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The Cold War on Record Hugo A. Keesing On March 5, 1946, in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, Winston Churchill proclaimed that "...an iron curtain has descended across the [European] continent." That curtain, which literally and figuratively represented the ideological post-war rift between the United States and the Soviet Union named the Cold War1, would remain in place for more than 40 years. Ideological differences-- the "cold" war of words, and ideological clashes-- the wars of bullets (e.g., Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Afghanistan) inspired well in excess of 1500 topical songs.2 While more than 900 are related to America's ten year involvement in Vietnam,3 almost 600 are associated with other Cold War aspects. With very few exceptions, the latter body has remained largely undocumented by music- and other historians. These songs cover topics such as the atom bomb, communism, the space race and espionage. Musical styles as diverse as pop, rock, folk, rap, blues, country, novelty and comedy are represented. Many of the songs are obscure singles or cuts off little-known albums. Collectively they constitute a first attempt to create a comprehensive Cold War Song Index (CWSI). With the CWSI (see Appendix A) as its basis, this study begins an analysis of song externals (e.g., release date, musical genre, whether or not the song was recorded) and of lyrical content variables. It represents the initial effort to examine the Cold War era from this unique primary source. If there are problems with topical pop, they include that it is fleeting and often obscure songs by obscure artists on obscure labels. Thus there may be hundreds - possibly even thousands - of additional songs that fall within the search parameters for this study.4 For this reason, a numerical analysis is of limited worth. More meaningful is a content analysis of a significant sample of that music. I believe the more than 600 songs so far identified represent such a sample.

SAMPLING The songs in this sample were drawn from a multitude of sources. What they have in common is that all were published and recorded between 1945-91. Many are from my own collection of topical records and sheet music. The CWSI is augmented by songs listed in music reference books covering the past 55 years. The relevant titles (see References) include those by Big Al Pavlow (1983; 1995), Joel Whitburn (1972; 1986; 1987; 1993), Osborne & Hamilton (1976; 1981) and Galen Gart (1991ff). Also invaluable were song indexes by Macken, et al (1980) and Green (1995). Additional titles were gleaned from 25 years of record auction lists.5 Whatever the source, the search strategy focused on identifying titles containing one of some two dozen key terms.6 Whenever possible, either a recorded version or sheet music was

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consulted to determine a song's inclusion or exclusion. As the titles accumulated, a number of relatively discrete categories emerged. Songs with references to the atom bomb and its impact comprised one substantial group. Songs making direct reference to Korea, or addressing "soldiering" issues in the 1950-53 time frame were another. Also easy to identify were those titles dealing with two Cold War flashpoints, Cuba and Castro, and Berlin. The space race, from Sputnik to missile gaps and the ABM, formed another cluster. Other topics were less clearly discernable and ended up being combined. For example, songs addressing McCarthyism and internal security issues in the early 50s shared a number of common elements with late 60s songs dealing with espionage and secret agents. Similarly it was often difficult to draw meaningful distinctions between lyrics decrying godless communism and those praising the democratic values of religion. Insofar as the more than five-dozen songs dealing with East-West confrontations other than Korea, Cuba and Berlin are concerned, the most meaningful distinction became whether they were static or active. Finally, while the majority of songs referencing Cold War politicians in this index are comedic, a number of others identify (primarily Soviet) leaders in the context of East-West confrontations. The net result of this informal cluster analysis is the 12 categories identified in Table 1. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE 1

Content Categories 1 - Atom bomb; Nuclear War; Nuclear Radiation; World War III 2 - Iron Curtain; Static East-West Confrontations 3 - Korean War; Soldiering in the early 1950s 4 - Ideological Differences; Communism; Atheism; Religion 5 - Internal Security; McCarthyism; Espionage; Secret Agents 6 - Space Race; Sputnik; Missile Gap; ABM; Star Wars 7 - Cold War Politicians 8 - Cuba; Fidel Castro 9 - Berlin; The Wall 10 - Active East-West Confrontations; Surrogates 11 - Rapprochement; Detente 12 - Miscellaneous; (Key Word matches lacking context) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Based on a lyrical content analysis, (or on the key word in the title for instrumentals and songs which the author had not personally heard) each song was assigned to one or more categories. More than 90% of the sample ended up in a single category.

