SONG by Georges Szirtes

Nothing happens until something does[EC1] .
Everything remains just as it was
And all you hear is the distant buzz[EC2] 
Of nothing happening till something does.

A lot of small hands in a monstrous hall
can make the air vibrate
and even shake the wall[EC3] ;
a voice can break a plate
or glass, and one pale feather tip
the balance on a sinking ship.

It’s the very same tune[EC4]  that has been sung
time and again by those
whose heavy fate has hung
on the weight that they oppose[EC5] ,
the weight by which are crushed
the broken voices of the hushed.

But give certain people a place to stand
a lever, a fulcrum, a weight,
however small the hand,
the object however great,
it is possible to prove
that even Earth may be made to move[EC6] .

Nothing happens until something does,
and hands, however small,
fill the air so the buzz
of the broken [EC7] fills the hall
as levers and fulcrums shift
and the heart like a weight begins to lift[EC8] .

Nothing happens until something does.
Everything remains just as it was
And all you hear is the distant buzz
Of nothing happening. Then[EC9]  something does.

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 [EC1]This is a reference to Albert Einstein’s words “Nothing happens until something moves.”   This is generally taken to be a truism on the nature of change in the universe. 

 [EC2]“distant buzz” suggests sounds which are just within hearing but meaningless until something “changes”

 [EC3]“small hands” are juxtaposed with ”monstrous”, introducing the idea that small changes can lead to much bigger ones.  Here, the noise of many hands clapping can create a lot of noise, a single singer’s voice can destroy an object and the slightest touch (“pale feather” perhaps being a seagull’s) can make the difference between sinking and staying afloat

 [EC4]Referring to other protest songs

 [EC5]A reference to people who oppose the status quo in support of the oppressed

 [EC6]A reference to Archimedes’, the Greek philosopher/scientist’s understanding of leverage. He said:  ”Give me a place to stand and I can move the world.”  The components of leverage are listed = lever, fulcrum, weight.

 [EC7]The oppressed are given a voice by those freeing them

 [EC8]The chorus brings together the ideas of how things change that have been outlined in the verses. 

 [EC9]A change to the first chorus - “til” to “Then” suggests that it always does happen.  There is always someone  (like Suzman) who by doing something, however small or alone, can start a seismic shift.  In this case, the downfall of the South African Government, freeing of Mandela and black majority rule in South Africa.