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

Are you ready…

Listen on Spotify: Apopalypse: Apocalyptic Advent Calendar

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Day 3 - “Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb” by Lowell Blanchard and the Valley Trio (1950)

Everybody’s worried, about the atomic bomb, but nobody’s worried, ‘bout the day my Lord will come…

The new-found confidence and thankfulness that followed the bomb’s arrival didn’t last for long in American circles, despite Jackie Doll’s best efforts. While it was quite possible to pretend that it wasn’t just a matter of time until the Soviets developed a nuclear weapon of their own, when the USSR tested their bomb in 1949 it soon became clear that nothing would ever be the same again. America was now vulnerable to attack. For the first time, Americans had to face the possibility of the total destruction they had once controlled being turned back against them. As today’s songs concludes, people are now “worried…just like the folks got in Japan”.

The fantastically titled “Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb” exhibits this fear of total destruction. The comparison between judgement day and the bomb was a common one (as we’ll see in our final “atomic” song tomorrow) but the bluegrass apocalypticism of Lowell Blanchard’s song attacks exactly this comparison. Fear of total destruction was one thing, but if that fear wasn’t channelled into the right directions, then it was fundamentally meaningless – for Christians, it had to turn individuals towards embracing Christ for their personal salvation. The song records two famous instances of God’s judgement in the Old Testament – the flood of Noah and the fire that consumed the men opposed to Elijah (2 Kings 1:10) – as well as looking forwards to the final fiery destruction of the world in 2 Peter 3: 12; “the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat”. While most in the world might be worrying about the consequences of being fried in a nuclear blast, they should instead fear meeting their maker, whose return to earth would have consequences beyond any atomic explosion.

The songs itself exists in two distinct versions, the first, recorded by Lowell Blanchard and the Valley Trio in 1950.  Blanchard himself was a well-known DJ, who continued in the industry and was inducted into the Country Music Disk Jockey Hall of Fame in 1977.  His version of the song is a slice of apocalyptic angst delivered by a snarling singer with traditional bluegrass accompaniments, including a spoken word history of the development of the bomb, and injections of “Great God Almighty!” and “Yes Lord!” As far as early 1950s evangelising songs go, it’s a classic. Contrast this to the version recorded the following year by “The Pilgrim Travelers”, a well-known gospel group who recorded from the 1930s until the late 1950s, and counted soul legend Lou Rawls amongst their numbers from the middle years of that decade. Filled with beautiful gospel harmonies, their version is significantly more peaceful (and sees a slight restructuring of the verses), but just as angry in its conclusions. It’s probably my favourite of the two, but listen to both on the playlist and make up your own mind.

Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb (L. McCollum, 1950)

Chorus: Everybody's worried 'bout the atomic bomb
But nobody's worried 'bout the day my Lord will come
When he'll hit, great God a-mighty, like an atom bomb
When he comes, when he comes

In nineteen-hundred and forty-five the atom bomb became alive
In nineteen-hundred and forty-nine the USA got very wise
It found a country had crossed the line, had an atom bomb of the very same kind
The people got worried all over the land, just like folks got in Japan

So, I say everybody's worried (yeah) 'bout the atomic bomb
But nobody's worried (no) 'bout the day my Lord will come
When he'll hit, great God a-mighty, like an atom bomb
When he comes, good Lord, when he comes

Chorus

Well now, God told Elijah, he would send down fire, send down fire from on high
He told the brother Noah by the rainbow sign, there'll be no water, but fire in the sky
Now don't get worried, just bear in mind, seek King Jesus and you shall find
Peace, happiness, and joy divine, with my Jesus in your mind

So, I say everybody's worried (yeah) 'bout the atomic bomb
But nobody's worried (no) 'bout the day my Lord will come
When he'll hit, great God a-mighty, like an atom bomb
When he comes, great God, when he comes

Chorus

Listen on Spotify: Apopalypse: Apocalyptic Advent Calendar

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Lowell Blanchard and the Valley Trio
  

The Pilgrim Travelers

Buy: The Lowell Blanchard version OR The Pilgrim Travelers version.



 

Day 2 - "When They Drop the Atomic Bomb" by Jackie Doll and His Pickled Peppers (1951)

There'll be fire, dust and metal flying all around/ And the radioactivity will burn them to the ground/ If there's any Commies left they'll be all on the run/ If General MacArthur drops an atomic bomb…

Today marks the  start of the church's season of advent - a time traditionally associated with peace, love and good will to all men. At first glance, Jackie Doll’s “When they Drop the Atomic Bomb” appears to embody preciously none of these values - longing, instead, for the total destruction of America's communistic enemies in a storm of fire and radiation.The liturgy reading for Advent Sunday, however, is Luke 21:25-36, an apocalyptic passage in which Christ warns of signs in the stars, men "fainting with the fear" and the coming of the Son in judgement. All things, I'm sure, that Doll would heartily approve of.

As a last hurrah of early Cold War bullishness, it’s hard to find a song that does its job better than  “When they Drop the Atomic Bomb”. Part of a country music movement that was actively involved in championing General Douglas MacArthur’s command of the UN mission in the Korean peninsula, to describe the song as fierce would be a little bit like saying that nuclear weapons tended to “get a bit hot”. Doll and his “peppers” imagine a nuclear fantasy in which Communists are entirely destroyed as the US strikes first. Just in case we were in danger of mistaking Doll’s anger as being directed only towards the North Koreans, he makes sure that he gets in a dig at Joseph Stalin at the same time (“Old hard headed Joe will be feelin’ mighty blue…”).  

