Born in 1965, I am the oldest of the Xers. I remember all these songs. I remember the Cold War all too well. I wore a Jean vest, camo bandanna around my neck, Guess ankle zipper jeans and ankle boots. Yes I also wore neons sometimes to the clubs with fingerless gloves. All the music, it’s easy to forget how traumatized we were. Drugs, sex, rock n roll, and nukes. War Games was especially poignant. Thanks for this trip down memory lane. Also, I grew up in Los Angeles. I remember all too well the emergence of the Crips and Bloods - gang warfare.
I was born in 1965 too - happy 60 to us!! And I remember all this music so well, and being horrified by Reagan ... Plus AIDS. So much anxiety and trauma under the surface of those neon colors and big hair.
Born in 1970 … and my parents wondered why I wore black lipstick and combat boots and rejected all the pink pop “pretty” stuff as a teenager. It’s a Mad World (Gary Jules’s version is particularly haunting these days)
For me, the music captured (released?) not just the nuclear angst but the high anxiety of the dawn of the AIDS epidemic. It was “Forever Young” and “1999” followed by Alex Chilton’s “No Sex” and the “Red, Hot, and Blue” album. Existential trauma to last a lifetime. With a beat.
A sincere thank-you for educating me about 80s music. I must confess that my familiarity with music from that decade had been limited to the Madonna, pop-synth, glam-metal, and Michael Jackson songs you mention. (And I agree that all of these are worthy, important, and wonderful.)
I must also confess to being virtually oblivious to the death anxiety that Gen X was experiencing. Maybe my excuse is that all four of our sons were born during the 1980s, and this was pretty distracting. I was more concerned with how Reagan was screwing up the economy, creating a soul-crushing high interest rate for our mortgage than I was about potential nuclear disaster. (The threat of nuclear disaster is something I did experience in the early 1960s when my parents built a bomb shelter in our basement after the Cuban missile crisis.)
While I couldn't think of any 80s music with "we're all gonna die" lyrics, the title of your post immediately and vividly brought to my mind a lyric from the Country Joe and the Fish song, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag."
And it's 1, 2, 3, what're we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam
And it's 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
For me, the possibility of dying in Vietnam was an existential reality. We had the draft then, not a volunteer army. I had a draft number. They might have forced me to fight over there. So, yeah, the 80s did have a lot of good "we're all gonna die" songs," but it seems to me that the danger was mostly in people's heads. For me, Country Joe MacDonald's song described a real possibility of dying.
I can only imagine how terrifying the draft was. I’m glad there are still some boomers who are finding comfort (and fight?) from Pete Seeger, Country Joe, Marvin Gaye. Though I would argue that the possibility of dying is always real thanks to geopolitical instability and power grabs. They may not have involved a civilian draft, but 3 mile island and Chernobyl were not in our heads.
Yes, I understand. Nuclear holocaust is always a real possibility. I think my own anxiety about it diminished through habitation during decades of the Cold War.
Probably a very good call. And yes to Russians. At the time I remember thinking it was kind of on the nose, but it hits me viscerally today. (Especially because I don't know that their current "president" loves anyone.)
"There's a room where the world won't find you. Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down..." wow, did that used to feel wildly romantic. And fascinating about Beat It! I might need more info about that one.
The Day After was so messed up. Maybe they made it for Reagan, but man, I know so many of us who were traumatized by it! It wasn't shown in my school. Instead, in a very Gen X latchkey fashion, I remember watching it by myself, age 12. Oof. I'm still freaked out about it.
I have been thinking about this a lot. Maybe it's good that so many of us in Gen X were freaked out about The Day After when we were kids. Roots, Holocaust, Silkwood, The Day After -- they helped us learn about the world (the worst of it and human capacity for resilience through the worst), gave us important shared cultural currency, and it seems that they made a lot of us care enough to make the world better and safer. Even if we're still (gah) doing so much of that work.
Yes, I think you're right. Though it does feel somewhat accidental. It's not like the people who produced the Day After were thinking, "this will really eff up a whole generation!" (probably???). I don't know if we have a greater sense of memento mori than other generations, or that ours is rooted in a particular DIY-era gritty reality-does-bite-so-we-might-as-well-make-cookies-and-dance kind of vibe.