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Once the songs were categorized, they were cross-referenced into a chronological matrix (see Table 2). Using five-year segments beginning at the end of World War II, the Cold War era was broken down into ten blocks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE 2 CWSI Matrix

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The sampling data show that almost all the 1945-49 songs were about the atomic bomb and its implications for mankind and the world. Parallels between atomic power and God's power established a link that would continue throughout the Cold War. The post-war years produced about 6% of the sample. More than 24% of the songs originated between 1950-54. The bulk dealt with the war in Korea, but the A-bomb, Communism, concerns over internal security as embodied by Senator Joseph McCarthy and religion were also popular subjects. From 1955-59 the "space race" became the dominant theme. Sputnik became a permanent part of the American vocabulary in October 1957. All told, the 1950s produced about one-third of Cold War songs. The early 1960s produced a spate of songs about Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, the most visible Cold War antagonist. It was also the period for songs about Castro's Cuba and the newly built Berlin Wall. The late 60s, on the other hand, were replete with secret agent and spy songs. The popularity of James Bond films and their television spin-offs (e.g., "I Spy" and "The

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Man From U.N.C.L.E.") was responsible for most of it. The decade accounts for just over 25% of the sample. The early 1970s represented the low point for Cold War songs. Not only was the U.S. finally emerging from the decade-long war in Southeast Asia, its focus was internal thanks to Watergate. The second half of the 70s was not much different, except for an increase in mass annihilation songs, most of which came out of the "punk rock" genre. Overall the decade produced only about 10% of the sample. With Ronald Reagan's election to the presidency in 1980, the Cold War was re-frozen. Reagan's references to an Evil Empire, little wars fought by East-West surrogates, and well-publicized incidents such as the shoot down of KAL 007 all found their way into song lyrics. The second half of the decade saw the first significant number of songs about rapprochement and detente. The 1980s account for about 20% of Cold War songs. Viewed in its entirety (see Figure 1 below), the graph of Cold War songs' distribution more or less mirrors its prominence on the radar scope of American culture. The highs (early 50s, 60s and 80s) and lows (late 50s and all of the 70s) match rather well the number of news stories on Cold War topics in the Chronicle of the 20th Century. In short, music fulfilled its role as a cultural barometer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FIGURE 1 CWSI Time Line

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ What follows is an overview analysis of the 12 content categories.

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CONTENT CATEGORIES Category 1 - Atom Bomb Category 1 represents the most frequent theme in the Cold War Song Index at some 22 percent of the total.7 Moreover, there are at least five songs in each of the year blocks, making it clear that the theme has been a consistent and persistent part of the American psyche. It dovetails nicely with the results of a survey of the 100 top news stories of the 20th century, which ranked "United States drops atomic bombs on Japan, ending World War II" as #1.8 Songs in Category 1 began immediately after the war. By the end of 1946, at least 20 different records with references to the bomb or, more generally, atomic power, had been released. The seminal example of the category was appropriately entitled Atomic Power. Written by Fred Kirby and recorded at least five times, its lyrics proclaim not only that "ATOMIC POWER was given by the mighty hand of God," it goes on to warn listeners to "use it for the good of man and never to destroy." Two other early songs with a similar message include There Is A Power Greater Than Atomic and Jesus Hits Like An Atom Bomb. Even as one group of songs warned of atomic power's threat to the survival of mankind, as in Atom And Evil, If Atom and Evil should ever be wed, Lord, then darn near all of us are gonna be dead. another group made a completely different connection. The atom bomb was equated to the ultimate sexual experience. The Andrew Sister's Lady From 29 Palms was a "dynamite dreamboat, a load of atom bombs," while Frank Sinatra's Miss Bobby Socks "...devastates her dates like the new atomic bomb." What is particularly interesting is that 40 years later, the two thematic expressions were still very much in evidence. Whether the song is I Dreamed It Was The End Of The World, Nuclear Attack, or Radium Rain, the theme is Armageddon. Not so for She's A Nuclear Bomb. The California group The Dull made it clear that they considered their song to be "... a paean to womankind. The title combines two aspects of modern life; sensuality and love on the one hand, and modern technology and war on the other." Category 2 - Static East-West Confrontations Category 2 songs are also found across the entire 45-year cold war continuum and represent about five percent of all themes. One of the earliest is Irving Berlin's Operation Vittles, dedicated to air corps personnel who were flying in supplies to break the Berlin blockade.

