Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season) – The Byrds | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#1 for 3 weeks); 1965
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Prior to joining up with the other Byrds, Jim (Roger) McGuinn had worked with folk singer Judy Collins, for whom he arranged and played guitar on her 1964 #3 album, which included Turn! Turn! Turn!. That same year McGuinn and the other Byrds-to-be were thunderstruck by the Beatles‘ A Hard Day’s Night, especially the title tune with its ringing guitar sound.
McGuinn immediately bought his own electric Rickenbacker 12 string. By Thanksgiving, the band had changed its name from the Jet Set to the Byrds, and on June 26th, 1965 Mr. Tambourine Man became the #1 record in America.
After All I Really Want To Do was outcharted by Cher’s version, McGuinn reached back to Turn! Turn! Turn!, a Pete Seeger composition based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. In the middle of a 1965 mid-west tour, Jim began banging out a rock rendition of the Biblical song.
The band refined the arrangement through 50 takes in the studio; resulting in a folk-rock classic that topped the chart in December.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Terry Melcher
Lyrics Written by:
- Pete Seeger
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).