This song — “Carefully Taught” — needs no explanation. Here it is, years ahead of its time, from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic:

“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught from year to year,
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.

You’ve got to be carefully taught.”

– Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, “South Pacific”

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
12/13/25