The use of the bomb was considered a serious strategy at the time. One plan supposedly involved using a series of nuclear bombs along the North Korean border to create a permanently radioactive barrier against Communist forces (although MacArthur claimed never to have seriously considered such a plan himself). In 1951, MacArthur was relieved of his command, a move which was deeply unpopular in some sections of the American population and generated a new wave of country protest songs in his favour. 

Doll was not among the recording artists laying these tracks down, however. He appears to have vanished from the music scene shortly after this song was released, one of only six he recorded for Mercury in a short career in the public eye. Perhaps he went off to fight Communists in career, or worked as a mole for McCarthy? The romantic in my like to imagine him being dropped behind Russian lines as an American agent, spreading the Capitalist gospel in small Russian villages through the medium of country music (if anyone out there would be interested in developing this concept for the big screen, please do get in touch).  Regardless of his ultimate fate, Doll left us all in no doubt as to what he thought about Communism… 

When they Drop the Atomic Bomb (Doll)

There will soon be an end to this cold and wicked war
When those hard headed Communists get what they're lookin' for
Only one thing that will stop them and their atrocious bunch
If General MacArthur drops an atomic bomb

Now over in Korea our boys have fought and fell
But they died just like heroes amid the many shot and killed
They had their hands tied behind them and were murdered by the score
By those dirty minded Communists who started this sad war

There'll be fire, dust and metal flying all around
And the radioactivity will burn them to the ground
If there's any Commies left they'll be all on the run
If General MacArthur drops an atomic bomb

Old hard headed Joe will be feelin' mighty blue
When he finds out he's bitten off more than he can chew
For his aggression will be ended and the job will be well done
If General MacArthur drops an atomic bomb

Old MacArthur has the power to stop those murderin' thieves
And he’ll make them sorry for their underhanded schemes
Just leave it to the general for he really has the nerve
To give no good Communists just what they deserve

There'll be fire, dust and metal flying all around
And the radioactivity will burn their playhouse down
If there's any Commies left they'll be all on the run
If General MacArthur drops an atomic bomb

Listen on Spotify: Apopalypse: Apocalyptic Advent Calendar

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Day 1 - "When the Atom Bomb Fell" by Karl & Harty (1946)

When you come to ponder the creation of the atom bomb, praising God probably isn’t the first thing that you think about. Of course, things were slightly different back in 1946. Not only were most Americans blissfully unaware of the terrible consequences of the bomb for those affected by it, but they were also grateful that the bloody war against Japan had come to an end without necessitating a land invasion. While the moral complexities of this position continue to be debated to this day, for many Americans in the 1940s the bomb seemed to beckon them towards a wonderful world of technology in which life became increasingly straight forward. In December 1945, Slim Gaillard’s upbeat “Atomic Cocktail” (listen on the Spotify playlist or YouTube) therefore imagined the effects of sipping the drink of the song’s title:

Push a button, turn a dial

Your work is done for miles and miles

When it hits it’s bound to shake

Because it feels like an earthquake

That’s the drink that you don’t pour

When you take one sip you won’t need any more

You’ll feel small as a beetle, big as a whale

Boom! Atomic cocktail!

A much more sober and patriotic take on the atomic phenomenon came from the world of “hillbilly” music. Karl Davis and Hartford “Harty” Connecticut Taylor styled themselves as a pair of performing brothers and formed a successful partnership in Kentucky in the 1930s. They featured regularly on national radio shows in that period. Although never making it big, they recorded for labels such as Capitol and Columbia in the 1940s, and were credited as influencing acts like The Everly Brothers. “When the Atom Bomb Fell” was written and recorded in late 1945, and clearly owes many of its lyrical themes (particularly the distasteful references to “cruel Japs”) to Second World War patriotism. It is, then, very much a song of its time – and its jingoism combines with a naivety about what the bomb actually does. More importantly, it also begins a trend which runs through the Cold War period, in identifying the Atom Bomb with God’s justice and judgement day – something I’ll return to as we tour through the Cold War period over the next few days.  Here the atom bomb serves as the answer to prayer; as evidence of God’s willingness to support America in her fight against evil. The idea of the bomb to help America is one I’ll return to tomorrow. For now, enjoy a song which is very much “of its time”.

When the Atom Bomb Fell (Davis-Taylor)

Oh it went up so loud it divided up the clouds
And the houses did vanish away
And a great a ball of light filled the Japanese with fright
They must have thought it was their judgement day

Smoke and fire it did flow through the land of Tokyo
There was brimstone and dust everywhere
When it all cleared away there the cruel Japs did lay
The answer to our fighting boys' prayers
Yes Lord, the answer to our fighting boys' prayers

There was no atheist in a foxhole
And men who never prayed before
Lifted tired and bloodshot eyes to heaven
And begged the Lord to end that awful war

They told Him of their homes and loved ones
They told Him that they'd like to be there
I believe the bomb that struck Hiroshima
Was the answer to our fighting boys' prayers

Oh it went up so loud it divided up the clouds
And the houses did vanish away
And a great a ball of light filled the Japanese with fright
They must have thought it was their judgement day

Smoke and fire it did flow through the land of Tokyo
There was brimstone and dust everywhere
When it all cleared away there the cruel Japs did lay
The answer to our fighting boys' prayers
Yes, Lord, the answer to our fighting boys' prayers

Listen now on Spotify: Apopalypse: Apocalyptic Advent Calendar

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