I have seen it estimated:
Somewhere between death and birth
There are now three thousand million
People living on this Earth
And the stock-piled mass destruction
Of the Nuclear Powers-That-Be
Equals – for each man or woman –Twenty tons of TNT.
Every man of every nation
(Twenty tons of TNT)
Shall receive this allocation
Twenty tons of TNT.
Texan, Bantu, Slav or Maori,
Argentine or Singhalee,
Every maiden brings this dowry
Twenty tons of TNT.
Not for thirty silver shilling
Twenty tons of TNT
Twenty thousand pounds a killing
Twenty tons of TNT.
Twenty hundred years of teaching,
Give to each his legacy,
Plato, Buddha, Christ or Lenin,
Twenty tons of TNT
Father, Mother, Son and Daughter,
Twenty tons of TNT
Give us land and seed and water,
Twenty tons of TNT.
Children have no need of sharing;
At each new nativity
Come the ghostly Magi bearing
Twenty tons of TNT
Ends the tale that has no sequel
Twenty tons of TNT.
Now in death are all men equal
Twenty tons of TNT.
Teach me how to love my neighbour,
Do to him as he to me;
Share the fruits of all our labour
Twenty tons of TNT.
Somewhere between death and birth
There are now three thousand million
People living on this Earth
And the stock-piled mass destruction
Of the Nuclear Powers-That-Be
Equals – for each man or woman –Twenty tons of TNT.
Every man of every nation
(Twenty tons of TNT)
Shall receive this allocation
Twenty tons of TNT.
Texan, Bantu, Slav or Maori,
Argentine or Singhalee,
Every maiden brings this dowry
Twenty tons of TNT.
Not for thirty silver shilling
Twenty tons of TNT
Twenty thousand pounds a killing
Twenty tons of TNT.
Twenty hundred years of teaching,
Give to each his legacy,
Plato, Buddha, Christ or Lenin,
Twenty tons of TNT
Father, Mother, Son and Daughter,
Twenty tons of TNT
Give us land and seed and water,
Twenty tons of TNT.
Children have no need of sharing;
At each new nativity
Come the ghostly Magi bearing
Twenty tons of TNT
Ends the tale that has no sequel
Twenty tons of TNT.
Now in death are all men equal
Twenty tons of TNT.
Teach me how to love my neighbour,
Do to him as he to me;
Share the fruits of all our labour
Twenty tons of TNT.
Contributed by giorgio - 2010/7/1 - 08:14
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Album: The Bestiary of Flanders & Swann [1964]
Maybe the catchiest song ever written about thermonuclear weapons: A powerful 1960s antiwar song from an unlikely source:.. Michael Flanders and Donald Swann were best known for their witty, urbane and sometimes sharply ironic songs commenting on modern life. 'At the Drop of a Hat' was their first hugely successful review on the London stage. This song was considered, by theatrical producers, to be too much out of character for live performance and survives only as a studio recording. For clarification, the rather considerable explosive power of one ton of the conventional chemical explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) is used as a unit of this power. I thought the lyrics were worth displaying.