Andy McCluskey (OMD) talks about Enola Gay Chords
Tempo:
72.925 bpm
Chords used:
F
Dm
Bb
C
D
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
In a series on the story of some of the great pop songs,
Des Coleman's come across the romantic, the bizarre and the downright daft.
Tonight, slightly different, we've got a catchy little number
with a kind of gently macabre title and a correspondingly serious message.
[F] [Dm]
Many of the pop songs that resonate through the decades
are [Bb] ones that you can belt out at wedding receptions,
but this long [C]-lasting hit was scarcely a thing for a late-night karaoke.
[F] [Dm]
[D] The title was the name of the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on [C] Hiroshima.
Written by Andy [Dm] McCluskey, frontman of 80s synth band Orchestral Maneuvers [D] In The Dark,
it was released at a time of passionate anti [Bb]-nuclear fever and became an unlikely hit.
[D]
This unassuming semi on the outskirts of Liverpool is [F] where it all started.
Co-founder Paul [Dm] Humphries' former home.
Wow, [N] I haven't been here for a long, long time.
It was in this room where Paul and I wrote all of our early songs.
This is me in this very room.
I hope you can see the big hair.
That's horrendous.
And this is Paul playing the keyboards.
Or what [Bb] we called keyboards.
It was the biggest pile of junk shop,
[C] second-hand equipment you've ever seen.
[F] [Dm] All of our friends, they were into Genesis [Bb] and the Eagles,
kind of prog rock bands in the 70s.
We were into Kraftwerk.
They were our heroes.
And our friends thought we were mad.
So this was really the kind of techno [D] geeks room
where our mates couldn't come and mess up our songs
with their drum solos and their lead guitars.
Enola Gay, in fact, was probably the last song that we wrote in this room.
[F]
[Dm] [Bb] [Ab]
[B] Ah, boy, I'm so sorry.
You've been practising, haven't you?
This was the synth we had, anyway.
And everybody thought we were terribly [Ab] technological and advanced and futuristic.
But this is the rubbishiest thing you've ever seen.
This, in fact, if I can show it to you,
this was from my [D] mother's mail-order cabinet.
[Bb] We never wanted to be pop stars.
Our raison d'etre was [C] everything we do has to be different
from what we've just [F] done and what everybody else has done.
I wasn't really [Dm] politically motivated to write the song.
It really came [Bb] from being an anorak.
So it was a fascination with Second World [C] War bombers.
Isn't everybody fascinated by Second World [F] War bombers?
[Dm]
Like a proper [Bb] anorak geek, I researched my songs.
I would be at the [C] library with books out going across, referencing, you [F] know.
The pilot [C] named the aeroplane after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbetts.
Lovely way to remember your mother.
The bomb was codenamed Little Boy.
So Is Mother Proud of Little Boy Today has [F] at least three different meanings.
[Dm]
[Bb] I [C] wasn't adverse to making the most of the fact that [Dm] people were a little shocked
that quite a brazenly cheerful sounding song was actually about such
such a really terrible thing that happened.
[D] The song itself, I hope, when people understand what it's about,
does [C] convey an ambivalence about whether it was the right or the wrong thing to do.
It's not a celebration.
You know, it's not a sort of yippy, you know,
you're the bad guys, the Americans were the good guys.
But can you imagine how strange and nervous I was standing on stage in Japan,
singing it [F] for the first time?
The Japanese, I think they [Dm] still hurt and upset and they have their memorials on the [Bb] day.
I think they see it as a, you know, [D] as a horrible consequence of horrible war,
which the [F] consequences are always horrible.
[Dm] Despite the controversy and the rushed video that only took an hour to make,
[Bb] Enola Gay went top 10 in the UK and was number [C] one all over Europe.
[Em] And [Bb] 30 years on, it's just been reworked with the Royal [F] Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
[Dm] What we were doing, even at the time, was quite unusual.
[Bb] And so perhaps it's become timeless as time has gone on.
And this is [C] not where any coming home
Without sounding big [F]-headed, the best tunes are [Dm] played with one finger,
and you know, your granny can remember them.
That's why everybody [Bb] likes them.
