Find me these Little Ditties About Nuclear War March 24, 2021 2:19 PM Subscribe
A while back, in SOME post somewhere, someone discussed a song from an album I'd like to track down - however, I don't remember enough detail to effectively search for it, and am hoping if I describe it someone can help. It was a folk album (or folk-esque) by someone in the 1970s or thereabouts, and was a collection of songs about a nuclear apocalypse and its aftermath.
The details I remember, I remember only very dimly:
* I want to say that the musician was a woman.
* The impression I got from tracking down the album later is that some of the songs dealt with the buildup to a nuclear holocaust, then there were a couple songs about the war itself, and a few songs about the aftermath.
* The one song I remember described in most detail dealt with how the survivors related to the military staff who'd perpetrated the war - they'd somehow found the bomb shelter where they were all living and piled up boulders or dirt over the entrance so they couldn't get out, and now it was years later and it had become an annual tradition to revisit the site of the bomb shelter and pile on more dirt. I want to say that they referred to this as "keeping the devils down" or something like that.
I think it was only that last song that had been discussed in a post in here, and I was fascinated enough by the description to go look up more information about the album - which I promptly forgot, and now that I want to look it up again I can't find the original post, and searching for weird strings like "post apocalyptic carol" aren't helping.
Help?
The details I remember, I remember only very dimly:
* I want to say that the musician was a woman.
* The impression I got from tracking down the album later is that some of the songs dealt with the buildup to a nuclear holocaust, then there were a couple songs about the war itself, and a few songs about the aftermath.
* The one song I remember described in most detail dealt with how the survivors related to the military staff who'd perpetrated the war - they'd somehow found the bomb shelter where they were all living and piled up boulders or dirt over the entrance so they couldn't get out, and now it was years later and it had become an annual tradition to revisit the site of the bomb shelter and pile on more dirt. I want to say that they referred to this as "keeping the devils down" or something like that.
I think it was only that last song that had been discussed in a post in here, and I was fascinated enough by the description to go look up more information about the album - which I promptly forgot, and now that I want to look it up again I can't find the original post, and searching for weird strings like "post apocalyptic carol" aren't helping.
Help?
^Leslie Fish's music is mentioned in the comments here:
January 2017's Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich
July 2018's Pulling the ladders up all the way [How tech's richest plan to save themselves after the apocalypse]
September 2020's The Privileged Have Entered Their Escape Pods
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:56 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
January 2017's Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich
July 2018's Pulling the ladders up all the way [How tech's richest plan to save themselves after the apocalypse]
September 2020's The Privileged Have Entered Their Escape Pods
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:56 PM on March 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
THAT'S IT!!!
I was doing a search for "The DIGGER Carol" instead of "Digwell". Thank you!!!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:38 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was doing a search for "The DIGGER Carol" instead of "Digwell". Thank you!!!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:38 PM on March 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
(I love MetaFilter. That is all.)
posted by Bella Donna at 6:54 AM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 6:54 AM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Little Ditties About Nuclear War
I am now trying and failing not to start composing Cold War lyrics for John Cougar’s “Jack & Diane” in my head.
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:52 AM on March 25, 2021 [11 favorites]
I am now trying and failing not to start composing Cold War lyrics for John Cougar’s “Jack & Diane” in my head.
posted by Celsius1414 at 9:52 AM on March 25, 2021 [11 favorites]
I am now trying and failing not to start composing Cold War lyrics for John Cougar’s “Jack & Diane” in my head.
Hell, my question got answered quick enough that the rest of the thread may as well go that way. Go for it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:59 AM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Hell, my question got answered quick enough that the rest of the thread may as well go that way. Go for it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:59 AM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
YES and Blue Bread Mold the song about embedding penicillin in an oral tradition! Leslie Fish, I’ll try to remember.
posted by lokta at 2:00 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by lokta at 2:00 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I am now trying and failing not to start composing Cold War lyrics for John Cougar’s “Jack & Diane” in my head.
