The French have an expression that fits the Kingston Trio's political observations: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," or, "the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Still, the song is spot on: "What nature doesn't do to us, will be done by our fellow man." We see this lyric being played out across the globe in monstrous acts of oppression, exploitation, terrorism and warfare. Before 1956, or at least before Three Mile Island (1979) and Chernobyl (1986), a mushroom cloud meant a detonated weapon whereas now the image also raises the specter of a deadly plume arising from our insatiable demand for power.Īs timely as many of the lyrics of the "Merry Minuet" are, it is perhaps the last line that is most chilling although in our politically correct age, we probably would change the last words to be more gender neutral. The world's first commercial nuclear power plant, built in Pennsylvania, did not open until the next year. "Someone will set the spark off, and we will all be blown away" suggests something to us today that would not have been understood in 1955. Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has given the world a further reason to be wary of atomic energy. The Trio's reference to "a mushroom-shaped cloud" is a testament to the period in which the song was written - a scant decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki - but since March 11 we have yet another way to think about nuclear disasters. Republicans hate the left Democrats hate the right and Tea Partiers? Well, they don't like anybody very much! I like to think of these lines as a general statement about politics, as applicable to U.S. Hatred among French, Germans, Italians, Yugoslavs and others is not news nor especially unique. War is now being waged in Libya as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course. Governments have been overthrown in Tunisia and Egypt and major reforms extracted from governments from Morocco to Yemen. More than a dozen North African and Middle Eastern countries have seen popular uprisings in the last three months. What nature doesn't do to us, will be done by our fellow man.Ĭonsider the prescience of Sheldon Harnick's little ditty. They're rioting in Africa, there's strife in Iran. Someone will set the spark off, and we will all be blown away. Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch.īut we can be tranquil, and thankful, and proud,įor man's been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud.Īnd we know for certain that some lovely day The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles. The whole world is festering with unhappy souls. There's hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needs rain. They're rioting in Africa, they're starving in Spain. In some ways it is dated, but in other ways it is as current as the headlines coming from North Africa, the Middle East and Japan. In fact, the Trio is scheduled to perform at the Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield, ME, on May 21 (see for details).įans will remember the song. People of a certain age will remember the Kingston Trio, which is still touring, albeit without any of the group's original members. You can look it up if you want to see the group or hear the song performed. Several versions of the song can be found on YouTube, including one recorded by the Kingston Trio in 1981. We are so confident in our product that if you are at all unhappy with your membership, we will provide you with an unconditional, full, 100% refund, no quibbles.More than 50 years ago, three folk musicians working as the Kingston Trio recorded a ballad ironically called the "Merry Minuet," which was written by Sheldon Harnick in 1955.
#MERRY MINUET LYRICS FULL#
#MERRY MINUET LYRICS PDF#
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