Turn! Turn! Turn!

“Turn! Turn! Turn!”, or “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”, is a song written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s and first recorded in 1959. The lyrics – except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines – consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. The song was originally released in 1962 as “To Everything There Is a Season” on folk group the Limeliters’ album Folk Matinee, and then some months later on Seeger’s own The Bitter and the Sweet.   The song became an international hit in late 1965 when it was adapted by the American folk rock group the Byrds. The song was first released by the folk group the Limeliters on their 1962 album Folk Matinee, under the title “To Everything There Is a Season”.  The Limeliters’ version predated the release of Seeger’s own version by several months. One of the Limeliters’ backing musicians at this time was Jim McGuinn (aka Roger McGuinn), who would later record the song with his band the Byrds and, prior to that, arrange the song for folk singer Judy Collins on her 1963 album, Judy Collins 3.  Collins’ recording of the song was retitled as “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)”, a title that would be retained by the Byrds, though it was shortened to “Turn! Turn! Turn!” on the front cover of the album of the same name and the song became generally known by the shorter version, appearing as such on most later Byrds compilations