Why Would We See the Sun at Midnight?
Why Would We See the Sun at Midnight?
Il Sole a Mezzanotte: Bhopal
Hi all,
Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Il Sole a Mezzanotte (The Sun at Midnight”), by Lefiliedipapà (2021)*. If you’d like to hear the song before you read the background, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article.
Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics (written in italics). Comments and questions are welcome. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. TOEFL (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1. Download a worksheet for this song here.
The Background
(252 words)
On December 2, 1984, a tragic event occurred in Bhopal, India. A factory owned by an American company called Union Carbide was located in that city. This factory made a chemical which is used in making pesticides.
During the night, a dangerous gas leak happened at the Union Carbide factory. The gas spread quickly through the air and reached the nearby neighborhoods where many people lived. Many people breathed this gas, and it caused serious health problems.
Thousands of people were affected. They had difficulty breathing, their eyes burned, they vomited, and some even lost consciousness. The situation was very scary, and people didn't know what to do. Many families had to leave their homes to escape from the dangerous gas.
The reason for the gas leak was later found to be a combination of factors, including poor safety measures at the factory. The effects were devastating. At least 25,000 people died, and others suffered from related health issues. The Bhopal gas tragedy is considered one of the worst industrial disasters in history.
After the incident, there were efforts to help the affected people and to make sure such accidents wouldn't happen again. More than 150,000 people are still feeling the health effects of the disaster with breathing problems, liver and kidney diseases, and cancers.
The Bhopal gas tragedy reminds us how important it is for companies to prioritize safety and take care of the communities where they operate.
The song also mentions the Chernobyl disaster in the USSR, 26 April 1986. Since 1986, how many other children could sing this song?
The Song
(306 words)
The song is sung from the point of view of a very frightened child. She is asking her father what is going on, why she feels so strange, and why her mother is so tired.
What's going on, Daddy? / Take me by the hand
That purple beam of light that lights up the sky is so strange
It's so beautiful, Daddy
So far away, Daddy / But it seems so close
But why all of a sudden, tell me Dad, I feel so tired
Tell me why, Daddy
What is happening to Mama? / She has lost all her hair
Her eyes are tired and you used to say they're so beautiful
What is happening to Mama? / She doesn't get out of bed
From that night on I feel a pain in my chest with every breath
Why are you crying, Daddy?
The sun at midnight you know / It has changed our life a lot
I hope you will not forget / Why I will never grow old
Parents often sing to their children in order to calm them and make them feel sleepy. Here, it is the chemicals in the air that are affecting the child.
Help me, Daddy / I can no longer see anything
My eyes burn and a cloud of smoke lulls me to sleep
What's going on, Daddy?
What's going on, Daddy? / I can't breathe and the air around me
All around me, keeps shaking / But what's going on, Dad?
Take me to safety, Daddy / From that loud noise
From the shouting and screaming, from the bad air, from this burning
Take me to safety, Daddy
The gas that people experienced caused their eyes to water: misty eyes.
What happened, Dad? / Some ran away
The others stayed inside the dense cloud with misty eyes
What happened, Dad?
Chernobyl, April 26, 1986
Bhopal, December 2, 1984
Question:
What other disasters like this one could we add to the list?
Vocabulary
pesticide 殺虫剤
vomit 吐く
lost consciousness 意識を失いました
devastating 壊滅的な
incident 事件
liver 肝臓
kidney 腎臓
prioritize 優先順位を付ける
beam 光芒
lulls me to sleep 私を眠らせてくれる
misty eyes 目が潤んでいる
Sources
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2024, February 16). Bhopal disaster. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Bhopal-disaster . Accessed 20 Mar 2024.
Guardian News and Media. (2023, June 14). The long, Dark shadow of Bhopal: Still waiting for justice, four decades on. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jun/14/bhopal-toxic-gas-leak-chemical-environmental-disaster-waiting-for-justice-union-carbide-dow . Accessed 20 Mar 2024.
Note
*I wasn’t able to find any information on Lefigliedipapà. They have a playlist on Spotify, but there’s not much info on Internet. If anyone knows more about this group, please let me know!
So tragic. I had forgotten all about the Union Carbide disaster. Like so many disasters that happened outside the US, it probably only made the news cycles for a week. How devastating!