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We'll soon be on our way with coal and wheat and hay... As in the sky we go, we won't forget to blow a kiss to uncle Joe. Another is the 1950 novelty tune, There's A Hole In The Iron Curtain. Its spoken introduction (with Russian accent, according to the sheet music) went like this: Attention comrades! National emergency. Important message from Uncle Joe. Attention

commissars!...There's a hole in the old iron curtain! Americans peeking! Almost 40 years later Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire provided a laundry list of key cold war events and personalities. They included Red China, Joe McCarthy, North and South Korea, [Ethel and Julius] Rosenberg, H-Bombs, Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Khrushchev, Sputnik, Castro, the U-2 and Russians in Afghanistan, to name but some. Category 3 - Korean War The war in Korea - technically a United Nations peacekeeping action - is mentioned in more than 100 songs; about 17 percent of the CWSI. Almost all fall in the 1950-54 time frame when the fighting was going on. The exception is the more than a dozen songs from the Vietnam era (1965-74) that specifically mention Korea. The years 1950-53 were replete with direct song references. From Korea Blues to Korean Mud; from Goodbye Mama (I'm Off To Korea) to Back From Korea. (Heartsick Soldier On) Heartbreak Ridge became a Country & Western best-seller with popular versions by both Gene Autry and Ernest Tubb, I'm tired, I'm weary, forgotten and blue, with only one question in mind. How long (oh) how long 'til I'm back home again, with the sweetheart I left behind. while Rotation Blues described an even more desperate soldier. Rotation had better hurry up and set me free, 'Cause the honeypots in Korea done started smellin' good to me. Korea also marked the return to military prominence of General Douglas MacArthur. On the record When They Drop The Atomic Bomb, Jackie Doll and his Pickled Peppers prophetically noted, "only one thing that will stop them [Communists]...if General MacArthur drops an atomic bomb." MacArthur, of course, was recalled by President Truman. His retirement speech before both houses of Congress was the inspiration for a Top 10 song, Old Soldiers Never Die. Following his retirement, Roy Acuff praised him as "just a soldier, brave and true to the old red, white and blue," and criticized those Americans who had called for MacArthur's ouster.

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While he did the best he could there were some who tho't he should Let the communists take over all creation. During the Vietnam years, patriotic songs occasionally reminded listeners of the sacrifices made during previous wars. Not Another Viet Nam is one such song. In World War II Jack was lost at sea; Korea took the brother next to me. The Vietnam Guitar has the line, "My daddy died in Korea," while Wake Up America, a song about Vietnam MIAs, alleges that 389 men were left behind in Korea when an armistice was signed. Category 4 - Ideological Conflicts The Cold War's ideological differences were not only democracy versus communism, but also atheism versus religion. This thematic category was most often present in songs in the early 1950s. A prime example is They Locked God Outside The Iron Curtain. In a pointed reference to the Soviet Union, Little Jimmie Dickens sang: ...This evil nation can never find Salvation 'Till the Lord tears the Iron Curtain down. Not only was God expected to tear down the iron curtain, America also looked to Him for victory in Korea. Jimmie Osborne's plea was straight forward. Give us vict'ry in Korea and save our boys so fine, GOD PLEASE PROTECT AMERICA in this troubled time. while the Gay Sisters assured listeners that God Is On Our Side.9 Religious references, while frequent, were not essential. The Red We Want Is The Red We've Got (In The Old Red, White & Blue) proudly proclaimed: It's the right red, not the wrong red, and the old flag knows it too; It's a brave red, not a slave red, that means liberty to you. Communists and communism are mentioned in song lyrics throughout the cold war era. From folk singer Josh White's autobiographical I Was A Sucker For The Communists [1950] to Janet Greene's Commie Lies: "...Communism is on the rise...their major weapon is deceit" [1960s], the ideology's evil nature provided musical fodder. That remained true even in the 1980s - Denver Bill's Down With The Communists - and beyond (If You Want Free Speech) Go To Russia. .

