Mayday in Kiev

Lyrics

In a nation with a dangerous penchant for secrecy A dread disaster at Chernobyl was concealed As a poisoning cloud spread over the Eastern Bloc Alarming information was reluctantly revealed An explosion in reactor four - a fire refusing to cease No containment walls preventing radioactive release Evidence that peaceful technology had gone awry More catastrophically than windscale or TMI Alert - celebration in Kiev, under glowing skies, Soviet lies Alert - In nearby Poland, a shower of radiation, children iodized Mayday - a day of rejoice, a cry of distress Severe political fallout - toxic exchange of words Soviet obscurantism - under verbal attack Abroad, outraged countries appeal for information Met with grudging riposte, hesitant placation At home, TASS reports no danger - nothing to fear As deadly elemental isotopes spew in the biosphere Alert - celebration in Kiev, under glowing skies, Soviet lies Alert - In nearby Poland, a shower of radiation, children iodized Mayday - a day of rejoice, a cry of distress The unleashed power of the atom - a warning from the past The benefits of technology are reversed by careless human error Science - once a savior, now an effective destroyer We must apply our knowledge with care (Entombed in concrete, Chernobyl will forever remain a monument to the chilling effects of negligence) Alert - celebration in Kiev, under glowing skies, Soviet lies Alert - In nearby Poland, a shower of radiation, children iodized Mayday - a day of rejoice, a cry of distress