(free) Countdowns and Synth Sounds: How New Wave Captured the Cold War’s Anxious Pulse

From missile metaphors to nuclear-nightmare dance tracks, these songs turned global tension into unforgettable pop.

Intro

No New Wave blog would be complete without covering how it tackled the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The rivalry began just after World War II, escalating into nuclear standoffs, smear campaigns, and proxy wars in Korea and Vietnam. When Gorbachev rose to power in 1985, the Cold War began to thaw, and songs about it faded. Cold War themes appeared in other styles too—but New Wave’s chilly synths and anxious vocals were tailor-made for the mood. Here are a few standout angles:

Nuclear Anxiety in a Minor Key

The U.S. and Soviet Union each had the power to wipe out civilization with a nuclear salvo. Even non–Cold War songs nodded to this. Duran Duran ($) asked “are they gonna drop the bomb or not?” in “Friends of Mine,” and quipped “you’re about as easy as a nuclear war” in “Is There Something I Should Know?” But let’s focus on songs where the Bomb takes center stage.

OMD - Enola Gay

We need to start with this one, released in 1980. Although on the surface depicting the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima to virtually end World War 2, this event also kickstarted the nuclear arms race and Cold War between the US and Soviet Union. The pilot who dropped the bomb named his plane Enola Gay, after his mother. The bomb itself was dubbed Little Boy. OMD turns this into a metaphor of a mother being disappointed at his young son for his mischief. The irony is extended by the melody: the synths are poppy and upbeat, and if you don’t listen carefully you’ll miss the dark subject matter.

Ultravox - Dancing with Tears in My Eyes

This one’s a biggie. The lyrics are powerful. And they put nuclear annihilation RIGHT in the video, which received heavy MTV airplay. The song is based on the Nevil Shute book On the Beach. While the book depicts Australians making the most out of their last moments before nuclear war fallout reaches them, the Ultravox video has frontman Midge Ure doing the same with his wife. After failing to stop a catastrophic nuclear power plant meltdown, he rushes home to party with his wife (including dancing) until succumbing to the fallout.

Nena - 99 Luftballoons

No Cold War song list would be complete without this West German artist’s song. A little girl releases a bunch of red balloons. No big deal, right? Well, the US and the Soviets misinterpret them as a nuclear attack by the other side. I wonder if they can get a refund on their missile detection equipment. It’s a moot point though, because the two sides wipe each other out in nuclear retaliation. The song highlights the US-Soviet paranoia since Enola Gay fell decades ago. In the case of the song, it leads to tragic trigger happiness.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes

British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood is best known (especially) in the States, for their hit “Relax”. The lyrics to their “Two Tribes”, like most New Wave Cold War songs, don’t explicitly mention the US or Soviet Union, but they don’t have to given its dominance in the current affairs of the ‘80s. But for those that didn’t get it, the supporting video (where Reagan actually wrestles the Soviet Premier) makes it obvious. The co-opting of funk music (representing the US) and classical strings (representing the USSR) in it add another metaphor to the Cold War clash.

Ultravox - Dancing With Tears in My Eyes (open in Spotify)

East vs. West: Paranoia, Propaganda & Style

Another group of New Wave Cold War songs focus on the US-Soviet battle of egos, rather than the disastrous consequences. These songs often compared the two world superpowers to fighting children and the like.

Other songs focus on the proxy wars that the United States and Soviet Union meddled in. The big one is the Vietnam War, where the Soviets backed the Communist North Vietnamese while the Americans sent troops to help the not-Communist South Vietnamese. There are others though; like the Cuban Missile Crisis (mentioned in XTC’s “Living Through Another Cuba” and skirmishes in Cambodia (as Kim Wilde sang about).

Falco - Cowboyz and Indianz

Falco lived in Vienna, just tens of miles from the Iron Curtain (from what is now Slovakia). So The Cold War was really on his mind. Indeed, some of his songs touch on the subject, including 1986’s Cowboyz and Indianz. The song has a slow but tense melody, with Falco screaming in the outro. Falco uses American metaphors to explain the Cold War, including Cowboys and Indians, and Star Wars.

The Clash - Ivan Meets GI Joe

The Clash may have smoothed the anger of the Sex Pistols sonically but certainly not lyrically. “Ivan Meets GI Joe” is no exception, and the Cold War references here are more obvious and harsher. Ivan attacks GI Joe with a Vostok Bomb, and GI Joe retaliates by wiping “the Earth clean as a plate”. The video game sound effects gives it an ‘80s flair while also highlighting the absurdity of this fight (and the Cold War).

Peter Schilling - Major Tom

This is a great sequel to David Bowie’s breakout song “Space Oddity”. But despite the title, Schilling shifts the focus from Major Tom to the US/USSR space race (a bloodless proxy war). Major Tom (who thankfully recovered from his drug abuse mentioned in Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes”) is on another space mission for NASA and nearly loses his life. The music adds a synth-based tension that reflects the Cold War and other songs about it.

CCCP - American Soviets

This is a deeper cut from 1986, but German-based CCCP here has Reagan and Gorbachev having a chess match. They are cordial, but the match is a distraction from the much more urgent, real-life chess match of the Cold War.

Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home) (open on Spotify)

From Walls to Echoes: The Cold War Fades

In 1987 Gorbachev introduced Glasnost and Perestroika, in an attempt to open up to the West. It’s not a coincidence that in the same year Cold War songs lost their tension and developed a more reflective, hopeful tone.

Falco - Walls of Silence

Two years earlier, Cowboyz and Indianz had a frantic Falco venting about the Cold War. It’s now 1988, he sees a crack in the nearby Iron Curtain and releases “Walls of Silence”. It’s a plea for reconciliation between world leaders: to break their silence, walls and mental chains. This is some Howard Jones-level Zen here!

Adam Ant - USSA

While Falco and others turned to reflection and hope during Glasnost and Perestroika, others turned to satire. For example, in Adam Ant’s 1989’s “USSA”, he envisions a future where the US and USSR set aside their differences and join forces (and country names!) He pokes fun at the newly Cold War-infused Rocky franchise (“Rocky 1003”) and complains that “little Europe” (including his native UK) is caught in between USSA.

Bananarama - Ready or Not

This track gives the Cold War a personal touch: the narrator’s love of her life is now on the other side of the Berlin Wall. If Stalin was still in power, things would be hopeless. But with Gorbachev in charge and the resulting softening of the Cold War, she’s more confident they will be reunited.

Adam Ant - U.S.S.A. (open in Spotify)

The Synths Must Go On

From direct nuclear warnings to satirical jabs at superpower egos, New Wave artists didn’t shy away from Cold War themes. Some used dark humor, others blunt anxiety. While they rarely name the U.S. or U.S.S.R. outright, the subtext is clear. And as the Cold War faded, so did the tension in the music. What remains is a synth-laced time capsule of what it felt like to live under the threat of everything ending.

Enjoy our Cold War playlist, and let us know what your favorite New Wave Cold War song is!

Interested in themes that shaped the sound? Our Best-of-Year series digs deeper into the music that mirrored the times. Explore the years.