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In Russia, they just abolished censorship, but hey, it's just another Communist trick. So you can rest assured they won't get ticked off, if you talk trash about your dingus to

Gorbachev. For what it's worth, some ten years after the Cold War ended the Musicland Group's database doesn't have a single song title with the word "communist" or "communism" in it. The term has apparently been rendered meaningless with today's generation of music buyers. Category 5 - Internal Security Category 5 includes a couple of early 50s songs about McCarthyism, internal security and spies for the U.S.S.R. Stan Freberg's Point Of Order, Hal Block's The Senator McCarthy Blues, and Cactus Pryor's Point Of Order (With The Senator And The Private) all deal with hearings intended to ferret out communists and fellow travelers. More than 30 years later, REM reprised that time in American politics in Exhuming McCarthy. The Limeliters' Harry Pollitt, from the early 1960s, is about "one of Lenin's lads" who, after he is killed by a counter-revolutionary, becomes "...the first People's Commissar of Soviet hell." Rory Gallagher's Philby [1979] is about a British diplomat/newspaper man who spied for the Russians in the 50s and early 60s. Beginning in 1960, however, the musical focus switched from people spying against the United States to those spying for it. The first to be celebrated in song was Francis Gary Powers, the U-2 pilot shot down over Russia in May 1960. Red River Dave's There's A Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere #2 and Larry Nolan's The Ballad Of Francis Powers told of his captivity in a Russian jail. In a lonesome prison cell in godless Russia... There's the boy who flew the U-2 for his country To make sure that no Pearl Harbor comes again. Four years later, thanks to Britain's indomitable James Bond, Americans began a love affair with secret agents. The huge success of Bond films such as "From Russia With Love" inspired a spate of television knock-offs including "I Spy," "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and, of course, "Secret Agent Man." All had theme songs which achieved a measure of popularity, either as singles or as tracks on albums with titles such as Come Spy With Me, Super Spy Themes and Sounds For Spies & Private Eyes. Spy songs trickled down to an average of one per year in the 70s and 80s. Those that achieved some measure of popularity tended to come from movie soundtracks. Two examples are the Pat Metheny Group's The Falcon (And The Snowman) and Paul McCartney & Wings' Spies Like Us, both from 1985.

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Category 6 - Space Race The race for space was another manifestation of East-West competition. Whether it was the first artificial earth satellite (Russia's Sputnik), the first man in space (Russia's Yuri Gagarin), or the first man on the moon (America's Neil Armstrong), technical competence and national pride were at stake. For the average American it began with Sputnik (a Russian word meaning "traveling companion"). At least a dozen songs, most of them from 1957-58, used the word in their title. When the Russians put a dog in orbit in Sputnik II, it was chronicled in Laika (Space Pooch) and Sputniks And Mutniks. Two early American space travels were commemorated in Abel And Baker. Able, a seven-pound rhesus monkey, and Baker, a one-pound squirrel monkey, were the first animals to return from space alive. In April 1961, Russia orbited Vostok I and its occupant, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Americans could learn about the flight from the cut-in novelty, Man In Orbit. The sub-orbital flights of American astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom apparently did not inspire songwriters, nor did Russia's second cosmonaut, Gherman Titov. It wasn't until February 1962, when Lt Col John Glenn circled the earth three times, that a "real" American astronaut10 was celebrated in song. Walter Brennan's The Epic Ride Of John H. Glenn was actually the B-side of Old Rivers, a song about a mule! The Friendship 7 rattled and shook, and only a brave man dared to look; Alone the capsule shot into space, by the will of man and the hand of grace. By 1965, space travel had become commonplace. It wasn't until Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969 that musical interest reawakened. In a revue called "The Hearts Delight Follies 69," Bob Crewe introduced American Moon. There's an American flag waving on the moon, waving on the moon tonight. I'm not a bit neurotic, not a bit psychotic; Oh, no, no---I'm only patriotic. Gloryosky

what a kick. Lobo's ode to the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, wasn't released until 1974. Later space-related songs, including two about America's first female astronaut, Sally Ride, and several about the 1986 Challenger disaster, were adjudged to fall outside a cold war context and therefore not included in the CWSI. Category 7 - Politicians

