What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

[Mumpo]

Looking at the Thompson Twins thread led me to recall their 1984 plea for global accord The Gap; the chorus to which runs, if I remember correctly:

"East is east, west is west
Two different colours on the map
But we say, break the line, chew the fat
Keep moving on into the gap"

Noble sentiments, if a little crudely expressed. But Culture Club trumped them emphatically with their own War Song, informing us that "War is stupid, and people are stupid". Was that as shallow and contrived as pop's stabs at protest songs got in the fey 1980's? Lest we forget, Sting reminded us in sombre faashion that "Russians love their children too"; and thought it's not so much an anti-war song as a general plea for everyone to get along and be nice to each other, it would be remiss not to mention Depeche Mode's People Are People. Why should it be, that you and I should get along so awfully?

[George]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

Yeah, if you widen the scope to songs about the 'need-for-humanity-to-come-together-as-one', then the period leading up to Live Aid and all through the second half of the 80's is a goldmine.

You're The Voice - John Farnham: Power ballad chorus - check; Deeply earnest lyrics - check; Bagpipe solo - check. Practically an alternative national anthem in Australia by all accounts.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

I remember being deeply moved by through the barricades, but that song could have been about not being able to park in front of your house because of roadworks, coz I haven't heard it since I was five or six.

[bovril]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

i would say "wind of change" by the Scorpions.

But - 1)its about the end of the cold war and 2) it was released in the 90's

so i won't

Pipes of Peace - Sir Paul Macca

[Calvert]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?



They'll do it again

[The Exploding Vole]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

All in sharp contrast to the naked aggression of Jermaine Jackson's 1980 dance hit Let's Get Syria.

[evilC]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

He always was the most militaristic Jackson.

Anyway...

Even the presence of Paul Quinn (one of the finest voices in 80s/90s pop, IMHO) couldn't save Vince Clarke's 'One Day' from being... well, not brilliant, quite frankly.

Still - by the standards of some of the things mentioned here, it's magnificent.

(A polite to Calvert, too. I was thinking of doing that, but couldn't decide which Crass label release to plump for.)

[hobbes]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

I remember being deeply moved by through the barricades, but that song could have been about not being able to park in front of your house because of roadworks, coz I haven't heard it since I was five or six.

That was "our song" for my first proper girlfriend and I.
There were no barricades involved in our love. It just happened to have been the first song we danced to at the school disco. It could just have easily have been Phylis Hymen's "Move Closer."

[George]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

Pipes Of Peace is inoffensive stuff really.

And before anybody mentions it The Human League's The Lebanon is great.

[evilC]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

hobbes wrote:

It could just have easily have been Phylis Hymen's "Move Closer."

Or Phyllis Closer's ... ?

arf.

[evilC]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

George wrote:

And before anybody mentions it The Human League's The Lebanon is great.

It's certainly the best New Order song from that period.

[MsD]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

I love Through the Barricades. Although making love on wasteland sounds a bit unhygienic.

[George]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

evilC wrote:

George wrote:

And before anybody mentions it The Human League's The Lebanon is great.

It's certainly the best New Order song from that period.

More PiL than anything else.

[Mumpo]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

It's the idea of making love through a barricade that perplexes me.

[Lucia Lanigan]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

It's a horrible song, but no 'Belfast Child'.

[Benjm]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

Kirk Brandon delivers a powerful double whammy to the thread with Mickey and Soldier Soldier.

Faced with Kirk's onslaught, Bono waves the white flag - thus securing the live performance award for himself by some distance.

[WOM]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

George wrote:

And before anybody mentions it The Human League's The Lebanon is great.

And there's a fiver in it for anyone who can explain why it's The Lebanon, instead of just Lebanon.

[E10 Rifle]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

So, so many to mention.

A shout should go out to Nik Kershaw's "old men in stripey trousers rule the world with plastic smiles" nonsense in I Won't Let The Sun Go Down on Me.

Belfast Child is a possible winner, though the Cranberries came along in the 90s and trumped it as worst Troubles song with Zombie.

And yeah, the rumbling bass riff on The Lebanon absolutely fucking rocks.

[torres]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

Haircut 100s Love Plus One was about going to the Falklands, that was really shit.

[Ray de Galles]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

[WOM]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

torres wrote:

Haircut 100s Love Plus One was about going to the Falklands, that was really shit.

Really? If you read the lyrics it's not just about nothing, it's about less than nothing. And I like them.

[historyman]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

MsD wrote:

I love Through the Barricades. Although making love on wasteland sounds a bit unhygienic.

I grew up in Belfast and lived there for most of my life, and spent a fair bit of time walking across wastelands on both sides of the divide. I can assure Gary Kemp that they are on a par with public toilets as a place to make love.

Broken bottles everywhere, resulting in shards of glass up yer bum; the stale stench of booze and the heavy smell of burning rubber; and the ever present danger of petrol bombs being lobbed over the peace wall by 'the other side.'

But surely the most important reason for not wanting to make love on wasteland would've been the fact that the army and police monitored these areas by helicopter and control tower. Not very romantic, but you know, whatever turns you on Gary. Or maybe you just didn't think it through.

Elsewhere I nominate Nena's '99 Red Balloons.'

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

I nominate Elton John's Nikita , which implies the most pressing reason for ending the Cold War is to expand the range of pretty soldiers pervy Elton can actually try to chat up instead of just watching through his binoculars.

[hobbes]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

...and the heavy smell of burning rubber

You want to slow down a bit or you'll do yourself an injury.

[WOM]

What was the crassest anti-war song in 80's pop?

historyman wrote:

I can assure Gary Kemp that they are on a par with public toilets as a place to make love.

George Michael to thread...