Name: ___________________________

Individuals and Societies Y5

Ms. Buckley

Cold War Song Analysis

For the following songs, you will be asked to analyze the lyrics while we listen to the

music and answer the corresponding questions.

While watching the video, think about what the lyrics are saying about Cold War

events and concerns the public had about the Cold War.
Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

Sting – Russians

In Europe and America, there’s a growing feeling of hysteria

Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mr. Krushchev said we will bury you
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy

There is no monopoly in common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent

To put the words in the mouth of the President
There’s no such thing as a winnable war
It’s a lie we don’t believe anymore
Mr. Reagan says we will protect you
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology

Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me, and you
Is if the Russians love their children too
Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

Sting – Russians

1. What does Sting mean by the line “I hope the Russians love their children
too”?

2. What is the “growing feeling of hysteria” he is referring to?

3. What is the overall message of this song?

Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

Elton John – Nikita

Hey Nikita is it cold

In your little corner of the world
You could roll around the globe
And never find a warmer soul to know

Oh I saw you by the wall

Ten of your tin soldiers in a row
With eyes that looked like ice on fire
The human heart a captive in the snow

Oh Nikita you will never know anything about my home

I’ll never know how good it feels to hold you
Nikita I need you so
Oh Nikita is the other side of any given line in time
Counting ten tin soldiers in a row
Oh no, Nikita you’ll never know

Do you ever dream of me

Do you ever see the letters that I write
When you look up through the wire
Nikita do you count the stars at night

And if there comes a time

Guns and gates no longer hold you in
And if you’re free to make a choice
Just look towards the west and find a friend
Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

Elton John – Nikita

1. What is separating the two individuals in this song?

2. Why is he not able to talk or be near “Nikita”?

3. What is the overall message of the song?

Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

U2 - New Year’s Day

Yeah…

All is quiet on New Year’s Day

A world in white gets underway
I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes on New Year’s Day
On New Year’s Day

I will be with you again

I will be with you again

Under a blood red sky

A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers say, say
Say it’s true it’s true
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one

I…I will begin again

I…I will begin again

Oh…
Maybe the time is right
Oh…maybe tonight…

I will be with you again

I will be with you again

And so we’re told this is the golden age

And gold is the reason for the wars we wage
Though I want to be with you
Be with you night and day
Nothing changes
On New Year’s Day
On New Year’s Day
Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

U2 – New Year’s Day

Context: This song was written about the Polish Solidarity movement in 1981.
Marshall law (government suspending ordinary laws) was declared and in
December of 1981, the leader of the Solidarity movement (Lech Walesa) was
arrested. The song is referring to New Year’s Day in January after this took place.

1. What is being referred to in the second verse (beginning with “under a blood
red sky”)?

2. What is meant by the line “we can break through though torn in two”?

3. What overall message is this song saying about the Polish Solidarity
movement and liberation movements in Europe?
Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

Nena - 99 Luftballons or 99 Red Balloons

You and I in a little toyshop

Buy a bag of balloons with the money we’ve got
Set them free at the break of dawn
‘Til one by one they were gone
Back at base bugs in the software
Flash the message “something’s out there!”
Floating in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by

Ninety-nine red balloons

Floating in the summer sky
Panic bells, it’s red alert
There’s something here from somewhere else
The war machine springs to life
Opens up one eager eye
Focusing it on the sky
Where ninety-nine red balloons go by

Ninety-nine decision street

Ninety-nine ministers meet
To worry, worry, super scurry
Call the troops out in a hurry
This is what we’ve waited for
This is it, boys, this is war
The president is on the line
As ninety-nine red balloons go by

Ninety-nine knights of the air

Ride super high-tech jet fighters
Everyone’s a super hero
Everyone’s a Captain Kirk
With orders to identify
To clarify and classify
Scramble in the summer sky
Ninety-nine red balloons go by

As ninety-nine red balloons go by

Ninety-nine dreams I have had

In every one a red balloon
It’s all over and I’m standing pretty
In this dust that was a city
If I could find a souvenir
Just to prove the world was here
And here is a red balloon
I think of you, and let it go
Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

Nena- 99 Luftballons or 99 Red Balloons

Context: Children innocently release balloons into the air and international
governments are confused by the strange objects in the air and start to panic,
triggering a nuclear holocaust.

1. What is the message this song is saying about government responses to

threats during the Cold War?

2. Why could confusion and panic become so devastating during the Cold War?

3. What is being referred to in the last verse of the song?

Other Cold War Songs to Look At:

Name: ___________________________
Individuals and Societies Y5
Ms. Buckley

● Billy Joel – We Didn’t Start The Fire

o Goes through a list of Cold War terms and people throughout the song

● ABBA – The Visitors

o Deals with the paranoia people faced when the secret police would track you
down

● Iron Maiden – Two Minutes to Midnight

o Concept of the doomsday clock

● Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes

o Music video portrays the two sides (USA and USSR) fighting it out in a
“boxing” ring with other countries “betting” on each side

● Pink Floyd – Two Suns in the Sunset

o Song is about the two sides during the Cold War and the severity of a nuclear
explosion

● Paul Hardcastle – 19
o 19 was the average age of a soldier in Vietnam. This song deals with the
subject matter of soldiers in Vietnam in a very 80s electronic style

● Bruce Cockburn – If I Had a Rocket Launcher

o One lyric with stronger language. Song is about seeing the horrible things
that were happening and wishing you could do something.

● Europe – The Final Countdown

o Song is about humanity leaving Earth for space because Earth is no longer
habitable.

● Alphaville – Forever Young

o About being young and hopeful, but knowing the potential of the bomb being
dropped at any moment

● Scorpions – Wind of Change

o Inspired by the change the band saw in Russia while touring during the Cold
War. Sometimes associated with the fall of the Berlin wall.

● Genesis – Land of Confusion

o Song about the political mess the world ended up in during the Cold War.
1980s protest song.