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Almost 75 percent of the songs in this category spotlight Nikita Khrushchev, Russia's Premier from 1958-64. The earliest, however, mentioned World War II leader Joseph Stalin. Roy Acuff's Advice To Joe, Hank Williams (as Luke The Drifter's) No No Joe, and Don't Drop That Apple, Joe all warned Stalin against starting a war against the United States. Acuff was particularly direct. Here's a question, Mister Stalin, and it's you who must decide; When atomic bombs start falling do you have a place to hide? Every Soviet leader from Stalin on is mentioned in at least one song. Malenkov can be found in We Didn't Start The Fire. In addition to numerous references on comedy albums by Bob Newhart, George Segal and Marc London, as well as cut-in records such as Go Go Radio Moscow, Khrushchev left an indelible footprint on American music. At the time of his well-publicized trip to the U.S. in 1959, Walker Edmiston sang, I Dreamt I Saw Khrushchev (In A Pink Cadillac). A couple of years later, Don Meehan's An Open Letter to Mr. Khrushchev purported to be the words of Soviet sailor Viktor Jaanimets, who jumped ship to find freedom in the U.S. The song took the letters of "peace" and said that in Russia they stood for "Persecution, Evil, Atheism, Confusion and Conflict, and the Earth which communism expects to conquer." Khrushchev's successor, Leonid Brezhnev, is mentioned in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show's" I Do The Rock and Pink Floyd's Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert, among others. After Brezhnev came Yuri Andropov, who James Murphy blamed for the fate of Korean Airline Flight 007 in 1983. Hey, Mr. Andropov don't you think it's time you call off all your trigger-happy commies

over there! Don Meehan's advice to the Soviet leader in a song addressed to Dear Mr. Andropov was six years too early. The best thing you can do for your people is [to] tear down the Berlin Wall! Even Konstantin Chernenko found his way onto a record. He and Foreign Minister Gromyko are mentioned on Denver Bill's Down With The Communists. Ronnie's Rapp suggests that President Reagan's relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev developed slowly. Met with Gorbachev in '85, to talk about how everyone could stay alive. And although he seemed to be a guy with class, if he doesn't play ball we'll nuke

his...country.

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Songs still available in 2000 include Gorba The Chief by various artists, Gong's Gorbachev Cocktail, the Capitol Steps' Gorby Gorbachev, and Shamen's In Gorbachev We Trust. Their sentiments are a far cry from Stalin's portrayal in music 50 years earlier. Category 8 - Cuba It should come as no great surprise that the bulk of songs about Cuba and Castro were released in the early 1960s. Like other politically oriented material, they tended to be found on comedy albums or in the repertoire of folk singers. The former includes Vaughn Meader's The Crisis, from "The First Family - II." John-John ends up on the "hot line" listening to Khrushchev saying that he has signed a pact with Castro. Tell the President to stay out of Cuba...I'm backing Castro all the way. Marc London's Cuber is off the album "The 'President' Strikes Back!" More serious were the songs of Phil Ochs and Louisiana Red. Ochs' Talking Cuba Crisis described the 1962 events as follows: [The President]...said he'd seen some missile bases, and terrible smiles on Cuban faces. They're carrying land reform too far, giving land to the USSR. Ochs went on to describe President Kennedy's response. Yes, he said we musn't be afraid; we're setting up a little blockade. Put our ships along the Cuban shores, and if the Russian bear yells and roars we'll let

him have it. Red's Dream has Louisiana Red going to the United Nations during the missile crisis and telling Castro, "You gotta go." Told old Khrushchev...get that junk out of Cuba. These songs, as well as songs almost two decades later such as Living Through Another Cuba, leave little doubt that it was the Cuba-Soviet Union and Castro-Communism (i.e. Cold War) connections that were of primary interest.11 Category 9 - Berlin Like Cuba, Berlin was one of the Cold War flash points of the early 1960. Partitioned among the Allies after World War II, and located deep inside East Germany, the city had come to Cold War musical attention as early as 1948 in Operation Vittles (see p. 6). Berlin and the

