Thursday, September 17, 2015

More '80s Cold War Music - Land of Confusion - Genesis

On my day off recently, while working on our classic '80s Jag, I heard an old Genesis song on the radio.

My mind instantly visualized the music video that was shown on MTV over and over and over again. Yes, there was a time that MTV actually showed only music videos 24 hours per day!

It is unforgettable for a Cold Warrior like me because of the content, it depicts Ronald Reagan and a host of Cold War leaders and celebrities, as puppets. It is a dream sequence, very surrealistic, and an anti-war message that ends with a nuclear explosion.


I viewed the video several times, catching quick parodies to various notorious characters of the day, world leaders who were influential in the Cold War, and celebrities supporting peace in a "We Are The World" style scene of another music video that was extremely popular on MTV at the time.

After that, I read many, not all, the comments posted. The comments ranged from an aged peacenik who doesn't acknowledge that it was Ronnie Reagan that ended the Cold War, to a follower fan with a photo showing a person way too young to have been an adult during the Cold War, and various others that agree or disagree with him.

You can tell in the poster's words that he longs for the protest days of his youth much like we Cold Warriors long for the days of our youth defending his right to protest the very successful conclusion we attained, the fall of the Soviet Empire. Of course, no where in his writings is any mention that the USSR was the bad guy in those years. In one post, he even blames the current problems on Reagan. I don't know how he makes that connection but he did.

Hey Randy R - no one, and I mean no one, dislikes war more than those that will fight it, the warrior. But without us, there would be no peace.

John K
The Proud Cold Warrior

You can view the comments here.

Here is the link to the actual song lyrics.

Thank you to Genesis for the music, YouTube.com and MrPhil46 youtube poster for access to the video, and metrolyrics.com for the lyrics link.

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