I promise this to you,
It's never, [C] ever gonna fade away
[F] [N]
Des Coleman's come across the romantic, the bizarre and the downright daft.
Tonight, slightly different, we've got a catchy little number
with a kind of gently macabre title and a correspondingly serious message.
[F] [Dm]
Many of the pop songs that resonate through the decades
are [Bb] ones that you can belt out at wedding receptions,
but this long [C]-lasting hit was scarcely a thing for a late-night karaoke.
[F] [Dm]
[D] The title was the name of the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on [C] Hiroshima.
Written by Andy [Dm] McCluskey, frontman of 80s synth band Orchestral Maneuvers [D] In The Dark,
it was released at a time of passionate anti [Bb]-nuclear fever and became an unlikely hit.
[D]
This unassuming semi on the outskirts of Liverpool is [F] where it all started.
Co-founder Paul [Dm] Humphries' former home.
Wow, [N] I haven't been here for a long, long time.
It was in this room where Paul and I wrote all of our early songs.
This is me in this very room.
I hope you can see the big hair.
That's horrendous.
And this is Paul playing the keyboards.
Or what [Bb] we called keyboards.
It was the biggest pile of junk shop,
[C] second-hand equipment you've ever seen.
[F] [Dm] All of our friends, they were into Genesis [Bb] and the Eagles,
kind of prog rock bands in the 70s.
We were into Kraftwerk.
They were our heroes.
And our friends thought we were mad.
So this was really the kind of techno [D] geeks room
where our mates couldn't come and mess up our songs
with their drum solos and their lead guitars.
Enola Gay, in fact, was probably the last song that we wrote in this room.
[F]
[Dm] [Bb] [Ab]
[B] Ah, boy, I'm so sorry.
You've been practising, haven't you?
This was the synth we had, anyway.
And everybody thought we were terribly [Ab] technological and advanced and futuristic.
But this is the rubbishiest thing you've ever seen.
This, in fact, if I can show it to you,
this was from my [D] mother's mail-order cabinet.
[Bb] We never wanted to be pop stars.
Our raison d'etre was [C] everything we do has to be different
from what we've just [F] done and what everybody else has done.
I wasn't really [Dm] politically motivated to write the song.
It really came [Bb] from being an anorak.
So it was a fascination with Second World [C] War bombers.
Isn't everybody fascinated by Second World [F] War bombers?
[Dm]
Like a proper [Bb] anorak geek, I researched my songs.
I would be at the [C] library with books out going across, referencing, you [F] know.
The pilot [C] named the aeroplane after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbetts.
Lovely way to remember your mother.
The bomb was codenamed Little Boy.
So Is Mother Proud of Little Boy Today has [F] at least three different meanings.
[Dm]
[Bb] I [C] wasn't adverse to making the most of the fact that [Dm] people were a little shocked
that quite a brazenly cheerful sounding song was actually about such
such a really terrible thing that happened.
[D] The song itself, I hope, when people understand what it's about,
does [C] convey an ambivalence about whether it was the right or the wrong thing to do.
It's not a celebration.
You know, it's not a sort of yippy, you know,
you're the bad guys, the Americans were the good guys.
But can you imagine how strange and nervous I was standing on stage in Japan,
singing it [F] for the first time?
The Japanese, I think they [Dm] still hurt and upset and they have their memorials on the [Bb] day.
I think they see it as a, you know, [D] as a horrible consequence of horrible war,
which the [F] consequences are always horrible.
[Dm] Despite the controversy and the rushed video that only took an hour to make,
[Bb] Enola Gay went top 10 in the UK and was number [C] one all over Europe.
[Em] And [Bb] 30 years on, it's just been reworked with the Royal [F] Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
[Dm] What we were doing, even at the time, was quite unusual.
[Bb] And so perhaps it's become timeless as time has gone on.
And this is [C] not where any coming home
Without sounding big [F]-headed, the best tunes are [Dm] played with one finger,
and you know, your granny can remember them.
That's why everybody [Bb] likes them.
I promise this to you,
It's never, [C] ever gonna fade away
[F] [N]
Key:
F
Dm
Bb
C
D
F
Dm
Bb
In a series on the story of some of the great pop songs,
Des Coleman's come across the romantic, the bizarre and the downright daft.
