The War Song by Culture Club

Album: Waking Up with the House On Fire (1984)

Charted: 2 17

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Boy George on BBC3's 100 Most Annoying Songs: "Most people are very ignorant politically and we're all told how glamorous war is. Most kids love to watch Star Wars, which is basically space age war thing and I think a lot of people see war as really glamorous and I think it's about time they saw something that showed it for what it is."
Russell Mulcahy directed the music video, which opens with a military-themed fashion show against a war-torn backdrop and includes images of children as soldiers and munitions factory workers. The clip concludes with hundreds of kids dressed as skeletons marching in the streets.

George, who wrote the script, made several costume changes throughout. According to Boy George Fever, Mulcahy recalled: "I was never on for holding back the camp. Every time George would appear on set with a new look I shouted at him that’s the one."

Comments: 2

Celine from Shepparton , AustraliaI LOVE THE WAR SONG!!

Especially the chrous Senso hantai love that bit
Eugene from Minneapolis, MnYou know when my sister and I were young, she used to make a parody songs and this was one of them. It was directed towards me. Instead of "War war is stupid and people are stupid" it was changed to my name. I look back and I smile each time that I hear this record, it's hilarious.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

Cradle Of LoveBilly Idol

When singing "Cradle Of Love," Billy Idol typically changes a line to, "This song is so cheesy."

Can't Get You Out Of My HeadKylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" received more airplay during the 2000s than any other song in the UK.

Summer BreezeSeals & Crofts

On the surface, "Summer Breeze" by Seals & Crofts is just a song about a guy coming home from work, but the duo claimed it had a deeper meaning about finding direction in one's personal life.

Just DanceLady Gaga

"Just Dance" was Lady Gaga's first hit, and it also brought the techno-synth sound that had been popular in Europe for the previous decade to the United States.

New Order got the title for "Blue Monday" from an illustration that read "Goodbye Blue Monday" in the Kurt Vonnegut book Breakfast Of Champions. The image refers to the invention of the washing machine improving housewives' lives.

Your SongElton John

Bernie Taupin was 17 when he wrote the lyrics to Elton John's "Your Song." Looking back, he says it's "one of the most naïve and childish lyrics in the entire repertoire of music."