Draft Morning
1968 · Columbia CL 2775 · New York City, New York
- Artist
- The Byrds
- Title
- Draft Morning
- Release
- Notorious Byrd Brothers
- Year
- 1968
- Label
- Columbia # CL 2775
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- New York City, New York, USA
- Genre
- Rock · Folk Rock
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The Byrds protest song "Draft Morning" (Columbia Records # CS 9575) questioned the point of war, in a poignant, poetic fashion. It was a very creative draft song, with very few words. It was composed by David Crosby, and told the story of a soldier waking up on the morning of his departure for war, in the peaceful setting of the US, with the sun warming his face. He decided to take his time and enjoy the morning. But then the soldier is on the battlefield in Vietnam, where he had to "leave my bed to kill". In the background, the listener hears the sounds are war - gunfire and bombs - and the psychedelic, country rock sounds of the West Coast. Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman also got writing credits, having re-worked the music following Crosby's departure from the band.123Sources1Culture and Power in Cultural Studies (John Storey, 2010)↩2Music of the Counterculture Era (James E. Perone, 2004)↩3The Byrds: Timeless Flight Revisited : the Sequel (Johnny Rogan, 1997)↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: Sun warm on my face, I hear you down below movin' slow / And it's morning, take my time this morning / No hurry to learn to kill and take the will from unknown faces / Today was the day for action / Leave my bed to kill the innocent / Why should it happen?
About the artist
American folk-rock band formed 1964 in Los Angeles, California; disbanded 1973 ('Draft Morning'). [Source: Wikipedia]