The Enemy's Poised to Attack
Programmed to run immediately after "No-one is Responsible" on Temporary Loss of Vision, this second anti-nuclear song takes place in a daydream-nightmare inspired by a fear-mongering television broadcast. In the context of its time, and Thatcher's first term, the enemy is of course the Soviet Union, the "dangerous bear" we are taught to fear, and the devastating imagery is stark - despite which, Leon sets it to a jocular tune which almost transforms it into a comedy. And, in a sense, the absurdity of the political-nuclear situation was not so far from being laughable, were the consequences not so serious.
One memorable line in this song is adapted from a line in the poem, She Appeared Out of Nowhere, which reads: "The signs on the signs said 'follow the signs'". The poem was published first (in the songbook For the Good of the Nation, 1981) and so we assume it is earlier than the song.
One memorable line in this song is adapted from a line in the poem, She Appeared Out of Nowhere, which reads: "The signs on the signs said 'follow the signs'". The poem was published first (in the songbook For the Good of the Nation, 1981) and so we assume it is earlier than the song.
"Written at the height of the cold war when the Reagan-Thatcher embrace had us all cowering in our fall-out shelters yet again." - LR (Turning Silence Into Song (sleevenotes), 2004)