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]]. The song was written by band members [[Peter Garrett]] and [[Jim Moginie]]. |
'''''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]]. |
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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]]'' |
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> |
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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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Revision as of 15:50, 22 July 2009
| "Minutes to Midnight" | |
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| Song |
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, 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 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.[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.
References
- ^ "It is 5 Minutes to Midnight: Clock Timeline". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 2007.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)