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East-West German border were two of the primary reasons the United States kept several hundred thousand troops stationed in Europe. From 1958-60 they included one Elvis Presley, whose sentiments can be found in G.I. Blues. Shortly after the East-West border's closing in August, 1961, two records alluded to the crisis. Big Bill Schaeffer's Draft Call noted that "Berlin is your new home." At about the same time, the Viceroys' Uncle Sam Needs You included the line, "...I don't think I'll like it in Berlin." As a wall went up dividing the two halves of the city, two songs, both by female vocalists, re-cast the crisis in more personal terms. Gail Marie's Ballad Of Berlin is the tragic story of a couple separated by the border, he being "just east of West Berlin." I've heard the words that crushed my heart; They closed the Brandenburg Gate. Miss Toni Fisher's West Of The Wall actually made it into the Top 40 (#37) in 1962. ...Dream of tomorrow when we meet again, WEST OF THE WALL where hearts are free. The Wall continued to appear in song in the ensuing decades. Root Boy Slim's Party At The Berlin Wall (74), Little Steven's Checkpoint Charlie (84) and Johnny Clegg's Berlin Wall in the early 90s are but three examples. The Wall served both as backdrop and subject for Roger Waters' "The Wall - Live in Berlin."12 Category 10 - Active East-West Confrontations With a few notable exceptions, the bulk of Category 10 songs were recorded in the 1980s. This is largely due to the fact that Korea, Cuba, Berlin and Vietnam, all prime examples of active East-West confrontations, were accorded separate categories. What was left for the 1960s included three songs about the U.S.S. Pueblo. There is no doubt that Bob Terry's U.S.S. Pueblo and Dave McEnery's Song Of The U.S.S. Pueblo were about the events surrounding the mysterious ship.13 Less clear is the attribution that Blues Image's Ride Captain Ride was also about the Pueblo. As a storm was blowin' out on the peaceful sea, Seventy three men sailin' off to history. Ride Captain Ride, upon your myst'ry ship. Another deadly incident occurred in 1983, in the skies over Sakhalin Island, north of Japan. There, on the night of 1 September, a Soviet pilot shot down Korean Airlines Flight 007. In an action denounced by President Reagan as "barbarous," 269 people lost their lives. Jim Murphy's Flight 007 used the incident to condemn "trigger-happy commies" (see p. 10). Hockett and Mizzer's A Tribute To "The Flight Of 007" described what happened, as reconstructed from intelligence sources.

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Little do they know that their airliner has strayed into a hell know as Soviet airspace. The record ended with the words of the Russian pilot, "...the target is destroyed." Other songs were about proxy wars; instances where East-West differences were played out in Latin America (e.g., Nicaragua), Central Asia (e.g., Be A Sport Afghanistan) or Africa (e.g., Gaddafi (Don't Let Gaddafi Murder Me)), to name but a few places. New wave rock group The Clash released albums such as "Sandinista!" with Washington Bullets and Ivan Meets G.I. Joe. The former includes the lines, If you can find an Afghan rebel that the Moscow bullets missed, Ask him what he thinks of voting communist. The latter also implicates the U.S.S.R. in conflicts around the world. He tried his tricks, that ruskie bear. The United Nations said it's all fair. He did the Radiation. He did the Chemical plague, but could not win with the Cossack

spin. Bruce Cockburn and the Dead Kennedys also zeroed in on cold war conflicts in their music. Category 11 - Detente Detente, or an easing of the Cold War tensions, did not become a reality until Mikhail Gorbachev assumed power in 1985. His campaigns for "glasnost" (openness) and "perestroika" (restructuring) bore fruit in December 1987, when he and President Reagan signed a treaty to reduce their nuclear arsenals. Musical calls for rapprochement had begun more than a quarter century earlier. In 1960, Jimmy Dean had recorded There's Still Time Brother. Inspired by the book and film "On The Beach,"14 the lyrics said there was still time "to make amends...and to love one another." You're all God's children, so live in peace my friends! Dean also recorded Dear Ivan (#24) in 1962. His spoken recitation was addressed to a Russian counterpart, one Ivan Kavanovich, U.S.S.R. In it he said, I'd like to walk up and shake your hand and look you straight in the eye and say that I

haven't got one thing against you. An answer song, Dear Jimmy by Ivan Kavanovich, was released shortly thereafter. It expressed similar sentiments. Almost 25 years had to pass, however, before detente became a recurrent theme.

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During President Reagan's second term, some of the decade's most influential musicians wrote songs about bettering East-West relationships, visited the Soviet Union, or both. Elton John's Nikita reached the Top 10 (#7) in 1985. If there comes a time guns and gates no longer hold you in, And if you're free to make a choice, just look toward the West and find a friend. John Denver's contribution was Let Us Begin (What Are We Making Weapons For?). The song's sheet music notes the following: The combined firepower of World War II including the two atomic bombs dropped on

Japan [was] equal to 3 megatons...Present nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Soviet Union equal 18,000 megatons or the equivalent destructive capability of 6,000 World War II's.

