"Day Is Done" is a song written by

Peter Yarrow Peter Yarrow (born May 31, 1938) is an American singer and songwriter who found fame for being in the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. Yarrow co-wrote (with Leonard Lipton) one of the group's best known hits, " Puff, the Magic Dragon". H ...

. It was recorded by Yarrow's group

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's repertoir ...

and released as a single in 1969. An anti-war protest song of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

era, the song reached No. 21 on ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, and was ranked No. 48 on the ''Billboard'' year-end Top Easy Listening Singles chart of 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 "Leaving on a Jet Plane" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter John Denver in 1966, originally included on his debut demo recording ''John Denver Sings'' as "Babe I Hate To Go". He made several copies and gave them out as presents f ...

" released later that year was recorded earlier for their '' Album 1700'' released in 1967). The song was written as an anti-war song during the

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

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, and an orchestra was then arranged and overdubbed at A&T Studios by Chris Dedrick. 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 ''Peter, Paul and Mommy'', released on Warner Bros. in 1969, is the trio Peter, Paul and Mary's first children's album. It contains hits like "Puff the Magic Dragon", among others. The album reached No. 12 on ''Billboard''s Top LPs chart. The si ...

'', released in May. 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. Yarrow later released a children's book based on the lyrics of the song as part of his Songbook Series. It contains a three-song CD with a version of the song he recorded with his daughter Bethany.

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. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' claimed that its "live feeling and teen-oriented lyric" gave it solid sales potential. The song was nominated at the 12th Annual Grammy Awards in 1970 in the category of Best Folk Performance won by

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

's ''

Clouds In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may com ...

''.

Charts

Cover versions

A French translation of the song titled "Mon Enfant" was written by Boris Bergman and recorded by

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Ger ...

for her 1969 album, ''Dans le soleil et dans le vent''. 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 Dutch Charts, GfK Dutch Charts, MegaCharts is a chart company responsible for producing a number of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Single Top 100 and the Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Dutch Charts are also part of GfK ...

and No. 17 in the Belgium (

Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...

Wallonia) chart in early 1970.

Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge (also known as The Bridge and as Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge since the 1980s) is an American musical group, best known for their million-selling rendition of Jimmy Webb's "Worst That Could Happen" (1968). History New ...

covered the song in 1970.

Agnes Chan Agnes Meiling Kaneko Chan (; Japanese: 金子陳美齢, ''Kaneko Chan Meirin'') is a Hong-Kong-born Japanese singer, television personality, university professor, essayist and novelist. Since 1998, Chan has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and ...

covered the song on her 1971 debut album, ''Will the Circle Game Be Unbroken?''

References

{{authority control 1969 songs 1969 singles Peter, Paul and Mary songs Warner Records singles Songs written by Peter Yarrow