A MUSHROOM CLOUD

Sammy Salvo

I want to be happy

I want to be gay

I want to be normal

In every way

But a mushroom cloud

Hangs over my dreams

It haunts my future

And threatens my schemes

Please, please, please where did you go?

I got me a sweetheart

And I love her too

We want to make big plans

But what can we do?

When a mushroom cloud

Has changed every rule

It’s deepened our thinking

At home and at school

Please, please, please, where did you go?

We pray, we party, we laugh, and we pray again

And we play a tune and try not to think of the mess we’re in

I cling to my baby

And she clings to me

We talk of the future

But what do we see?

There’s a mushroom cloud

That hangs in the way

Tomorrow looks black

So we live for the day

Please, please, please, where did you go?

Oh please, please, please, where did you go?  

One of the most pervasive fears of the early rock ‘n’ roll era was nuclear annihilation.  This obscure teener, performed by Chicago artist Sammy Salvo for the Hickory label and written by Bourdleaux Bryant, captures this fear.  According to the speaker, he and his sweetheart have tried to put thought of an impending nuclear holocaust out of their minds and to live for the day.  This “carpe diem” motif is common in horror, as horror suggests doom may come at any time.

The “carpe diem” motif in literature commonly appears when the speaker attempts to seduce a virginal love.  In this song, the speaker and his love are living for the day.  Thus, the fear of unchecked sexuality that pervades horror has given way to the fear of annihilation.  The social guidelines that much horror seeks to transgress have broken down in the face of a greater horror.  As the speaker says, this fear “has changed every rule.”