"The Merry Minuet" is over 50 years old. Obie first introduced me to the Kingston Trio in 1960, and their "From the Hungry I" album was his favorite.
A few weeks ago, Roman and I were in the car, and I stuck my CD in the player. We both sang along to the songs, and after "The Merry Minuet", I remarked that it's all still true! (Except maybe the starving in Spain part....)
It's amazing how things don't change.
Merry Minuet
They’re rioting in Africa (whistling)
They’re starving in Spain (whistling)
There’s hurricanes in Flo-ri-da (whistling)
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 (whistling)
There’s strife in Iran
What nature doesn’t do to us
Will be done by our fellow "man"
They’re rioting in Africa (whistling)
They’re starving in Spain (whistling)
There’s hurricanes in Flo-ri-da (whistling)
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 (whistling)
There’s strife in Iran
What nature doesn’t do to us
Will be done by our fellow "man"
[http://users2.ev1.net/~smyth/linernotes/thesongs/MerryMinuet.htm] "The Merry Minuet" is also known as "Merry Little Minuet," an early satirical song of Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick, whose shows with composer Jerry Bock include Fiorello!, She Loves Me and Fiddler on the Roof. This topical rundown of world trouble spots was introduced by Orson Bean in the 1953 revue John Murray Anderson 's Almanac.
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