Songs & Poems of the Cold War Era

During the more than four decades of the Cold War, from 1947 to 1991, American culture went through a transformation that is evident in the poems and songs of that era. In 1947, when the Cold War began, the United States had just fought two world wars, survived the sneak attack at Pearl Harbor, and was in the midst of the Korean War. A war mentality with understandable fears about the safety of the nation naturally prevailed.

The unique nature of the Cold War, with its absence of direct armed conflict between the superpowers involved, led to a new way of fighting predicated on subterfuge. The superpowers armed and funded smaller nations that fought each other openly, but much of the conflict between the larger nations was conducted "underground" in the form of espionage. Spies and traitors proliferated. This indirect form of fighting engendered distrust, as it became impossible to tell who the allies really were and who the enemies might be. This situation affected American culture pervasively, making a discernible impact on the character of the nation.

America in the forties and fifties was a Norman Rockwell type of place. Wholesome innocence, family values, and peaceful neighborhoods predominated. Life followed a logical pattern, and people were comfortable in the status quo. Television shows like "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Leave It To Beaver" reflected the happy family dynamic that the average American identified with.

In the sixties, however, the focus on the C

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tart a war because wanting to rule the world is part of human nature. "Say that you'll never never never never need it" apparently refers to the atom bomb. In the end, although no shots were ever fired, the aftermath of the Cold War shows that it was equally as destructive in its effect on our society as though lives had been lost. The breakdown of morality, the loss of innocence, and the unshakeable sense of dread that it engendered have made a permanent scar on the American psyche that has not healed as yet. Poems Cited How Khrushchev Stole Khristmas: A Cold War Tale for a Cold Winter's Night, by Alan C. Elms One night in the Kremlin, while Red Square was black,Nikita ("Nick") Khrushchev lay flat on his back.He tossed and he turned in his Marxian bedAs troikas of nightmares galumphed through his head.He woke with a start and he knocked on red wood,For in that mad dream, he'd been acting too good!"It's been seven days since I did something foul!I think I'll steal Khristmas -- then watch the world howl!"He called in his squad of invisible spies,And sketched out a plan that brought ice to their eyes."Stop playing with Cuba; quit praising John Birch:Here's absolute evil! I've ended our search!"Quite late on the eve

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