Why It Matters

Bombing raids, what a terrifying thought. All is quiet, and then it’s hell on Earth. I can’t even imagine.

It’s hard to believe, but the Wright brothers thought that their greatest invention would bring about long lasting peace. The airplane would allow countries to keep closer tabs on each other, their thinking went. Without the privacy required for secret maneuvers, warfare would grind to a halt.

Instead, what happened is that war intensified. At the beginning of World War I, planes were used simply for scouting. By the end, they were dropping bombs.

Now, of course, the bombs drop themselves. So that’s nice.

Anyway, songs about bombs:

“Bombs Over Baghdad,” John Trudell. The only cut on this list that’s explicitly about the first Gulf war.

“Spanish Bombs,” The Clash. Of course The Only Band That Matters has a bomb song.

“We Got the Neutron Bomb,” The Weirdos. We were told that the neutron bomb was a great innovation in warfare. It would kill all the people and leave the buildings. Hooray! Our preacher gave a sermon on it one Sunday in which he kept repeating “neutron bum.” There’s a visual.

“You Dropped A Bomb On Me,” The Gap Band. If you’re going to drop a bomb on someone, the least you can do is make it funky.

“The Bomb,” L7. I have nothing clever to say here. Just listen.

“Calm Like a Bomb,” Rage Against the Machine. Still feeling relatively calm after that L7 cut? This should finish you off.

“Bombers,” Tubeway Army. You old timers know that Gary Numan was in Tubeway Army before hitting it big as a solo act with “Cars.” You non-old timers don’t know what the hell any of that meant. Sigh.

“Chinese Bombs,” Blur. You non-old timers have no idea who Damon Albarn is or that he was in a band before Gorillaz, which is probably another band you’ve never heard of, so stop being so smug about that Gary Numan/Tubeway Army thing.

Okay, people, what bomb songs did I miss? There must be some from old Bombay, maybe even some that are really cherry. I’m listening.