Tonight, slightly different, we've got a catchy little number
with a kind of gently macabre title and a correspondingly serious message.
[F] _ _ _ _ [Dm]
Many of the pop songs that resonate through the decades
are [Bb] ones that you can belt out at wedding receptions,
but this long [C]-lasting hit was scarcely a thing for a late-night karaoke.
_ [F] _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ [D] The title was the name of the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on [C] Hiroshima.
Written by Andy [Dm] McCluskey, frontman of 80s synth band Orchestral Maneuvers [D] In The Dark,
it was released at a time of passionate anti [Bb]-nuclear fever and became an unlikely hit.
[D]
This unassuming semi on the outskirts of Liverpool is [F] where it all started.
Co-founder Paul [Dm] Humphries' former home.
Wow, [N] I haven't been here for a long, long time.
It was in this room where Paul and I wrote all of our early songs.
This is me in this very room.
I hope you can see the big hair.
That's horrendous.
And this is Paul playing the keyboards.
Or what [Bb] we called keyboards.
It was the biggest pile of junk shop,
[C] second-hand equipment you've ever seen.
_ [F] _ _ _ [Dm] All of our friends, they were into Genesis [Bb] and the Eagles,
kind of prog rock bands in the 70s.
We were into Kraftwerk.
They were our heroes.
And our friends thought we were mad.
So this was really the kind of techno [D] geeks room
where our mates couldn't come and mess up our songs
with their drum solos and their lead guitars.
Enola Gay, in fact, was probably the last song that we wrote in this room.
[F] _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [Ab] _
_ [B] _ Ah, boy, I'm so sorry.
You've been practising, haven't you?
This was the synth we had, anyway.
And everybody thought we were terribly [Ab] technological and advanced and futuristic.
But this is the rubbishiest thing you've ever seen.
This, in fact, if I can show it to you,
this was from my [D] mother's mail-order cabinet.
_ _ [Bb] We never wanted to be pop stars.
Our raison d'etre was [C] everything we do has to be different
from what we've just [F] done and what everybody else has done.
I wasn't really [Dm] politically motivated to write the song.
It really came [Bb] from being an anorak.
So it was a fascination with Second World [C] War bombers.
Isn't everybody fascinated by Second World [F] War bombers?
_ _ _ [Dm] _
Like a proper [Bb] anorak geek, I researched my songs.
I would be at the [C] library with books out going across, referencing, you [F] know.
The pilot [C] named the aeroplane after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbetts.
Lovely way to remember your mother.
The bomb was codenamed Little Boy.
So Is Mother Proud of Little Boy Today has [F] at least three different meanings.
_ [Dm] _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ I [C] wasn't adverse to making the most of the fact that [Dm] people were a little shocked
that quite a brazenly cheerful sounding song was actually about such_
such a really terrible thing that happened. _
[D] The song itself, I hope, when people understand what it's about,
does [C] convey an ambivalence about whether it was the right or the wrong thing to do.
It's not a celebration.
You know, it's not a sort of yippy, you know,
you're the bad guys, the Americans were the good guys.
But can you imagine how strange and nervous I was standing on stage in Japan,
singing it [F] for the first time?
The Japanese, I think they [Dm] still hurt and upset and they have their memorials on the [Bb] day.
I think they see it as a, you know, [D] as a horrible consequence of horrible war,
which the [F] consequences are always horrible.
_ [Dm] Despite the controversy and the rushed video that only took an hour to make,
[Bb] Enola Gay went top 10 in the UK and was number [C] one all over Europe.
[Em] And [Bb] 30 years on, it's just been reworked with the Royal [F] Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
_ _ _ [Dm] What we were doing, even at the time, was quite unusual.
[Bb] And so perhaps it's become timeless as time has gone on.
And this is [C] not where any coming home
Without sounding big [F]-headed, the best tunes are [Dm] played with one finger,
and you know, your granny can remember them.
That's why everybody [Bb] likes them.