I was desperate to see The Day After (being a thirteen-year-old), but my stepmom heard "on the news" that it would change kids' brains forever to see it. That's what she reported, anyway, along with the fact I was banned from watching it. This made me even more determined, so I borrowed a VHS from a classmate and watched it the following week. I wondered while watching it if I was being changed permanently, but I couldn't feel anything. I'd already seen The Deer Hunter years earlier, so maybe I was just numb by then.
I do think 80's music gets short shrift with just the poppier stuff being remembered (even though some of that is outstanding) so I'm very pleased for this excellent take. It's especially great that you brought NWA and Public Enemy into the mix, too—both of which I was obsessed with, and have been playing for my kids a lot these days.
It’s amazing that whatever else divides us, we are still very connected by the music we grew up with. I wish that anyone who would have danced with me to Tears for Fears or Time Zone and is now cheering shows of force (ICE, bombs) might somehow tap into that part of themselves that could help them find their way back.
If only, if only. We were in a huge pride march in (Upstate) Red Hook this am and it did feel so stirring and hopeful how many people came out to march. And there were no grumpy arms folded folks as we went by, only people clapping and waving rainbow flags. I sure hope we all help each other find the way back.
I immediately thought of Alphaville! That’s a great album! And Frankie Goes to Hollywood (“Two Tribes”)!
I was telling my millennial coworker about The Day After Tomorrow, how we were all so sure we were going to die from a nuclear blast! Even The Terminator reinforced it!
Excellent article, Liz! I wore a beret like that back in 1986!💕
Sometimes, I wonder if I am crazy when I remember a TV special that aired in the peak of the Cold War : maybe 1986(?) on NBC(?) definitely had most of the stars of Family Ties is a segment where it was post apocalyptic and I remember that the closing part of their “act” had MJF and Meredith Baxter Birney and Michael Gross tearing epaulets off each other then walking off scene??
Born in 1965, I am the oldest of the Xers. I remember all these songs. I remember the Cold War all too well. I wore a Jean vest, camo bandanna around my neck, Guess ankle zipper jeans and ankle boots. Yes I also wore neons sometimes to the clubs with fingerless gloves. All the music, it’s easy to forget how traumatized we were. Drugs, sex, rock n roll, and nukes. War Games was especially poignant. Thanks for this trip down memory lane. Also, I grew up in Los Angeles. I remember all too well the emergence of the Crips and Bloods - gang warfare.
I was born in 1965 too - happy 60 to us!! And I remember all this music so well, and being horrified by Reagan ... Plus AIDS. So much anxiety and trauma under the surface of those neon colors and big hair.
Born in 1970 … and my parents wondered why I wore black lipstick and combat boots and rejected all the pink pop “pretty” stuff as a teenager. It’s a Mad World (Gary Jules’s version is particularly haunting these days)
For me, the music captured (released?) not just the nuclear angst but the high anxiety of the dawn of the AIDS epidemic. It was “Forever Young” and “1999” followed by Alex Chilton’s “No Sex” and the “Red, Hot, and Blue” album. Existential trauma to last a lifetime. With a beat.
Fantastic point. I still have that red hot and blue album on CD!
A sincere thank-you for educating me about 80s music. I must confess that my familiarity with music from that decade had been limited to the Madonna, pop-synth, glam-metal, and Michael Jackson songs you mention. (And I agree that all of these are worthy, important, and wonderful.)
I must also confess to being virtually oblivious to the death anxiety that Gen X was experiencing. Maybe my excuse is that all four of our sons were born during the 1980s, and this was pretty distracting. I was more concerned with how Reagan was screwing up the economy, creating a soul-crushing high interest rate for our mortgage than I was about potential nuclear disaster. (The threat of nuclear disaster is something I did experience in the early 1960s when my parents built a bomb shelter in our basement after the Cuban missile crisis.)
While I couldn't think of any 80s music with "we're all gonna die" lyrics, the title of your post immediately and vividly brought to my mind a lyric from the Country Joe and the Fish song, "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag."
And it's 1, 2, 3, what're we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam
And it's 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates
Well there ain't no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we're all gonna die.
For me, the possibility of dying in Vietnam was an existential reality. We had the draft then, not a volunteer army. I had a draft number. They might have forced me to fight over there. So, yeah, the 80s did have a lot of good "we're all gonna die" songs," but it seems to me that the danger was mostly in people's heads. For me, Country Joe MacDonald's song described a real possibility of dying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRl6-bHlz-4
I can only imagine how terrifying the draft was. I’m glad there are still some boomers who are finding comfort (and fight?) from Pete Seeger, Country Joe, Marvin Gaye. Though I would argue that the possibility of dying is always real thanks to geopolitical instability and power grabs. They may not have involved a civilian draft, but 3 mile island and Chernobyl were not in our heads.
