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FRENCH CONNECTION: The Merry Minuet

The lyrics of a Kingston Trio song from 1958 is just as appropriate today
mlydianafrench
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.

Some years ago (1990s maybe?) I wrote about the song The Merry Minuet (Kingston Trio, 1958) and how appropriate the words were years later.  They are just as appropriate now.  Do things ever change?

The minuet is a cheeky tune explaining the hate between nations during the Cold War. Change a few names and the song holds true today. The lyrics list countries who hated each other and ends ”and I don’t like anybody very much.”   The song refers to hurricanes, drought and people starving, (sound familiar?) and says “we can be tranquil and thankful and proud, for man’s been endowed with a mushroom shaped cloud.” But, “We know for certain that some lovely day, someone will let the spark off and we will be blown away.” 

The world has avoided a nuclear war for almost 80 years, but the threat is still there. Countries and people still hate each other. What’s worse, many nations now have nuclear capabilities. Power hungry leaders will do anything it takes to win. At the moment there are 56 active conflicts happening in the world, including civil rows (ie drug war in Mexico) and territorial disputes and struggles for resources in the Middle East, African areas, and elsewhere. People who know about wars fear either the Russian/Ukrainian war or the Israell/Palestine conflict could trigger WW111.  

I haven’t found any songs about climate change, but that issue is fairly new on the world’s worry list. Coping with CC will take a world-wide effort, and unless there is some horrendous catastrophe, that won’t happen soon. No one wants to tackle the environment issue because the process will likely interfere with our lifestyles. The Minuet has something to say about that too. “What nature doesn’t do to us will be done by our fellow man.”