I first heard "The Merry Minuet" when my friend, Tom Painter, played it for me in the late 50's. It was sung by the Kingston Trio. You'll find the lyrics are surprisingly contemporary over 50 years later. It was written by Sheldon Harnick who wrote lyrics to "Fiddler on the Roof."
They're rioting in Africa. They're starving in Spain.
There's hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needs rain.
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch.
And I don't like anybody very much!
But we can be tranquil and thankful and proud,
for man's been endowed with a mushroom-shaped cloud.
And we know for certain that some lovely day,
someone will set the spark off... and we will all be blown away.
They're rioting in Africa. There's strife in Iran.
What nature doesn't do to us... will be done by our fellow man.
No comments:
Post a Comment