Day Is Done (song)

"Day Is Done" is a song written by Peter Yarrow. It was recorded by Yarrow's group Peter, Paul and Mary and released as a single in 1969. It was one of the anti-war protest songs of the Vietnam War era. The song reached No. 21 on Billboard Hot 100, and was ranked No. 48 on the Billboard year-end Top Easy Listening Singles chart of 1969.[2]

For other uses, see Day Is Done.
"Day Is Done"
Single by Peter, Paul and Mary
from the album Peter, Paul and Mommy
B-side"Make Believe Town"
ReleasedMarch 24, 1969[1]
Genre
Length3:16
LabelWarner Bros.-Seven Arts
Songwriter(s)Peter Yarrow
Peter, Paul and Mary singles chronology
"Love City (Postcard from Duluth)"
(1968)		 "Day Is Done"
(1969)		 "Leaving on a Jet Plane"
(1969)

Background

"Day Is Done" was written by Peter Yarrow in 1968, and it was the last single that Peter, Paul and Mary recorded together as a group (their next single "Leaving on a Jet Plane" released later that year was recorded earlier for their Album 1700 released in 1967).[3]

The song was written as an anti-war song during the Vietnam War era.[4] According to Yarrow, it was written from the perspective of his younger brother who faced the possibility of getting drafted into the army.[5] Yarrow performed it as the opening song at a concert during the anti-war march he helped organized in Washington in November 1969.[6][7] It became one of the well-known protest songs in the era.[8] Yarrow said that the message of the song is that "children will lead us to a better world".[9]

The single version of the song was recorded live at Carnegie Hall, and an orchestra was then arranged and overdubbed at A&T Studios by Chris Dedrick.[1] The studio version features a children choir from the nursery school of the Westchester Ethical Society and this version was used for the album, Peter, Paul and Mommy, released in May.[10]

On the album Peter, Paul and Mommy, the second half of the second repeat in the song's refrain was cut out. The error was mended on the compilation album Around the Campfire by copying the second half of the first repeat.[11]

Yarrow later released a children's book based on the lyrics of the song as part of his Songbook Series.[12][13] It contains a three-song CD with a version of the song he recorded with his daughter Bethany.[14]

Reception

The song was released at the end of March 1969, and reached No. 21 on Billboard Hot 100 for chart dated June 21, 1969.[15]

The song was nominated at the 12th Annual Grammy Awards in 1970 in the category of Best Folk Performance won by Joni Mitchell's Clouds.[16]

Charts
Chart (1969) Peak
position
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[17] 5
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[18] 17
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[19] 7
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 21

Cover versions

A French translation of the song titled "Mon Enfant" was written by Boris Bergman and recorded by Nana Mouskouri for her 1969 album, Dans le soleil et dans le vent.[21] She has also covered the English version. "Mon Enfant" was released as a single in late 1969 and it charted at No. 20 in Dutch Charts and No. 17 in the Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia) chart in early 1970.[22]

Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge covered the song in 1970.

Agnes Chan covered the song on her 1971 debut album, Will The Circle Game Be Unbroken?

References
  1. "Record Details".
  2. "Top Records of 1969". Billboard. December 27, 1969.
  3. Willis, Amy (September 17, 2009). "Peter, Paul and Mary: Career timeline". The Daily Telegraph.
  4. "Peter Yarrow - Day Is Done". Politics and Prose. October 2, 2009.
  5. Prato, Greg. "Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary". Song facts.
  6. "Puff: Still Not a Drug Song". Chronogram.
  7. "How classical music reached half a million young people". On An Overgrown Path.
  8. "Protest Songs". Traditional Music Library.
  9. Torem, Lisa (February 13, 2010). "Interview with Peter Yarrow". Penny Black Music.
  10. "A Song to Sing All Over This Land". Peter Paul and Mary.
  11. Ankeny, Jason. "Peter, Paul and Mary: Around the Campfire". AllMusic.
  12. Bietz, Barbara (October 31, 2011). "Day is Done: Peter Yarrow". Jewish Book Council.
  13. Yarrow, Peter (2010). Day is Done. Sterling. ISBN 978-1402748066.
  14. Ellingboe, Sonya (October 2, 2009). "Take my hand when day is done". Centennial Citizen.
  15. "The Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. June 21, 1969.
  16. "Peter, Paul and Mary". Grammy Awards.
  17. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 5922." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  18. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6026." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  19. "Peter, Paul and Mary Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  20. "Peter, Paul and Mary Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  21. "Boris Bergman, le joueur de mots: Chansons de jeunesse : le temps des adaptations (de 1967 à 1973)". France Culture. February 14, 2017.
  22. "Nana Mouskouri - Mon Enfant". Dutch Charts.

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

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