cabinet maker for a fly by night retail business and at night washing dishes at a Tiki Bar. My shift ended at midnight and as I was leaving, I received a call from a mutual friend that my closest confidant past away from a rare blood cancer. I was shocked, I could not believe what I was hearing. That night I could not sleep, I was living out of my conversion van at the time. Hours and hours went by, my mind was racing, and I had a hard time concentrating. I decided to leave two hours after finding out, the 900-mile trip took forever. Traveling at night can be lonely.

Currently as I am writing this...

I keep thinking about the feeling that I had going through my head about all the bad souls that get to live long lives. It was not fair that two benevolent people were taking from me. The state of the world did not help. The racial divide in the states was at a boiling point, our president was week and we were still waging war throughout the world it seemed. On top of that I was pretty much financially broke, and my body broken. I was thoroughly depressed.

One night after work I decided to just sit and ponder, my head was expanding, I needed a release. I grabbed my trusty guitar named Roxy and preceded to belt out this tune. Wow the emotion just poured out of me.

Fast forward to present day.

The conflict currently in the middle east reminded me of this song. Wow, so relevant for a song that was written in 1964. It was like Mr. Sloan new that things would not get better. I left out the last stanza of the song. Below my essay I will leave the lyrics for the song, so you can follow along. Wait until you get to the end of the song, you will see why I left it out of the recording.

Mr. Sloan left this earth in 2015 and will be remembered for not being afraid to voice his opinion.

It is an incredible shame that we must live in a world so broken, so fearful, so hopeless.

The eastern world it is explodin'
violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, what's that gun you're totin'
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'

But you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Don't you understand, what I'm trying to say?
Can't you feel the fear that I'm feeling today?
If the button is pushed, there's no running away
There'll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you, boy, it's bound to scare you, boy

But you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin'
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of Senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'

And you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
Ah, you may leave here for four days in space
But when you return it's the same old place
The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead but don't leave a trace
Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace

And you tell me over and over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._F.Sloan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_of_Destruction%28song%29

Thank You, so much if you can hear me. Thank you for giving me strength to voice my concern. You will be remembered.

Roberto Aldo Di Pietrantonio

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