Given the long history of protest music and anti-war songs, it\u2019s perhaps not surprising that songs written about Hiroshima are largely dominated by those concerning the 1945 nuclear attack on the city. From country music in the immediate post-war years through to more contemporary punk, pop and electronic styles, many acts have turned their attentions towards that fateful event and its aftermath. Here are some of the most well-known along with a couple of lesser-known tunes worth checking out.<\/p>\n
Before they were a top-selling 1980s pop act fronted by Midge Ure<\/a>, Ultravox was one of the most innovative and exciting British bands to emerge in the late 1970s punk scene. Their second album \u201cHa Ha Ha\u201d featured the single \u201cHiroshima Mon Amour\u201d, influenced by the classic 1959 film of the same name that tells the story of a love affair between a French actress and a Japanese architect in the aftermath of the atomic bombing. The song is eerie and oblique, not mentioning the city by name and referencing \u201criding intercity trains\/dressed in European grey\u201d, but it has become one of the most quintessential tracks inspired by Hiroshima in western popular culture.<\/p>\n A song from a similar era and scene to the Ultravox tune, \u201cEnola Gay\u201d by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD)<\/a> addresses the impact of the bombing more directly. It\u2019s a product of the UK new wave\/electronic movement that produced a number of songs that tapped into anti-war sentiment and Cold War paranoia and became one of the band\u2019s most enduringly popular hits. The title references the aircraft that dropped the bomb on August 6, 1945, and the lyrics use the tragedy as a warning against its repeat in an era of heightened global tensions. The line \u201cEnola Gay is mother proud of little boy today\u201d is a knowing nod towards the nickname of \u201clittle boy\u201d given to the missile dropped on the city. Despite some fears that the subject matter might be too hard-hitting to be a chart hit, the song did very well across Europe in the early eighties.<\/p>\n Originally released in 1971 at a time when many rock bands were knocking out anti-war anthems, this offering by slightly obscure British 4-piece Wishful Thinking is notable for focusing on Hiroshima rather than Vietnam, which was popular culture\u2019s main protest cause of the time. \u201cHiroshima\u201d didn\u2019t trouble the charts on its first release but did well in a few European countries, including Germany, when it was reissued in 1978. A later German cover by singer Sandra peaked at number 4 in the charts in Germany, Switzerland and Israel.<\/p>\n Tokyo-based experimental noise pioneers Boris are better known for their crunching guitar soundscapes than for producing music that might be about something. But \u201cBeyond Good and Evil\u201d, taken from the band\u2019s 27th studio album in 2022, uses Hiroshima\u2019s devastating history as a starting point to create something typically beautiful and ugly at the same time. It\u2019s perhaps not surprising as guitarist Wata hails from Hiroshima. The band has stated that the accompanying video is made \u201cfrom the perspective of a mushroom cloud\u201d.<\/p>\n One of Japan\u2019s most globally famous artists as well as being John Lennon\u2019s widow, Yoko Ono<\/a> has a rich and diverse catalogue of work spanning several mediums. Her haunting song \u201cHiroshima Sky Is Always Blue\u201d is one of her lesser-known productions, originally written for a Broadway play about Hiroshima that premiered in 1997 and has so far only appeared on a CD accompanying Yoko\u2019s solo exhibition \u201cRoad of Hope\u201d at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. The song features her voice uttering phrases including \u201cJohn, we are here now together\u201d, \u201cpeace on earth\u201d and \u201cHiroshima sky is always blue\u201d.<\/p>\nOMD \u201cEnola Gay\u201d (1980)<\/h2>\n
Wishful Thinking \u201cHiroshima\u201d (1971)<\/h2>\n
Boris \u201cBeyond Good and Evil\u201d (2022)<\/h2>\n
Yoko Ono \u201cHiroshima Sky Is Always Blue\u201d (1997)<\/h2>\n
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