The Wavelength
Monday March 21st, 2022 with Joe Reilly
Not for the Faint of Heart - Songs about nuclear war and its aftermath

Warning Note: The song Nuclear War by Sun Ra contains the f word many times - used in the word mother f'er. When describing nuclear war it seems appropriate but please be warned if you plan to play this program around children or young people you would rather not have exposed to this word. The song starts 31 minutes into the show. Warning Note #2: This show includes a lot of dark songs about nuclear warfare and the aftermath of such a conflict. During these difficult times, some may find this a disturbing show to listen to. I apologize if anyone finds the overall tone of the show too depressing. I thought it was interesting to string together these various songs on this topic. These artists have worked hard to ensure that their songs are warnings to us about the effects of nuclear weapons... and really why we need to rid the world of them forever. This started out as me planning to play a couple of songs about war and then throwing in the Beatles Get Back and dedicating it to Vladimir Putin. (I watched all three episodes of The Beatles documentary Get Back last week and wanted to talk about it and play some Beatles tunes.) But... then a friend sent me this song by the Ukrainian punk band Beton - a reworking of the Clash's classic London Calling - and a new direction for the show was set..... nuclear war in song. Here are links to information about Kyiv Calling by Beton including a link to the video they have produced and an article in the Guardian about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9guzUoTNxeE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/19/kyiv-calling-famous-clash-anthem-reborn-as-call-to-arms-beton I thought I'd go for the first hour on this cheery topic but kept finding old songs and songs I'd never heard before that tied into this happy theme... so here they are all together in two fun-filled hours of music. Please note: 1) I forgot to mention the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song "Two Tribes" which was featured immediately after the Clash's Ivan Meets G.I. Joe. Sorry Frankie and company. I still recall the group's wild show at Porter Hall here at Carleton University many many years ago. 2) I mistakenly said the at a recent book by Robert McNamara had rekindled my interest in knowing more about nuclear weapons. McNamara has written some good books about the state of the world and nuclear diplomacy (check out the film "The Fog of War") but it wasn't his book that caught my attention a few years ago. It was in fact a book by Daniel Ellsberg (the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers) entitled "The Doomsday Machine" that I read a few years ago and strongly recommend to anyone who wants to know more about why we need to get rid of nuclear weapons once and for all. Here is a link to Daniel Ellsberg's website with more information about the book, which is available at the Ottawa Public Library. https://www.ellsberg.net There are 7 copies of the book available at the Ottawa Public Library: https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S26C1072520 Here is the link to a trailer for the film "The Fog of War" https://www.ellsberg.net Here is where you can watch at the Duck and Cover film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60 Sadly amusing. Let's hope for an end to this conflict and all conflicts in the world. While the nuclear threat hangs over the war in the Ukraine, there are people suffering through other, more conventional wars, around the globe and they deserve our help and attention as well. For example, here are articles about the conflict in Tigray in Ethiopia, where estimates are that 500,000 people have died in the past couple of years due to this civil war. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/mar/17/nowhere-on-earth-are-people-more-at-risk-than-tigray-says-who-chief https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/feb/28/before-they-were-our-brothers-now-i-want-revenge-tigray-conflict-engulfs-neighbouring-state Pray, hope, work for a better world in any way that you can. Take care and thanks for listening.