Sting's Russians didn't discount ideological differences, but stated that commonalities are more important. He summed up his point of view in the song's last two lines. What might save us, me and you, is that the Russians love their children too. In 1988, Paul McCartney and Wings released CHOBA B CCCP [Back In The U.S.S.R.] - The Russian Album, exclusively in the Soviet Union. It included a number of rock classics the Beatles had recorded in the early 60s during a time when western music was banned behind the iron curtain. Perhaps the best example of musical detente is Billy Joel. He toured and recorded in Russia in 1987, resulting in the album Kohu,ept. One of the album's songs released as a single was the by now ubiquitous Back In The U.S.S.R. The Russian tour was also the likely inspiration for 1989's (#1) We Didn't Start The Fire. If I had to identify one song that encapsulates the Cold War from start to finish, it would be Joel's Leningrad. In comparing his life to that of a Russian named Viktor, Joel evoked the memories of American kids raised in the early 1950s. I was born in '49, a cold war kid in McCarthy time. Stop 'em at the 38th Parallel; blast those yellow reds to hell. And cold war kids were hard to kill under their desks in an air raid drill. The song also mentions the Cuban Missile Crisis and alludes to the Vietnam war. Against this historical background of fear and mistrust, Joel came to Russia to meet "Viktor." He described what he found and learned from that trip. And so my child and I came to this place to meet him eye to eye and face to face.

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He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced. I never knew what friends we had until we came to Leningrad. The year was 1989. The Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain were down. Communism was on the way out in Eastern and Central Europe. The Cold War was ending. Category 12 - Miscellaneous The last of the twelve categories is reserved for songs that contained one of the key words (see end note 6) but lacked sufficient context to place them elsewhere. It represents about 5 percent of the sample. An early example of the genre is Floyd Tillman's This Cold War With You. Written in 1949, its lyrics describe a relationship gone bad. The sun goes down and leaves me sad and blue; The Iron Curtain falls on THIS COLD WAR WITH YOU. Tho' you won't speak and I won't speak, that's true; Two stubborn people with a cold war to go through. The song has since been recorded numerous others, including Merle Haggard, George Morgan, Willie Nelson, Ray Price and John Prine. Rex Allen's Cold Cold War two years later was very similar. An example from the 1980 was Jackson Browne's Lawyers In Love. Last night I watched the news from Washington, the capital. The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them, like Russians will. The only other context is Browne saying that "the U.S.S.R. will be open soon as vacation land for lawyers in love." Among the category's most popular songs were Kenny Ball's Midnight In Moscow, which reached #2 in 1962, and the multiple versions of Back In The U.S.S.R. Ball's hit was one of a number of instrumentals that spotlighted the Russian capital. Others included Journey To Moscow, Moscow Melody and Miniskirts In Moscow. SUMMARY While no one is likely to argue that the Cold War was a major influence on the music Americans listened to in the years 1945-89, the Cold War Song Index compiled for this paper is an indication that a significant number of songs have incorporated the mood, attitudes, values,

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events and personalities of that era. While relatively few of the CWSI songs became commercially successful, collectively they represent an important archive. They documented social history as it was happening; immediate, unedited, and generally from the point of view of a non-elite. Collectively they deserve another listen. REFERENCES Berelson, B. “Content Analysis.” In Gordon Lindzey (Ed.) Handbook of Social Psychology. Vol. 1. Cambridge, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1954. Daniel, Clifton (Editor in Chief). Chronicle of the 20th Century. Mount Kisco, NY: Chronicle Publications, 1988. [Plus yearly supplements.] Gart, Galen. First Pressings: The History of Rhythm and Blues, Special 1950 Volume. Milford, NH: Big Nickel Publications, 1993. [Individual volumes were published for subsequent years beginning in 1991.] Green, Jeff Green Book (3d Edition). Smyrna, TN: Professional Desk References, 1989. Keesing, Hugo A. Youth in Transition: A Content Analysis of Two Decades of Popular Music. Doctoral Dissertation, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY, 1972. ________. "Pop Goes to War: The Music of World War II and Vietnam." Paper delivered at the Ninth National Convention of the Popular Culture Association, Pittsburgh, PA, April 26-28, 1979. ________. "Recorded Music and the Vietnam War: The First 25 Years." Paper delivered at the Seventeenth National Convention of the Popular Culture Association, Montreal, Canada, March 25-29, 1987. ________. "Vietnam on Record: An Overview." Keesing Musical Archives, 1993. ________. “Singin’ Our Way Through The Cold War.” Paper presented at the SW/Texas Popular Culture Association Meeting, Albuquerque, NM, February 11-13, 2000. Lund, Jens "Country Music Goes to War: Songs for the Red-Blooded American." Popular Music & Society, I (1972), pp. 210-230. Macken, Bob et al The Rock Music Source Book. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1980.

