Let’s see, what other nuclear annihilation songs can I remember;
‘Atomic’ by Blondie
‘Forever Young’ by Alphaville
Are the two that come to mind that haven’t already been mentioned elsewhere in the replies. Oh and there was a Mike And The Mechanics song that was related but not necessarily about
If you think that was lit, read the lyrics of Genesis' "Land of confusion". Then read them again. And think about Trumpistan. Then tie up your boots and go kick some arse.
It was a happy day when years later I found a copy of that LP in the $1 bin at a record store. Being of German descent with parents who lived through the war, and becoming politically aware during the Cold War can confirm the German version hits hard
Oh yes. Lots of song references about the Cold War in 80/90s songs:
“For we who grew up tall and proud/In the shadow of the mushroom cloud/Convinced our voices can't be heard
/We just wanna scream it louder and louder.” - Hammer to Fall, Queen.
My favourite song in college (still play it quite often). Both versions.
Would put it on repeat on the jukebox when we went to the pub for a liquid lunch and a few games of pool between lectures which really pissed of the people I went with as they hated it :)
I don’t agree with the English version retaining the original spirit. The sense of stupid, but powerful people having f*cked everything up for everyone by misinterpreting and overreacting to a simple expression of youthful love, with giving us the past 99 years of war, is not transported at all.
The English version does not look back on 99 years of apocalyptic war that this innocent incident triggered. Also, the German version expresses a finely dialed in tone/attitude/language prevalent in West Germany amoung young people of the time, that is lost in translation.
And it gets even darker when you learn that the inspiration for the song was baloons drifting over to East Berlin after a concert in West Berlin... Like "This could have happened"
Yup. All about nuke WW III and big fat MIL egos. I thought EN version was similar, never noticed it's different. Interesting, will be more cautious and will listen to it if I ever hear the EN version again :)
It’s hard to overstate how much the shadow of nuclear war haunted the pop culture of the 1980s— and what an absolute miracle that made the end of the Cold War felt like.
If you'd like something a bit more straightforward there's always Sting. Though today he might be pondering if Americans love their children. Ukraine has shown is that the Russians don't love their children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHylQRVN2Qs
Wooden Ships by CSNY too.
Say can I have one of your purple berries?
Yes I’ve been eating them for six or seven weeks now, haven’t got sick once.
Probably keep us both alive…
Nena's dad worked on Rammstein Air Base and got permission to film the music video. They didn't tell them about all of the explosions and fire. That song nearly became prophetic once the explosions started happening the air base scrambled thinking they were under attack or something was wrong.
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Neunundneunzig jahrekrieg
‘Atomic’ by Blondie
‘Forever Young’ by Alphaville
Are the two that come to mind that haven’t already been mentioned elsewhere in the replies. Oh and there was a Mike And The Mechanics song that was related but not necessarily about
“Pledge allegiance to the flag,
Whatever flag they offer,
Believe in me, I’m with the high command.”
And then the drugs stopped helping.
And by a curious coincidence, six months later… something quite similar happened.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov
“For we who grew up tall and proud/In the shadow of the mushroom cloud/Convinced our voices can't be heard
/We just wanna scream it louder and louder.” - Hammer to Fall, Queen.
“He says ‘I am the Doctor’,
In a B-52,
I come across the horizon,
Drop my love on you-you-you-you-you”
bugs in the software
spread the message
there's something out there"
"this is what we've waited for
this is it boys
this is war"
There were SO MANY false alarms and near miss launches in the 80s, wasn't just Petrov
Would put it on repeat on the jukebox when we went to the pub for a liquid lunch and a few games of pool between lectures which really pissed of the people I went with as they hated it :)
Bam ba dum bam ba dum
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
As 99 red balloons go by
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHylQRVN2Qs
In 1983 it seemed like a quarter of pop music was about nuclear war.
Say can I have one of your purple berries?
Yes I’ve been eating them for six or seven weeks now, haven’t got sick once.
Probably keep us both alive…