"A song that doesn’t protest gently, but it sounds gentle" - Joan Baez. From atom bomb to Chernobyl & Fukushima: a song that causes us to think about the consequences of nuclear technology, from creation to fallout.
I could not have related Today's song to nuclear bombs or nuclear accidents without the visual images on the YouTube as there was no mention of "nuclear" in the lyrics. I felt a strange power of not saying it when meaning it in the song. I wonder if that's what Joan Baez meant when she said this song was “the gentlest protest song I know. It doesn’t protest gently, but it sounds gentle.”
By the way, I was amazed and shocked to learn that the Japanese government has made the shift with the basic policy about "dependence" on nuclear power from "decreasing (to zero)" to "increasing?" before I knew it (if I understand yesterday's news correctly --- I hope I'm wrong). Maybe it is because I was just ignorant about recent developments about this issue, but I didn't know such a shit had been under discussion and little did I dream I would hear such news.
Malvina Reynolds wrote the song in 1962. The cold war was going on, and countries were making tests above and underground. This led to the fallout that caused so many health problems. As I'm sure you know, "the rain" is also related to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when the "rain" fell after the explosions, carrying radioactive substances to the victims below.
And yes, it is, well, probably not, astonishing that the restarts are still being pushed. Human memory is short. How many of my students don't know details about the 3.11 disaster and think the problem has been solved! Out of media, out of mind.
I was surprised at the headline, 政策転換 国民理解欠く [Policy change lacks public understanding], which indicates that the public is opposed to the decision, so there needs to be more "persuasion" to make them agree. The possibility of enormous suffering will be placed under the category of 想定外 ("we had no idea this would happen") should another major quake hit Japan and its 14 reactors currently in operation.
The poem makes me very sad.
I could not have related Today's song to nuclear bombs or nuclear accidents without the visual images on the YouTube as there was no mention of "nuclear" in the lyrics. I felt a strange power of not saying it when meaning it in the song. I wonder if that's what Joan Baez meant when she said this song was “the gentlest protest song I know. It doesn’t protest gently, but it sounds gentle.”
By the way, I was amazed and shocked to learn that the Japanese government has made the shift with the basic policy about "dependence" on nuclear power from "decreasing (to zero)" to "increasing?" before I knew it (if I understand yesterday's news correctly --- I hope I'm wrong). Maybe it is because I was just ignorant about recent developments about this issue, but I didn't know such a shit had been under discussion and little did I dream I would hear such news.
Mitsuru Hiki
Mitsuru, thank you for your comments.
Malvina Reynolds wrote the song in 1962. The cold war was going on, and countries were making tests above and underground. This led to the fallout that caused so many health problems. As I'm sure you know, "the rain" is also related to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when the "rain" fell after the explosions, carrying radioactive substances to the victims below.
And yes, it is, well, probably not, astonishing that the restarts are still being pushed. Human memory is short. How many of my students don't know details about the 3.11 disaster and think the problem has been solved! Out of media, out of mind.
I was surprised at the headline, 政策転換 国民理解欠く [Policy change lacks public understanding], which indicates that the public is opposed to the decision, so there needs to be more "persuasion" to make them agree. The possibility of enormous suffering will be placed under the category of 想定外 ("we had no idea this would happen") should another major quake hit Japan and its 14 reactors currently in operation.