I'm not great at these but you stuck it in my head too so:
A little ditty 'bout Jack & Nikita
Two Cold War leaders in the Carribean theater
Jack, he's gonna be a short lived prez
Nikita's gonna get replaced by Brezhnev
Settin' up rocket sites in Cuba and Turkey
Castro siding with Soviets
Got his eyes on The Keys
Jack he says
"Hey, Khrushchev, let's calm down, not do anything crazy
Tear down those missile sites
We've hit DEFCON 3"
Saying "Oh yeah
Life goes on, long after the threat of Cold War is gone"
Saying "Oh yeah
Life goes on, long after the threat of Cold War is gone"
They walk on
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 3:18 PM on March 25, 2021 [9 favorites]
I'm not great at these but you stuck it in my head too so:
A little ditty 'bout Jack & Nikita
Two Cold War leaders in the Carribean theater
Jack, he's gonna be a short lived prez
Nikita's gonna get replaced by Brezhnev
Settin' up rocket sites in Cuba and Turkey
Castro siding with Soviets
Got his eyes on The Keys
Jack he says
"Hey, Khrushchev, let's calm down, not do anything crazy
Tear down those missile sites
We've hit DEFCON 3"
Saying "Oh yeah
Life goes on, long after the threat of Cold War is gone"
Saying "Oh yeah
Life goes on, long after the threat of Cold War is gone"
They walk on
posted by Clinging to the Wreckage at 3:18 PM on March 25, 2021 [9 favorites]
There's also Sheldon Allman's Folk Songs for the 21st Century, with songs like "Radioactive Mama" and "Crawl Out Through the Fallout."
Radioactive mama, hold me tight
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
Well, when we get together, clear away the crowd
There won't nothing left except a mushroom shaped cloud
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
Well, your kisses do things to me in oh so many ways
I feel them going through me, all those gamma, gamma rays
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
Well since I kissed you baby that evening in the park
I lost my hair and eyebrows and my teeth shine in the dark
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
posted by doctornemo at 2:45 PM on March 26, 2021
Radioactive mama, hold me tight
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
Well, when we get together, clear away the crowd
There won't nothing left except a mushroom shaped cloud
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
Well, your kisses do things to me in oh so many ways
I feel them going through me, all those gamma, gamma rays
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
Well since I kissed you baby that evening in the park
I lost my hair and eyebrows and my teeth shine in the dark
Radioactive mama, treat me right
Radioactive mama, we'll reach critical mass tonight
posted by doctornemo at 2:45 PM on March 26, 2021
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
When they drop that bomb
Crawl out through the fallout
With the greatest of aplomb
When your white count's getting higher
Hurry, don't delay
I'll hold you close and kiss those
Radiation burns away
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
To my loving arms
Through the rain of Strontium 90
Think about your hero
When you're at Ground Zero
And crawl out through the fallout back to me
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
You know what I mean
Crawl out through the fallout
'Cause they said this bomb was clean
If you cannot find the way
Just listen for my song
I'll love you all your life
Although that may not be too long
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
To my loving arms
While those ICBM's keep us free
When you hear me call out
Baby, kick the wall out
And crawl out through the fallout back to me
'Cause you'll be the only girl in the world
Why don't you crawl out through the fallout back to me
Why don't you crawl out through the fallout back to me
Why don't you crawl out through the fallout back to me
posted by doctornemo at 2:46 PM on March 26, 2021
When they drop that bomb
Crawl out through the fallout
With the greatest of aplomb
When your white count's getting higher
Hurry, don't delay
I'll hold you close and kiss those
Radiation burns away
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
To my loving arms
Through the rain of Strontium 90
Think about your hero
When you're at Ground Zero
And crawl out through the fallout back to me
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
You know what I mean
Crawl out through the fallout
'Cause they said this bomb was clean
If you cannot find the way
Just listen for my song
I'll love you all your life
Although that may not be too long
Crawl out through the fallout, baby
To my loving arms
While those ICBM's keep us free
When you hear me call out
Baby, kick the wall out
And crawl out through the fallout back to me
'Cause you'll be the only girl in the world
Why don't you crawl out through the fallout back to me
Why don't you crawl out through the fallout back to me
Why don't you crawl out through the fallout back to me
posted by doctornemo at 2:46 PM on March 26, 2021
Well I'm gettin' tired workin' hard every day
Workin' every day and not a-gettin' much pay
I got a big Geiger counter, it's a pretty good rig
When the needle starts clickin' it's where I'm gonna dig
Money-money honey, the kind you fold
Money-money honey, rock 'n' roll
Rake it in, bale it up like hay
Have a rockin' good time and throw it all away
posted by clavdivs at 6:31 PM on March 26, 2021
Workin' every day and not a-gettin' much pay
I got a big Geiger counter, it's a pretty good rig
When the needle starts clickin' it's where I'm gonna dig
Money-money honey, the kind you fold
Money-money honey, rock 'n' roll
Rake it in, bale it up like hay
Have a rockin' good time and throw it all away
posted by clavdivs at 6:31 PM on March 26, 2021
Breathing - Kate Bush
Outside
Gets inside, ooh
Through her skin
I've been out before, but this time it's much safer in
Last night
In the sky, ooh
Such a bright light
My radar send me danger, but my instincts tell me to keep.
