Sing a Song of Europe
Sing a song of Europe, highly civilized,
Four and twenty nations wholly hypnotised,
When the battle opens, the bullets start to sing -
Isn't it a silly way to act for any King?
The Kings are in the background, issuing commands,
The Queens are in the parlours, per etiquette's demand;
The bankers in the country house are busy multiplying
The common people at the front are doing all the dying.
Commentary
In the comments on the last poem, Vivian had said, “Like many folk songs, this is a kind of oral poetry that gives license to its ‘users’ to invent verses and variations of their own.” I immediately remembered a variation on Sing a Song of Sixpence that a former classmate and current Minstrels member Amulya Gopalakrishnan used to quote. As far as I remember, it was about the confusion of the European Union. Or was it the Common Market?
I couldn’t find it on the net (Amu, if you’re reading this, do send the lyrics you used to sing), but I did find this earlier parody, apparently Australian in origin. It was published in a 1928 edition of The Iron Worker, a newspaper of the NSW, a branch of Federated Ironworkers Association. It refers, I would guess, to World War I. But since the War to End All Wars didn’t quite succeed in that, don’t you think the meaning is applicable to any modern war as well?
— Priscilla
Show 1 commentHide comments
From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Chellappa Mallika (Mallika) · 31 August 2006
Well, isn’t it strange that “leaders” vote themselves millions of dollars to ensure their security? And send the hoi polloi out to die?
Even in a poor country like India, the highest security cover is reputed to cost Rs 2 crores per year, which is about 500K USD, per head. Think of the other uses that money could be put to.
Ramon Magsaysay had the right idea, if you aren’t a popular leader, you deserve to die. Unfortunately, there are too many kooks around who would (and did) kill a perfectly decent human being like him.
Mallika