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. The Kingston Trio would not have known about global climate change in 1959 when they recorded the "Merry Minuet," but their references to severe storms and weird weather are right out of today's headlines. Hurricanes in Florida and droughts in Texas are merely symbols of the extreme weather we have seen around the world in recent years. War is now being waged in Libya as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan, of course.Īs for the song's European references, I don't know if many Spaniards are "starving" but Spain's economy - along with the economies of Portugal, Ireland and Greece, the four little PIGS of the European Union whose financial houses were blown down by the big bad recession wolf - has been on a starvation diet since 2008. 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. THE KINGSTON TRIO - Tuesday through November 7 at Charlie's (Georgetown).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. THE KINGSTON TRIO - 25 Years Non-Stop (Xeres SCH 1-10001). Shane's voice is well-worn, which gives some of the songs a desperately needed edge. Most of the material seems dreadfully dated and isn't helped by lackluster, metronomic renditions and tight-fisted but intrusive arrangements for electric bass, drums and fiddle. "), which gets quite a workout in Washington next week (it's also in Nacha Guevara's show at the Terrace).
The value of the record is that it collects many of the Trio's classics, from the silliness of "MTA" and "Zombie Jamboree" ("Back to back and belly to belly / But I don't give a damn 'cause I done dead already?") to the smoky solitude of "Scotch and Soda" to the instant nostalgia of "Tom Dooley," "Wreck of the John B" and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone." There's even Sheldon Harnick's "Merry Minuet" ("They're rioting in Africa. George Grove and Roger Gambil are the new faces, but they're not exactly fresh: It's sort of like Sha Na Na doing a folk-music revue. A Kingston Trio, rather than The Kingston Trio, would be a better name for a band that's played "25 Years Non-Stop." This is the trio that has been tramping down Memory Lane in recent years, with Bob Shane the only original member.
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