Minutes to Midnight (song): Difference between revisions
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'''''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]]. |
'''''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]]. |
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{{Infobox Song |
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| Name = Minutes to Midnight |
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| Cover = |
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| Border = |
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| Caption = |
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| Type = |
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| Artist = [[Midnight Oil]] |
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| alt Artist = |
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| Album = [[Red Sails in the Sunset (album)|Red Sails in the Sunset]] |
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| Published = |
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| Released = [[1984]] |
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| Recorded = June [[1984]] - August [[1984]] |
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| Genre = [[Rock music|Rock]] |
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| Length = 3:07 |
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| Writer = [[Peter Garrett]], [[Jim Moginie]] |
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| Composer = |
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| Label = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] |
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| Producer = [[Nick Launay]], [[Midnight Oil]] |
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| Tracks = |
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#"[[When the Generals Talk]]" |
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#"[[Best of Both Worlds (Midnight Oil song)|Best of Both Worlds]]" |
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#"[[Sleep (Midnight Oil song)|Sleep]]" |
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#"Minutes to Midnight" |
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#"[[Jimmy Sharman's Boxers]]" |
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#"[[Bakerman (song)|Bakerman]]" |
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#"[[Who Can Stand in the Way?]]" |
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#"[[Kosciusko (song)|Kosciusko]]" |
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#"[[Helps Me Helps You]]" |
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#"[[Harrisburg (song)|Harrisburg]]" |
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#"[[Bells and Horns in the Back of Beyond]]" |
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#"[[Shipyards of New Zealand (song)|Shipyards of New Zealand]]" |
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| next = |
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| Misc = |
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}} |
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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]]'' at the [[University of Chicago]], serving as a barometer for the likelihood of [[nuclear war]] (or more generally "catastrophic detruction"). 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]], the [[Cold War]]-era symbolic clockface maintained by the Board of Directors of the ''[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]]'' at the [[University of Chicago]], serving as a barometer for the likelihood of [[nuclear war]] (or more generally "catastrophic detruction"). 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> |
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Revision as of 16:56, 29 February 2008
Minutes to Midnight is the fourth track on the 1984 album Red Sails in the Sunset by Australian music group Midnight Oil.
| "Minutes to Midnight" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
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 at the University of Chicago, serving as a barometer for the likelihood of nuclear war (or more generally "catastrophic detruction"). 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.[1]
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.