# 80s/90s Cold War protest songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 25, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773 "2011-10-25T20:06:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/1 "2011-10-25T20:06:30Z")
An overlooked niche with tons of great music. Remember when we were all afraid of disappearing in the flash of a nuke, betrayed by sleeper agents living suburban cover lives, while Soviet paratroopers descended from Cuba? Help me build a playlist that allows me to smell the graffiti on the Berlin Wall… Men at Work - It’s a Mistake Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes Rush - Distant Early Warning Nena - 99 Luftballons and so on… ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/2 "2011-10-25T20:19:05Z")
Sting - Russians Art of Noise - A time for fear (who’s afraid) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/3 "2011-10-25T20:35:25Z")
“Lawyers in Love,” by Jackson Browne. “Enola Gay,” by Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/4 "2011-10-25T20:48:51Z")
It may not be the [official meaning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammer_to_Fall#Interpretation), but Queen’s “Hammer To Fall” sure sounded to me like it fit this category. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/5 "2011-10-25T20:56:22Z")
Peter Gabriel - Red Rain Supertramp - Brother Where You Bound ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/6 "2011-10-25T21:00:57Z")
99 Luft Balloons was going to be my contribution but it is already taken. Whatever you include in this compilation, I suggest you end it with Wind of Change by the Scorpions to end the story on a somber by good note. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/7 "2011-10-25T21:40:41Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > 99 Luft Balloons was going to be my contribution but it is already taken. Whatever you include in this compilation, I suggest you end it with Wind of Change by the Scorpions to end the story on a somber by good note. That, or the Jesus Jones song “Right Here, Right Now.” ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/8 "2011-10-25T21:45:16Z")
Billy Joel - Leningrad ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/9 "2011-10-25T21:48:44Z")
“Think Again” by Billy Bragg (written by Dick Gaughan, but popularized by Bragg) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/10 "2011-10-25T21:50:42Z")
Eve Of Destruction, by Barry McGuire? ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/11 "2011-10-25T22:02:39Z")
Standing In The Dark by Platinum Blonde ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/12 "2011-10-25T22:47:14Z")
David Bowie - Heroes Prince - Ronnie Talk to Russia Def Leppard - Gods of War ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/13 "2011-10-25T22:49:45Z")
“The Future’s So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades” by Timbuk3 ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/14 "2011-10-25T22:54:13Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Eve Of Destruction, by Barry McGuire? You’re a couple decades off. “In A Free Land” or “Deadly Skies” bu Husker Du “Paranoid Chant” by the Minutemen “Kill A Commie” by Gang Green “World War 3” by D.O.A. “Bonzo Goes To Bitburg” by the Ramones Lots more in the hardcore punk category. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/15 "2011-10-25T23:06:17Z")
Does Pink Floyd’s _The Final Cut_ count? Whole album is damned near a war protest (albeit, not necessarily a cold war protest). But more specifically off of that album: Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert Southampton Dock The Fletcher Memorial Home [Two Suns in the Sunset](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me_WNSiUFd0) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/16 "2011-10-25T23:07:26Z")
[Land of Illusion](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9lv_WqK6k) - Genesis [Burning Down the House](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNnAvTTaJjM) - Talking Heads (arguably) [1999](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGbK_H1O8PI) - Prince (Only Prince would turn impending Armageddon into a reason to party harder) [Every Day Is Like Sunday](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmPKVvxFb1c) - Morrissey Please Forgive Us - 10,000 Maniacs ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/17 "2011-10-25T23:18:52Z")
Ooh, good ones. To prime the pump some more… XTC - This World Over Men w/o Hats - Pop Goes the World album Camper van Beethoven - Sweethearts ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/18 "2011-10-25T23:26:23Z")
Melissa Etheridge - [_This War Is Over_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hio_22IrGc0) ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/19 "2011-10-25T23:34:44Z")
Bruce Springsteen - [War](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn91L9goKfQ&ob=av2e) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773/20 "2011-10-25T23:42:19Z")
Weird Al Yankovick - _Christmas at Ground Zero_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/80s-90s-cold-war-protest-songs/600773.md?page=2)