Day 4 – “Great Atomic Power” by the Louvin Brothers (1952)
When
the mushroom of destruction/ Fall in all its fury great/ God
will surely save His children/ From that awful,
awful fate
Our final “atomic era” song,my guess would be that if there’s one apocalyptic tune of the period you’d be familiar with, it’s
this one. Not only are the Louvin Brothers fairly well-known, but the song has
been covered by a number of more contemporary artists, most famously Uncle
Tupelo, and was recently Beck’s choice for inclusion on a Louvin Brothers’
compilation record.
“Great Atomic Power” is often seen as
a curio of the era, but its lyrics make it one of the most interesting of all
the “atomic” songs. Not only does it recall the classic idea of the bomb as a
form of God’s judgement, but it also engages with popular ideas of the “rapture”
– the notion that before the final period of “tribulation” strikes the earth, God
will remove all Christians from the world (see Thief in the Night or the Left Behind novels, for example). Bomb songs often saw nuclear war
as a metaphor for destruction (as in yesterday’s track) or as a way of
reminding the believer of the certainty of judgement. The threat of annihilation
worked as a memento mori for
individuals who were more concerned about what car was in the garage rather
than the state of their eternal souls. This evangelical concern
for the soul’s welfare enjoyed a bizarre fusion with government rhetoric in the
charged atmosphere of the 1950s and 60s. Evangelicals warned that the
individual should concentrate on the salvation of their soul as a matter of
urgency in view of the coming judgement, urging believers repent “before it was
too late”. Similarly, Civil Defense recordings like The
Complacent Americans (1961) included a ghostly commentary from one of the “complacent”
ones who’d sleepwalked towards Armageddon: “Had I learned the rules as set
forth by the Office of Civil Defense, I would be alive and in that shelter now.
You have only one chance, never two”. It’s a bit like an apocalyptic version of
It’s a Wonderful Life (listen in full
to the original LP here).
The important shift in “Great Atomic Power” is that the
message isn’t simply about making peace with God in preparation for the blast.
Instead, we have the idea of escaping nuclear destruction completely through
the rapture (“rise to meet your saviour in the air”). Not only is the rapture
presented as a way through which Christians can expect to escape the coming
destruction that will overwhelm the world, but faith is seen as the only
thing that currently holds back nuclear apocalypse. A “regiment of Christians”
holds back “the enemy’s great band” – when the mushroom clouds fall, God will
save his people from “that awful, awful fate”. This chimes with one of the key
ideas in this form of “rapture” theology – that only the presence of God’s
people in the world hold back the evil that will be unleashed with the
Antichrist comes to power. 2 Thessalonians 2:6 thus talks about exactly what
restrains the Antichrist: “And now you know what is holding
him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time”. The point is,
of course, nobody really knows what “the
man of lawlessness back” – but for believers in the rapture, Christians worked
as this restraining force. Once they were taken out of the world, however,
lawlessness (and nuclear destruction) could be unleashed.
The Louvin Brothers themselves were Ira and
Charles Loudermilk. They played music together as children and from the 1940s
professionally in a variety of differently titled duos.Finally settling on the stage name of “Louvin”
from 1947 they enjoyed a great deal of success. They broke up in 1963, with Ira
killed in a car accident in 1965. Charles continued to perform, and died in
2011.
Great Atomic Power (Louvin-Louvin-Bain, 1952)
Are you (are you)
ready For the great atomic power? Will you rise and meet your Saviour in the air? Will you shout or will you cry When the fire rains from on high? Are you ready for the great atomic power?
Do you fear this man's invention That they call atomic power Are we all in great confusion Do we know the time or hour When a terrible explosion May rain down upon our land Meting horrible destruction Blotting out the works of man
Are you ready…
There is one way to escape it Be prepared to meet the lord Give your heart and soul to Jesus He will be your shielding sword He will surely stay beside you And you'll never taste of death For your soul will fly to safety And eternal peace and rest
Are you ready…
There's an army who can conquer All the enemy's great band It's the regiment of Christians Guided by the Saviour's hand When the mushrooms of destruction Fall in all its fury great God will surely save His children From that awful, awful fate
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