The Cold War shaped most aspects of popular culture, including music. Cold War values, issues and ideas can be found in hundreds of songs between the late 1940s and early 1990s. Cold War music spans a number of styles and genres: from whimsical country and western songs in the 1950s, to the folk-protest music of the Woodstock era, to songs about the revived nuclear paranoia of the 1980s. This selection of Cold War music and songs has been compiled by Alpha History authors. Each page contains information, lyrics and music hosted on Youtube.
Atomic Cocktail (Slim Gaillard Quartette, 1945)
Advice to Joe (Roy Acuff, 1951)
I’m No Communist (Lulu Belle and Scotty, 1952)
Stalin Kicked the Bucket (Ray Anderson, 1953)
Get That Communist, Joe (The Kavaliers, 1954)
Fallout Shelter (Scott Peters, 1961)
Masters of War (Bob Dylan, 1963)
Eve of Destruction (Barry McGuire, 1965)
Dawn of Correction (The Spokesmen, 1965)
Universal Soldier (Donovan, 1965)
The Universal Coward (Jan Berry, 1966)
Ain’t I Right (Marty Robbins, 1966)
Poor Left-Winger (Janet Greene, 1966)
Back in the USSR (The Beatles, 1968)
US Forces (Midnight Oil, 1982)
Two Tribes (Frankie Goes to Hollywood (1984)
War (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, 1986)
We Didn’t Start the Fire (Billy Joel, 1989)
Winds of Change (The Scorpions, 1990)
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