My favorite Cult song ever. Painted bird would be the Boeing B52 bomber airplane, iconic plane capable of carrying large amount of weaponry including nuclear bombs. Drop your "love" = your nuclear bomb.
The 80's saw the extension of the cold war, wherein the US including kids my age then were always living in fear of a nuclear war. I assume this song was written in 1986 if it was on Electric, released April 1987.
I think this song is about the military/industrial complex and the appeal of WAR to superpowers. War was good for uniting citizens and for solving the depression, and above all, for profiteering.
"War she's a whore" is a statement like, "hey, I mean, what are you gonna do, right? Can't help it - shit happens" i.e. as if to justify war by saying, it's just something that exists and there is nothing we can do about it. Which is bullshit of course. Whore here could also mean: makes you money even though it's an ugly business.
"Peace is a dirty word" meaning, peace is bad for business. We need to always be at war to make money and keep people in line.
The "poor man sad man" paragraph is tough, but I think of it addressing the innocent civilians who actually get bombed and killed, in countries like Vietnam during that war or earlier, in europe from WWII.
It's like saying, "hey poor people who are getting killed, you should actually be happy because in the long run, this will help mankind"
"Stand up for your rights" though doesn't jive with that, so maybe he's saying, "Hey you people down on your luck and getting your asses handed to you: stand up for your rights, and for peace." But then, "good dog bad dog" comes back to the negative aspect i.e. that we really just want the citizens to play along, to play a roll, do as they're told, rinse/lather/repeat. Keep the machine rolling.
Aside from all that, great tune, especially the multiple voices after the climax of Ian shouting "baby baby bay bay be baby - BAAAAAYYYBAYYY". Amazing.
My favorite Cult song ever. Painted bird would be the Boeing B52 bomber airplane, iconic plane capable of carrying large amount of weaponry including nuclear bombs. Drop your "love" = your nuclear bomb. The 80's saw the extension of the cold war, wherein the US including kids my age then were always living in fear of a nuclear war. I assume this song was written in 1986 if it was on Electric, released April 1987. I think this song is about the military/industrial complex and the appeal of WAR to superpowers. War was good for uniting citizens and for solving the depression, and above all, for profiteering. "War she's a whore" is a statement like, "hey, I mean, what are you gonna do, right? Can't help it - shit happens" i.e. as if to justify war by saying, it's just something that exists and there is nothing we can do about it. Which is bullshit of course. Whore here could also mean: makes you money even though it's an ugly business. "Peace is a dirty word" meaning, peace is bad for business. We need to always be at war to make money and keep people in line. The "poor man sad man" paragraph is tough, but I think of it addressing the innocent civilians who actually get bombed and killed, in countries like Vietnam during that war or earlier, in europe from WWII. It's like saying, "hey poor people who are getting killed, you should actually be happy because in the long run, this will help mankind" "Stand up for your rights" though doesn't jive with that, so maybe he's saying, "Hey you people down on your luck and getting your asses handed to you: stand up for your rights, and for peace." But then, "good dog bad dog" comes back to the negative aspect i.e. that we really just want the citizens to play along, to play a roll, do as they're told, rinse/lather/repeat. Keep the machine rolling. Aside from all that, great tune, especially the multiple voices after the climax of Ian shouting "baby baby bay bay be baby - BAAAAAYYYBAYYY". Amazing.