I was on a recent trip to Argentina and talking to someone about living in Brazil during the cold war. I began to cry because I remembered that I was terrified during the time period that the United States would be attacked and I wouldn't have a country to come home to. For those of you who were really young when the cold war ended, you may not realize that it was really a war. While the violence was not explicit, it was there daily... This song is a protest against the arms race and the ideology that backed it. If you compare the song to the poem it is based on, it is a very stark criticism of the destruction of everything we hold so dear. Today we have other threats that we must deal with (See Al Gore's movie). This song also criticizes totalitarianism (thus the lyrics: If you don't get in line we'll lock you away) and makes fun of governments that claim people can do what they want yet lock them away for their opinions. Remember Dave lived in an authoritarian state, (South Africa during apartheid). Dave also ridicules imperialism and colonialism in other songs. If you are not up on cold war history I would suggest looking at some of the sites on exactly what nuclear destruction can cause. The pictures are very graphic and disturbing.
I was on a recent trip to Argentina and talking to someone about living in Brazil during the cold war. I began to cry because I remembered that I was terrified during the time period that the United States would be attacked and I wouldn't have a country to come home to. For those of you who were really young when the cold war ended, you may not realize that it was really a war. While the violence was not explicit, it was there daily... This song is a protest against the arms race and the ideology that backed it. If you compare the song to the poem it is based on, it is a very stark criticism of the destruction of everything we hold so dear. Today we have other threats that we must deal with (See Al Gore's movie). This song also criticizes totalitarianism (thus the lyrics: If you don't get in line we'll lock you away) and makes fun of governments that claim people can do what they want yet lock them away for their opinions. Remember Dave lived in an authoritarian state, (South Africa during apartheid). Dave also ridicules imperialism and colonialism in other songs. If you are not up on cold war history I would suggest looking at some of the sites on exactly what nuclear destruction can cause. The pictures are very graphic and disturbing.