Yes, I understand. Nuclear holocaust is always a real possibility. I think my own anxiety about it diminished through habitation during decades of the Cold War.
Two more for the nuclear era: “Russians” by Sting and “Leningrad” by Billy Joel.
I remember my parents forbidding me from watching The Day After. Probably a good call on their part.
Probably a very good call. And yes to Russians. At the time I remember thinking it was kind of on the nose, but it hits me viscerally today. (Especially because I don't know that their current "president" loves anyone.)
Everybody wants to rule the world!
Phil Collins reminded me every day to be kind.
Green Day remind me not to be an American Idiot!
Thank you for reminding me of the songs that supported going forward!
Mr. Jackson's "Beat it" and "Bad" also helped.
"There's a room where the world won't find you. Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down..." wow, did that used to feel wildly romantic. And fascinating about Beat It! I might need more info about that one.
The Day After was so messed up. Maybe they made it for Reagan, but man, I know so many of us who were traumatized by it! It wasn't shown in my school. Instead, in a very Gen X latchkey fashion, I remember watching it by myself, age 12. Oof. I'm still freaked out about it.
I have been thinking about this a lot. Maybe it's good that so many of us in Gen X were freaked out about The Day After when we were kids. Roots, Holocaust, Silkwood, The Day After -- they helped us learn about the world (the worst of it and human capacity for resilience through the worst), gave us important shared cultural currency, and it seems that they made a lot of us care enough to make the world better and safer. Even if we're still (gah) doing so much of that work.
Yes, I think you're right. Though it does feel somewhat accidental. It's not like the people who produced the Day After were thinking, "this will really eff up a whole generation!" (probably???). I don't know if we have a greater sense of memento mori than other generations, or that ours is rooted in a particular DIY-era gritty reality-does-bite-so-we-might-as-well-make-cookies-and-dance kind of vibe.
I was not allowed to watch the Day After; in fact I remember the school sending a letter to all parents about that movie.
Where did you grow up? It was mandatory for us! They wanted everyone to watch it as I recall.
I went to a Catholic school in the SF Bay Area.
Thank you for putting words to what I've been feeling and listening to lately. I'm keeping this post in my inbox forever :)
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
So weird - I’ve had a lot of 80’s songs running through my head too.
Love this one, my friend.
I was desperate to see The Day After (being a thirteen-year-old), but my stepmom heard "on the news" that it would change kids' brains forever to see it. That's what she reported, anyway, along with the fact I was banned from watching it. This made me even more determined, so I borrowed a VHS from a classmate and watched it the following week. I wondered while watching it if I was being changed permanently, but I couldn't feel anything. I'd already seen The Deer Hunter years earlier, so maybe I was just numb by then.
I do think 80's music gets short shrift with just the poppier stuff being remembered (even though some of that is outstanding) so I'm very pleased for this excellent take. It's especially great that you brought NWA and Public Enemy into the mix, too—both of which I was obsessed with, and have been playing for my kids a lot these days.
It’s amazing that whatever else divides us, we are still very connected by the music we grew up with. I wish that anyone who would have danced with me to Tears for Fears or Time Zone and is now cheering shows of force (ICE, bombs) might somehow tap into that part of themselves that could help them find their way back.
If only, if only. We were in a huge pride march in (Upstate) Red Hook this am and it did feel so stirring and hopeful how many people came out to march. And there were no grumpy arms folded folks as we went by, only people clapping and waving rainbow flags. I sure hope we all help each other find the way back.
I immediately thought of Alphaville! That’s a great album! And Frankie Goes to Hollywood (“Two Tribes”)!
I was telling my millennial coworker about The Day After Tomorrow, how we were all so sure we were going to die from a nuclear blast! Even The Terminator reinforced it!
Excellent article, Liz! I wore a beret like that back in 1986!💕
Speaking right to my Gen X soul, Liz. Maybe this is why I still believe in us, too. Dire as things feel. Loved this.
Sometimes, I wonder if I am crazy when I remember a TV special that aired in the peak of the Cold War : maybe 1986(?) on NBC(?) definitely had most of the stars of Family Ties is a segment where it was post apocalyptic and I remember that the closing part of their “act” had MJF and Meredith Baxter Birney and Michael Gross tearing epaulets off each other then walking off scene??
The 80s were the worst