"The Eve of the War" is a song by British musician Jeff Wayne and singer Justin Hayward. The song appeared on Wayne's debut album Jeff Wayne's Musical Version or The War of the Worlds from 1978. That year the song was released as the first single from the album. Whereas in most countries the successive single "Forever Autumn" became the biggest hit, "The Eve of the War" in the Dutch language area reached the highest scores. In the Netherlands it came in third place in both the Top 40 and the National Hit Parade, while in the Flemish Ultratop 50 it reached fifth place.