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{{Multiple issues|
{{Notability|music|date=June 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2020}}
}}

{{Infobox song
{{Infobox song
| Name = Minutes to Midnight
| name = Minutes to Midnight
| Cover =
| cover =
| Border =
| alt =
| Caption =
| artist = [[Midnight Oil]]
⚫
| album = [[Red Sails in the Sunset (album)|Red Sails in the Sunset]]
| Type =
| released = {{Start date|1984}}
| Artist = [[Midnight Oil]]
⚫
| recorded = June 1984{{snd}}August 1984
| alt Artist =
| studio =
⚫
| Album = [[Red Sails in the Sunset (album)|Red Sails in the Sunset]]
| Published =
| genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| Released = 1984
| length = 3:07
⚫
| label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| track_no =
⚫
| writer = [[Peter Garrett]], [[Jim Moginie]]
⚫
| Recorded = June 1984 - August 1984
⚫
| producer = [[Nick Launay]], Midnight Oil
| Genre = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| Length = 3:07
⚫
| Writer = [[Peter Garrett]], [[Jim Moginie]]
| Composer =
⚫
| Label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
⚫
| Producer = [[Nick Launay]], [[Midnight Oil]]
| Tracks =
#"[[When the Generals Talk]]"
#"[[Best of Both Worlds (Midnight Oil song)|Best of Both Worlds]]"
#"[[Sleep (Midnight Oil song)|Sleep]]"
#"Minutes to Midnight"
#"[[Jimmy Sharman's Boxers]]"
#"[[Bakerman (song)|Bakerman]]"
#"[[Who Can Stand in the Way?]]"
#"[[Kosciusko (song)|Kosciusko]]"
#"[[Helps Me Helps You]]"
#"[[Harrisburg (song)|Harrisburg]]"
#"[[Bells and Horns in the Back of Beyond]]"
#"[[Shipyards of New Zealand (song)|Shipyards of New Zealand]]"
| prev =
| prev_no =
| next =
| next_no =
| Misc =
}}
}}
'''''Minutes to Midnight''''' is the fourth track on the [[1984 in music|1984]] album ''[[Red Sails in the Sunset (album)|Red Sails in the Sunset]]'' by [[Australia]]n music group [[Midnight Oil]]. The song was written by band members [[Peter Garrett]] and [[Jim Moginie]].
'''''Minutes to Midnight''''' is the fourth track on the 1984 album ''[[Red Sails in the Sunset (album)|Red Sails in the Sunset]]'' by Australian music group [[Midnight Oil]]. The song was written by band members [[Peter Garrett]] and [[Jim Moginie]].


The title and lyrics of the song allude to the [[Doomsday Clock]], the [[Cold War]]-era symbolic clockface maintained by the Board of Directors of the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'', serving as a barometer for the likelihood of [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] (or more generally "catastrophic destruction"). The threat of a nuclear confrontation was a pertinent subject at the time the song was written, and the "three minutes" to midnight to which the lyrics allude was the real-life setting in 1984, the closest to midnight the clock had been set since 1953, and a setting which has since never been surpassed.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web | title=It is 5 Minutes to Midnight: Clock Timeline | year=2007 | publisher=''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' | url=http://www.thebulletin.org/minutes-to-midnight/timeline.html}}</ref>
The title and lyrics of the song allude to the [[Doomsday Clock]], a symbolic timepiece published by the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'', which represents the proximity of [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]] (or more generally "catastrophic destruction"), designated as "midnight". Nuclear confrontation was pertinent at the time of this song, the clock having regressed to a mere "three minutes to midnight" in 1984 from some 12 minutes in the preceding decade. This was the closest to midnight the clock had reached since the overt testing of [[Thermonuclear weapon|H-Bombs]] by the US and Soviet Union in 1953.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://thebulletin.org/timeline|title=Timeline|work=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|access-date=2017-07-07|language=en}}</ref> This setting was surpassed only recently, after the inauguration of American president Donald Trump in January 2017, when the clock was set at two-and-a-half minutes to midnight.<ref name="timeline">{{cite journal | title=It is 5 Minutes to Midnight: Clock Timeline | year=2007 | journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | url=http://thebulletin.org/clock/2017}}</ref>


The lyrics warn of escalation in the arms race between the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]] ("''[[ICBM]]s, [[SS-20]]s / they lie so dormant, they got so many''"), and allude to both [[H.G. Wells]] and heralded Australian [[racehorse]] [[Phar Lap]].
The lyrics warn of escalation in the arms race between the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]] ("''[[ICBM]]s, [[SS-20]]s / they lie so dormant, they got so many''"), and allude to both [[H.G. Wells]] and heralded Australian [[racehorse]] [[Phar Lap]].
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

{{Midnight Oil}}

{{authority control}}


[[Category:1984 songs]]
[[Category:1984 songs]]
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[[Category:Songs about nuclear war and weapons]]
[[Category:Songs about nuclear war and weapons]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Nick Launay]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Nick Launay]]
[[Category:Songs written by Peter Garrett]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jim Moginie]]

Latest revision as of 11:30, 23 October 2024

"Minutes to Midnight"
Song by Midnight Oil
from the album Red Sails in the Sunset
Released1984 (1984)
RecordedJune 1984 – August 1984
GenreRock
Length3:07
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Peter Garrett, Jim Moginie
Producer(s)Nick Launay, Midnight Oil

Minutes to Midnight is the fourth track on the 1984 album Red Sails in the Sunset by Australian music group Midnight Oil. The song was written by band members Peter Garrett and Jim Moginie.

The title and lyrics of the song allude to the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic timepiece published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which represents the proximity of nuclear war (or more generally "catastrophic destruction"), designated as "midnight". Nuclear confrontation was pertinent at the time of this song, the clock having regressed to a mere "three minutes to midnight" in 1984 from some 12 minutes in the preceding decade. This was the closest to midnight the clock had reached since the overt testing of H-Bombs by the US and Soviet Union in 1953.[1] This setting was surpassed only recently, after the inauguration of American president Donald Trump in January 2017, when the clock was set at two-and-a-half minutes to midnight.[2]

The lyrics warn of escalation in the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union ("ICBMs, SS-20s / they lie so dormant, they got so many"), and allude to both H.G. Wells and heralded Australian racehorse Phar Lap.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Timeline". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
  2. ^ "It is 5 Minutes to Midnight: Clock Timeline". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 2007.
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