Pollution
Tom Lehrer - soothsayer (able to foresee the future)
Thank you for joining me for this Sunday Special commentary, a 1965 song by Tom Lehrer called Pollution.
Comments and questions are welcome. Please be respectful of others’ opinions if they should differ from yours.
For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below.
Tom Lehrer recently opened all of his songs to the public domain, so I feel free to copy the lyrics and his introduction below in italics.
The song
(630 words)
Pollution is a song about…, well, pollution. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, pollution of the land, air, and water was becoming a social issue. Rachel Carson published her book, Silent Spring, about the dangers of industrial pesticides contaminating the land and water.
In the lyrics, there are some cultural points that you might miss if you’re not familiar with American culture.
He begins by giving a warning to visitors to the U.S.:
If you visit American city
You will find it very pretty
Just two things of which you must beware:
Don’t drink the water and don’t breathe the air!
Pollution, pollution
They got smog and sewage and mud
Smog was a serious problem in cities like Los Angeles and New York. On particularly bad days, children were not allowed to go outside to play. Smog was related to about 200 deaths in New York City in 1953. Sewage was another problem. Companies released dangerous chemicals from factories directly into rivers and the ocean. It washed up on California beaches. The Los Angeles Zoo was sending raw sewage into the Los Angeles River. An oil spill off the coast of California in 1969 caused serious damage to the ecosystem there.
Turn on your tap
And get hot and cold running crud
In other words, you don’t get clean water when you turn on the tap in your kitchen or bathroom.
See the halibuts and the sturgeons
Being wiped out by detergeons
“Detergeons” is not a word. Lehrer means “detergents” (chemicals in soap), but he wanted the word to rhyme with sturgeons.
Fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly [gotta = have to]
This is a line from a very popular song called Can’t Help Lovin’ that Man of Mine from the 1927 musical, Show Boat, written by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern. (I’ve included a video of the song at the bottom.)
But they don’t last long if they try
Pollution, pollution!
You can use the latest toothpaste
And then rinse your mouth
With industrial waste
Just go out for a breath of air
And you’ll be ready for Medicare
Medicare is an American system that provides health insurance for people over the age of 65. In other words, if you breathe the air, you will need to see a doctor.
The city streets are really quite a thrill --
If the hoods don’t get you, the monoxide will.
“Hoods” are street gangs or criminals that can be violent. “Monoxide” is the smoke that comes out of your car exhaust pipe.
Pollution, pollution!
Wear a gas mask and a veil
Then you can breathe
[As] Long as you don’t inhale
Lots of things there that you can drink
But stay away from the kitchen sink
The breakfast garbage that you throw into the Bay
They drink at lunch in San Jose
San Jose is very close to the San Francisco Bay. As with everything on the earth, the water systems are also connected, so that any pollution in San Francisco will eventually be found in the areas nearby.
So go to the city
See the crazy people there
Like lambs to the slaughter
They’re drinking the water
And breathing [cough] the air!
This song was written in 1960. I think it is safe to say that around the world, our water and air has grown more polluted. Los Angeles still has problems with air quality. The city of Flint, Michigan, had a water crisis from 2014 - 2016 in which the citizens could not drink or bathe in the city’s water. There have been at least 44 oil spills in the U.S. since 1969.
The biggest polluters on the planet are the fossil fuel industry (air) and the space, defense, and chemical industries (water).
This song is as appropriate today as it was 63 years ago.
VOCABULARY
industrial pesticides 工業用殺虫剤
contaminate 汚染
sewage 汚水
mud 泥
chemicals 化学物質
oil spill 石油流出
tap 蛇口
ecosystem 生態系
crud 汚水、べとべとするもの
halibut 鮃の種類
sturgeon チョウザメ
rinse your mouth 口をすすぐ
industrial waste 産業廃棄物
thrill スリル
monoxide 一酸化
veil 覆面、ベール
inhale 吸い込む
garbage ゴミ
lambs 子羊
slaughter 屠殺
Lena Horne "Can't Help Lovin’ Dat Man" on The Ed Sullivan Show (1951)
The CC subtitles are accurate
Sources:
Baylor, M. (2022, December 17). Toxic 100 water polluters index (2022 report, based on 2020 data). PERI. https://peri.umass.edu/toxic-100-water-polluters-index-current Accessed 14 July 2023.
“Environmental crisis” in the late 1960s. Give Earth a Chance - (Graduate students from several universities). https://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/environmentalism/exhibits/show/main_exhibit/origins/-environmental-crisis--in-the- Accessed 14 July 2023.
Environmental Protection Agency. EPA. https://enviro.epa.gov/ Accessed 14 July 2023.
Largest oil spills affecting U.S. waters since 1969. https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/oil-spills/largest-oil-spills-affecting-us-waters-1969.html Accessed 14 July 2023.
Los Angeles Times. (2023, April 19). Los Angeles gets “F” grade for air quality once again in National report. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-04-19/l-a-gets-failing-grade-for-air-quality-once-again Accessed 14 July 2023.