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Mawhinney, Paul C. Music Master: The 45 RPM Record Directory. Allison Park, PA: Record-Rama, 1983. Musicland Group. Online Music Database. Accessed on 4 February 2000. Osborne, Jerry. 55 Years of Recorded Country/Western Music. Phoenix, AZ: O'Sullivan, Woodside & Company, 1976. ________. Popular & Rock Price Guide for 45's. Phoenix, AZ: O'Sullivan, Woodside & Company, 1981. Pavlow, Big Al. The R&B Book: A Disc-History of Rhythm & Blues. Providence, RI: Music House Publishing, 1983. ________. Hot Charts - Title Index, 1940-1959. Providence, RI: Music House Publishing,

1995. [Yearly Hot Charts for 1940-1959 were published between 1992 and 1994.] Whitburn, Joel Top Pop Singles: 1955-1986. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 1987. [Plus yearly supplements.] ________. Top Country and Western Records, 1949-1971. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 1973. [Plus supplements.] ________. Top R&B Singles, 1942-1988. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 1988. ________. Top Pop Albums, 1955-1992. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, 1993.

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END NOTES 1.. The Cold War covers an era roughly from 1945 to 1990. For the purpose of this paper, America's use of the atom bomb to end World War II, rather than Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech, is taken as the starting point. Similarly, I have concurred with historians that the Cold War ended when the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989. 2.. Drawing on prior research covering World War II (Keesing, 1979) and Vietnam (Keesing, 1987; 93), I looked for songs about PEOPLE, EVENTS, ISSUES and VALUES. 3.. Vietnam on Record has a separate, self-contained discography of over 900 song titles. It includes information on artists, labels, record numbers and year of release. 4.. A cursory search of the Musicland Group's on-line database of song titles yielded 156 listings with the word "atomic," 186 with "Berlin," more than 50 with "cold war" and 452 with "Russia." Essentially the same results were found with an on-line song title search of CDNOW conducted December 13, 2000 and included as Appendix B. While many titles are duplicative of songs already included in the CWSI (e.g., Blondie's version of Atomic is listed for each CD on which it appears), others are completely unknown to me. A significant amount of new research needs to be done to make and keep the CWSI truly complete. 5.. These lists and many other print resources are contained in the Keesing Musical Archives, housed at the University of Maryland’s Library for the Performing Arts. 6.. Among the key words were "atomic," "bomb," "radiation," "Berlin," "Cuba," "cold war," "Korea," "Russia," "Moscow," "missile," "secret agent," "spy," "Red," and "communist." 7.. This is just a reminder that more than 900 Vietnam-related songs were left out of the CWSI. 8.. The list was determined by a survey of 67 journalists and historians conducted by the Newseum. [USA Today, Feb 24, 1999] 9.. Twelve years later Bob Dylan mined the same vein when he wrote With God On Our Side. 10.. Bill Dana's comedy sketches as Jose Jimenez, the reluctant astronaut, produced a best-selling comedy album in 1961. Entitled Jose Jimenez - The Astronaut (The First Man In Space), it rose to #5 on the album charts. 11.. As an earlier version of this paper was being finished, the Cold War context was still very much in evidence in the custody battle over 6-year old Elian Gonzalez.

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12.. This double album featuring performers as diverse as Cyndi Lauper, Bryan Adams, Van Morrison and Sinead O'Connor, captured a "live" concert of Pink Floyd's "The Wall." Waters had been the group's bassist/leader. 13.. The Pueblo was a Navy intelligence ship boarded and captured by North Korea in January 1968. It's 83 personnel, commanded by Commander Lloyd M. Bucher, were released two days before Christmas, after having been held in captivity for nearly a year. 14.. Nevil Shute's 1957 novel was about the last generation left alive after an accidental nuclear war.