Diana French
French Connection
Who remembers the Kingston Trio’s Merry Minuet? Written by Sheldon Harnick in 1955, it takes a lighthearted look at what the world was like during the Cold War. It starts with “They’re rioting in Africa, they’re starving in Spain, there’s hurricanes in Florida and Texas needs rain.” It continues “Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch, and I don’t like anybody very much.”
Change the names of the countries and the song fits as well now as it did in 1959 when the Trio recorded it. Stories of hurricanes and drought often top todays’ news. It seems nobody likes anybody anymore, be it country-to-country or neighbour-to-neighbour. There are daily reports on the latest disasters in Palestine, followed by the Russian/Ukrainian war and other disputes. If that doesn’t discourage us, we have Donald Trump promising to take over the world. And who knows what joys our election will bring?
Then there is climate change. We used to be happy with sunny skies and early springs. Now Cariboo Chilcotin folks are worrying because it could be our turn for wildfires and drought unless we get some heavy rainfalls.
Back to the Merry Minuet. “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 let the spark off and we will all be blown away.” Pundits are predicting a third world war and wondering who will be the first to use a nuclear bomb.
The Merry Minuet made fun of scary times, but over six decades later we’re again –or still—in scary times. Is there some unwritten law that says we have to keep on “not liking anybody very much” until “we’re all blown away?” Just asking.