Breathing
(Out, in, out, in, out, in)
Breathing
Breathing my mother in
Breathing my beloved in
Breathing
Breathing her nicotine
Breathing
Breathing the fall-out in
Out in, out in, out in, out in
We've lost our chance
We're the first and the last, ooh
After the blast
Chips of plutonium
Are twinkling in every lung
I love my
Beloved, ooh
All and everywhere
Only the fools blew it
You and me knew life itself is
Breathing
(Out, in, out, in, out, in)
Breathing
Breathing my mother in
Breathing my beloved in
Breathing
Breathing her nicotine
Breathing
Breathing the fall-out in
Out in, out in, out in, out in
Out in, out in, out in, out...
Out, out, out, out...
posted by h00py at 12:06 AM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
Outside
Gets inside, ooh
Through her skin
I've been out before, but this time it's much safer in
Last night
In the sky, ooh
Such a bright light
My radar send me danger, but my instincts tell me to keep.
Breathing
(Out, in, out, in, out, in)
Breathing
Breathing my mother in
Breathing my beloved in
Breathing
Breathing her nicotine
Breathing
Breathing the fall-out in
Out in, out in, out in, out in
We've lost our chance
We're the first and the last, ooh
After the blast
Chips of plutonium
Are twinkling in every lung
I love my
Beloved, ooh
All and everywhere
Only the fools blew it
You and me knew life itself is
Breathing
(Out, in, out, in, out, in)
Breathing
Breathing my mother in
Breathing my beloved in
Breathing
Breathing her nicotine
Breathing
Breathing the fall-out in
Out in, out in, out in, out in
Out in, out in, out in, out...
Out, out, out, out...
posted by h00py at 12:06 AM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
The concept of I Melt With You by Modern English is two lovers literally melting together during a nuclear explosion.
posted by Candleman at 12:08 PM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Candleman at 12:08 PM on March 27, 2021 [1 favorite]
I stood a-wondering which way to go
I lit a cigarette on a parking meter and walked on down the road
It was a normal day
posted by klanawa at 2:10 PM on March 29, 2021
I lit a cigarette on a parking meter and walked on down the road
It was a normal day
posted by klanawa at 2:10 PM on March 29, 2021
as recently discussed at some length here, YMG’s Final Day.
posted by progosk at 5:29 AM on April 2, 2021
posted by progosk at 5:29 AM on April 2, 2021
and another: "The Sun is Burning" written by Ian Campbell, recorded by Simon & Garfunkel in 1964. Still gives me goosebumps.
The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the dreamy bees
Are droning in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky
Now the sun is in the West
Tiny babes lay down to take their rest
And the couples in the park
Are holding hands and waiting for the dark
And the sun is in the West
Now the sun is sinking low
Children playing know it's time to go
High above a spot appears
A little blossom blooms and then draws near
And the sun is sinking low
Now the sun has come to earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a sea of ash
And the sun has come to earth
Now the sun has disappeared
All that's left is darkness, pain and fear
Twisted, sightless wrecks of men
Go crawling on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared
posted by Corvid at 3:15 PM on April 2, 2021
The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the dreamy bees
Are droning in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky
Now the sun is in the West
Tiny babes lay down to take their rest
And the couples in the park
Are holding hands and waiting for the dark
And the sun is in the West
Now the sun is sinking low
Children playing know it's time to go
High above a spot appears
A little blossom blooms and then draws near
And the sun is sinking low
Now the sun has come to earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a sea of ash
And the sun has come to earth
Now the sun has disappeared
All that's left is darkness, pain and fear
Twisted, sightless wrecks of men
Go crawling on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared
posted by Corvid at 3:15 PM on April 2, 2021
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posted by Iris Gambol at 3:01 PM on March 24, 2021 [5 favorites]