I promise this to you,
It's never, [C] ever gonna fade away
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [N] _
Des Coleman's come across the romantic, the bizarre and the downright daft.
Tonight, slightly different, we've got a catchy little number
with a kind of gently macabre title and a correspondingly serious message.
[F] _ _ _ _ [Dm]
Many of the pop songs that resonate through the decades
are [Bb] ones that you can belt out at wedding receptions,
but this long [C]-lasting hit was scarcely a thing for a late-night karaoke.
_ [F] _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ [D] The title was the name of the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on [C] Hiroshima.
Written by Andy [Dm] McCluskey, frontman of 80s synth band Orchestral Maneuvers [D] In The Dark,
it was released at a time of passionate anti [Bb]-nuclear fever and became an unlikely hit.
[D]
This unassuming semi on the outskirts of Liverpool is [F] where it all started.
Co-founder Paul [Dm] Humphries' former home.
Wow, [N] I haven't been here for a long, long time.
It was in this room where Paul and I wrote all of our early songs.
This is me in this very room.
I hope you can see the big hair.
That's horrendous.
And this is Paul playing the keyboards.
Or what [Bb] we called keyboards.
It was the biggest pile of junk shop,
[C] second-hand equipment you've ever seen.
_ [F] _ _ _ [Dm] All of our friends, they were into Genesis [Bb] and the Eagles,
kind of prog rock bands in the 70s.
We were into Kraftwerk.
They were our heroes.
And our friends thought we were mad.
So this was really the kind of techno [D] geeks room
where our mates couldn't come and mess up our songs
with their drum solos and their lead guitars.
Enola Gay, in fact, was probably the last song that we wrote in this room.
[F] _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [Ab] _
_ [B] _ Ah, boy, I'm so sorry.
You've been practising, haven't you?
This was the synth we had, anyway.
And everybody thought we were terribly [Ab] technological and advanced and futuristic.
But this is the rubbishiest thing you've ever seen.
This, in fact, if I can show it to you,
this was from my [D] mother's mail-order cabinet.
_ _ [Bb] We never wanted to be pop stars.
Our raison d'etre was [C] everything we do has to be different
from what we've just [F] done and what everybody else has done.
I wasn't really [Dm] politically motivated to write the song.
It really came [Bb] from being an anorak.
So it was a fascination with Second World [C] War bombers.
Isn't everybody fascinated by Second World [F] War bombers?
_ _ _ [Dm] _
Like a proper [Bb] anorak geek, I researched my songs.
I would be at the [C] library with books out going across, referencing, you [F] know.
The pilot [C] named the aeroplane after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbetts.
Lovely way to remember your mother.
The bomb was codenamed Little Boy.
So Is Mother Proud of Little Boy Today has [F] at least three different meanings.
_ [Dm] _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ I [C] wasn't adverse to making the most of the fact that [Dm] people were a little shocked
that quite a brazenly cheerful sounding song was actually about such_
such a really terrible thing that happened. _
[D] The song itself, I hope, when people understand what it's about,
does [C] convey an ambivalence about whether it was the right or the wrong thing to do.
It's not a celebration.
You know, it's not a sort of yippy, you know,
you're the bad guys, the Americans were the good guys.
But can you imagine how strange and nervous I was standing on stage in Japan,
singing it [F] for the first time?
The Japanese, I think they [Dm] still hurt and upset and they have their memorials on the [Bb] day.
I think they see it as a, you know, [D] as a horrible consequence of horrible war,
which the [F] consequences are always horrible.
_ [Dm] Despite the controversy and the rushed video that only took an hour to make,
[Bb] Enola Gay went top 10 in the UK and was number [C] one all over Europe.
[Em] And [Bb] 30 years on, it's just been reworked with the Royal [F] Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
_ _ _ [Dm] What we were doing, even at the time, was quite unusual.
[Bb] And so perhaps it's become timeless as time has gone on.
And this is [C] not where any coming home
Without sounding big [F]-headed, the best tunes are [Dm] played with one finger,
and you know, your granny can remember them.
That's why everybody [Bb] likes them.
I promise this to you,
It's never, [C] ever gonna fade away
_ [F] _ _ _ _ [N] _
Facts about this song