Talking Atomic Blues (Vern Partlow) I'm gonna preach you all a sermon 'bout Old Man Atom, And I don't mean the Adam in the Bible datum. I don't mean the Adam Mother Eve mated, I mean the thing that science liberated. You know Einstein said he was scared, And if he's scared, brother, I'm scared. Yes, life used to be such a simple joy. The cyclotron was a super toy, Folks got born, they'd work and marry, And "atom" was a word in the dictionary; And then it happened. . . . These science guys, from every clime They all pitched in with overtime. Before you knew it, the job was done; They'd hitched up the power of the doggone Sun, Splitting atoms, right and left, While the diplomats . . . Were splitting hairs . . . Then the cartel crowd up and put on a show, They're gonna turn back the clock on the UNO. Grab a corner on atoms and maybe extinguish Every damn atom that can't speak English. Down with foreign-born atoms! America for American atoms! Step right up, folks, and let's atomize world peace. . . Ah, but the atom's international, in spite of hysteria, Flourishes in Utah, also in Siberia. He don't care about politics Or who got what into whichever fix. All he wants to do is sit around . . . And have his nucleus bombarded by neutrons. Yes, it's up to the people; the atom don't care. You can't fence him in; he's just like air. And whether you're white, black, red or brown, The question is this, when you boil it down, To be or not to be! That is the question. . . And the answer to it all ain't military datum, Like "Who gets there fustest with the mostest atoms," But the people of the world must decide their fate, We got to stick together or disintegrate. We hold these truths to be self-evident: All men Could be cremated equal. Copyright Bibo Music Publishers, 1950 RG
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!