Īccording to Nicko McBrain, commenting on the single in "Listen With Nicko Part VI" (as part of The First Ten Years series), the members of Iron Maiden were friends with members of Beckett. On the original release, it is titled "A Rainbow's Gold". The song was written by Terry Slesser and Kenny Mountain, respectively the band's vocalist and guitarist. The first B-side is a cover of British progressive rock band Beckett's "Rainbow's Gold", which was featured on their self-titled album released in 1974. According to Dickinson, the song critically addresses "the romance of war" in general rather than the Cold War in particular. The atomic clock, set at 12 minutes to midnight in 1972, regressed thereafter among US–Soviet tensions, reaching three minutes to midnight in 1984 – the year this track was released – and at that time the most dangerous clock reading since 1953. In September 1953 the clock reached two minutes to midnight, the closest it ever got to midnight in the 20th Century, when the United States and Soviet Union tested H-bombs within nine months of one another. The song title references the Doomsday Clock, the symbolic clock used by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which represents a countdown to potential global catastrophe. The song attacks the commercialisation of war and how it is used to fuel the global economy (“The golden goose is on the loose and never out of season”), how rich politicians profit directly from it (“as the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy”) and how after a war concludes, the world is left in a far worse condition than before the war began, resulting in future wars and the development of more powerful weaponry (“to the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun”). The closest the clock has been to midnight was in 1953, when it was set at 11:58 p.m.A protest song about nuclear war, "2 Minutes to Midnight" was written by Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson. The Doomsday Clock was first put out in 1947. “We all need to respond now, while there is still time.” Noting that nuclear trends are moving backwards, the Science and Security Board’s Sharon Squassoni pointed out that weapons modernization programs and disarmament have “ground to a halt.”Īnd action on climate change? “Efforts at reducing global emissions of heat-trapping gases have so far been entirely insufficient to prevent unacceptable climate disruption,” said the Bulletin’s Richard Somerville. Science and Security Board explains - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists January 23, 2015 The scientists expressed disappointment at the latest developments.Ĭlimate change, nuclear weapons, emerging technologies all figured in Clock move. The last time the clock was moved was in 2012, when it was moved up one minute to 11:55. After standing at 17 minutes to midnight in 1991 – the furthest it’s ever been from the end of the world – it’s gotten closer each time it’s been changed since, with the exception of 2010, when it was pushed back by one minute to 11:54 p.m. In recent years, the clock has moved the wrong direction for humanity. The Bulletin’s Science and Security Board looks at global issues on a regular basis and decides whether to move the minute hand of the clock, with particular stress on the status of nuclear arms and reaction to climate issues. “These failures of leadership endanger every person on Earth.” And world leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe,” said Kennette Benedict, executive director of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in a news release. “Today, unchecked climate change and a nuclear arms race resulting from modernization of huge arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity. moves the #Doomsda圜lock three minutes closer to midnight.īut what does it all mean? - AJ+ January 23, 2015 The clock now stands at three minutes to midnight, the “latest” it’s been since 1984, when the Cold War between the U.S. That’s the message from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which moved its iconic Doomsday Clock up two minutes on Thursday.
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