I have a fantastic live version of this. Andy does a three-minute long exposition at the beginning when he describes the position of Britain between Russia and America - I just love it and the way he says it, he has so much wit. You can download from somewhere on xtc4u.org
@whapcapn While it's a great song, I've always been baffled by the way the British always saw themselves as in the middle during the Cold War.
@whapcapn While it's a great song, I've always been baffled by the way the British always saw themselves as in the middle during the Cold War.
Geographically, everyone knew a limited war would be fought in East and West Germany. Sure, a total war would mean Britain was toast, but only because the entire northern hemisphere would be toast.
Geographically, everyone knew a limited war would be fought in East and West Germany. Sure, a total war would mean Britain was toast, but only because the entire northern hemisphere would be toast.
And politically… I remember in the 80s watching the old Doctor Who episode "Day of the Daleks" with a mixed group of Brits and (West) Germans. When it got to the plot about the superpowers giving their nuclear codes to the...
And politically… I remember in the 80s watching the old Doctor Who episode "Day of the Daleks" with a mixed group of Brits and (West) Germans. When it got to the plot about the superpowers giving their nuclear codes to the UK for safe keeping, all of the Germans laughed, and the Brits looked blankly and asked what was so funny. They thought they were obviously the most responsible and trustworthy country in the world, and had no clue that everyone else saw them differently. Even with Andropov and Reagan both openly treating them as American puppets, and Thatcher talking about the "special relationship" with America all the time, that wasn't enough to shatter their idea that it was still the days of the Franco-Prussian War.
I have a fantastic live version of this. Andy does a three-minute long exposition at the beginning when he describes the position of Britain between Russia and America - I just love it and the way he says it, he has so much wit. You can download from somewhere on xtc4u.org
@whapcapn While it's a great song, I've always been baffled by the way the British always saw themselves as in the middle during the Cold War.
@whapcapn While it's a great song, I've always been baffled by the way the British always saw themselves as in the middle during the Cold War.
Geographically, everyone knew a limited war would be fought in East and West Germany. Sure, a total war would mean Britain was toast, but only because the entire northern hemisphere would be toast.
Geographically, everyone knew a limited war would be fought in East and West Germany. Sure, a total war would mean Britain was toast, but only because the entire northern hemisphere would be toast.
And politically… I remember in the 80s watching the old Doctor Who episode "Day of the Daleks" with a mixed group of Brits and (West) Germans. When it got to the plot about the superpowers giving their nuclear codes to the...
And politically… I remember in the 80s watching the old Doctor Who episode "Day of the Daleks" with a mixed group of Brits and (West) Germans. When it got to the plot about the superpowers giving their nuclear codes to the UK for safe keeping, all of the Germans laughed, and the Brits looked blankly and asked what was so funny. They thought they were obviously the most responsible and trustworthy country in the world, and had no clue that everyone else saw them differently. Even with Andropov and Reagan both openly treating them as American puppets, and Thatcher talking about the "special relationship" with America all the time, that wasn't enough to shatter their idea that it was still the days of the Franco-Prussian War.