Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Two Tribes” Lyrics Meaning
As history tells it, during the early 1980s the Cold War was pretty much at its peak. The reason this conflict is referred to as being ‘cold’ is because the two main factions, Russia and the United States, never actually fought each other. Rather they both dedicated considerable resources to outclassing the other’s military, thus leading to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. And it is that reality, or Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s reaction to it, which serves as the sentimental foundation of “Two Tribes”.
In other words, this track is an anti-war song which was inspired by a popular nuclear disarmament ideology of that time. And basically what the lyrics go about doing is treating warfare as sort of a vain exercise. So in that regard, the band is not necessarily pinpointing the US and Russia as much as warring factions in general.
But that being said, it is pretty obvious, considering the music video and other references, that the two aforementioned parties are the primary focus. And all lyrics considered, it can be concluded that Frankie Goes to Hollywood perceives the Cold War as being indicative of some type of perverse era that we live in. Moreover, although the subject is only delved into briefly, the singer himself has decided to counteract all the negativity by instead “working on loving”.
Release Date of “Two Tribes”
Frankie Goes to Hollywood is a band that formed during the early 1980s and experienced their most-notable success during that time period. And “Two Tribes”, which ZTT Records released on 4 June 1984, was one of their greatest hits.
Such a Significant Hit!
“Two Tribes” brought Frankie Goes to Hollywood massive success. For example, it flew to number one in eight different countries, most notably doing so on the UK Singles Chart itself. In fact at the time the band was also holding down the number two spot on the aforementioned singles chart with another song from their “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” album entitled “Relax“. In fact three of the band’s songs (the others being “Relax” and “The Power of Love“) reached number one between 1983 and 1984, thus making the band the top British act of that 12-month span. And as recently as 2016, “Two Tribes” still ranks amongst the top 30 UK singles in terms of record sales.
This song also achieved platinum status in the UK. In addition to that, it earned its writers the highly-distinguished Ivor Novello Award. Also it has been recognized as one of the most-endearing UK number ones from the 1980s in the eyes of the British public. And going back to its chart success, “Two Tribes” appeared on the official music rankings of nearly 30 different nations.
Part of the track’s success would also of course be attributable to its producer, award-winning musician Trevor Horn. He based the song’s instrumental on both American and Russian music. He did this as a roundabout shoutout to the two most-powerful “tribes” of the day.
Creation of “Two Tribes”
The following are credited as the song’s official writers:
- Peter Gill
- Holly Johnson
- Mark O’Toole
According to reports, a lot of effort was put into the creation of this classic. For instance, some versions of the song feature the talents of a British voice actor named Chris Barrie taking on the role of the US President at the time, Ronald Reagan. Another actor, Patrick Allen, was brought on board to play a public service announcer. Moreover the music video to the track features depictions of Reagan as week well as prominent Russian politician Konstantin Cherenkov, as well other world powers.
Moreover an extended version of the clip, which was directed by a musical pair known as Godley & Crème, features excerpts from monologues of historical world leaders such as Richard Nixon and Yasser Arafat. And an extended version of the song even has commentary derived from the words of Hitler himself.
