This song was released during the cold war, and the lyrics, I'm sure, had stronger meaning then than they do now.
It is not only a song about the dreams of youth, but also of cold-war politics and the overshadowing fear of a nuclear war.
There are several key terms that allude to this concept.
"Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Are you gonna drop the bomb or not."
"can you imagine when this race is won" is in reference to the nuclear arms race.
"praising our leaders we're getting in tune
the music's played by the madmen" While praising our leaders, we're "getting in tune" to their music, even though the music is played by a madman.
Sure, it's about wanting to live forever. But it's also about trying to make the best of life amid the fear and paranoia of possible nuclear extintion.
Well I'm from Germany, from the west part of Berlin and this song really REALLY resonates with me. I was born in 1970 during the height of the Cold War and I grew up with the spectre of nuclear war always overhead. While a lot of the younger generation who didn't live through the Cold War see this as more of a graduation song, for me it's really about living life to the fullest because during those days when i was 12, 15, 18, we knew that if the US and USSR ever went to war our country would be...
Well I'm from Germany, from the west part of Berlin and this song really REALLY resonates with me. I was born in 1970 during the height of the Cold War and I grew up with the spectre of nuclear war always overhead. While a lot of the younger generation who didn't live through the Cold War see this as more of a graduation song, for me it's really about living life to the fullest because during those days when i was 12, 15, 18, we knew that if the US and USSR ever went to war our country would be the first to get bombed. That's what this song is about, about the fragility of life under the shadow of two superpowers. Also it should say "if this race is won" because if someone does "win" by getting their bombs off first, "turn our golden faces to the sun" is an allusion to a nuclear explosion which for a split second can rival the heat of the sun.
Essentially it is saying, we don't want to live under this shadow for our whole lives...better we be bombed so that our youth remains forever, like diamonds, than to be put down like an old racehorse.
I think there might also be an element of "Lets just get it over with" in there as well, like it's a wish to not have to live to old age knowing every day you could get snuffed out in a nuclear inferno. There's also an element of making the most of what you've got now because it could so easily be gone. Finally there's an air of disenfranchisement to it with the line "We don't have the power". If there is a nuclear war, the people this song speaks for would not be the ones who...
I think there might also be an element of "Lets just get it over with" in there as well, like it's a wish to not have to live to old age knowing every day you could get snuffed out in a nuclear inferno. There's also an element of making the most of what you've got now because it could so easily be gone. Finally there's an air of disenfranchisement to it with the line "We don't have the power". If there is a nuclear war, the people this song speaks for would not be the ones who asked for it.
This song was released during the cold war, and the lyrics, I'm sure, had stronger meaning then than they do now.
It is not only a song about the dreams of youth, but also of cold-war politics and the overshadowing fear of a nuclear war.
There are several key terms that allude to this concept.
"Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Are you gonna drop the bomb or not."
"can you imagine when this race is won" is in reference to the nuclear arms race.
"praising our leaders we're getting in tune the music's played by the madmen" While praising our leaders, we're "getting in tune" to their music, even though the music is played by a madman.
Sure, it's about wanting to live forever. But it's also about trying to make the best of life amid the fear and paranoia of possible nuclear extintion.
Well I'm from Germany, from the west part of Berlin and this song really REALLY resonates with me. I was born in 1970 during the height of the Cold War and I grew up with the spectre of nuclear war always overhead. While a lot of the younger generation who didn't live through the Cold War see this as more of a graduation song, for me it's really about living life to the fullest because during those days when i was 12, 15, 18, we knew that if the US and USSR ever went to war our country would be...
Well I'm from Germany, from the west part of Berlin and this song really REALLY resonates with me. I was born in 1970 during the height of the Cold War and I grew up with the spectre of nuclear war always overhead. While a lot of the younger generation who didn't live through the Cold War see this as more of a graduation song, for me it's really about living life to the fullest because during those days when i was 12, 15, 18, we knew that if the US and USSR ever went to war our country would be the first to get bombed. That's what this song is about, about the fragility of life under the shadow of two superpowers. Also it should say "if this race is won" because if someone does "win" by getting their bombs off first, "turn our golden faces to the sun" is an allusion to a nuclear explosion which for a split second can rival the heat of the sun.
Essentially it is saying, we don't want to live under this shadow for our whole lives...better we be bombed so that our youth remains forever, like diamonds, than to be put down like an old racehorse.
I think there might also be an element of "Lets just get it over with" in there as well, like it's a wish to not have to live to old age knowing every day you could get snuffed out in a nuclear inferno. There's also an element of making the most of what you've got now because it could so easily be gone. Finally there's an air of disenfranchisement to it with the line "We don't have the power". If there is a nuclear war, the people this song speaks for would not be the ones who...
I think there might also be an element of "Lets just get it over with" in there as well, like it's a wish to not have to live to old age knowing every day you could get snuffed out in a nuclear inferno. There's also an element of making the most of what you've got now because it could so easily be gone. Finally there's an air of disenfranchisement to it with the line "We don't have the power". If there is a nuclear war, the people this song speaks for would not be the ones who asked for it.