In 1985, when Ronald Reagan was saber-rattling against the Soviet Union, Sting included this song on his first solo album, “Dream of the Blue Turtles.” Released as the fourth single from the LP, it reached the top 10 in several European nations, but only No. 12 in the UK and No. 16 in the US, the principle target of his blunt plea for nuclear sanity.
Only the lyrics are Sting’s. The music is credited to Serge Prokofiev, who provided the melody via the Romance theme of his “Lieutenant Kijé Suite,” written for a 1933 film. The theme in question begins at 5:25. Prokofiev nicked the melody himself, from an old Russian folk song called “The Little Grey Dove is Cooing.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC-1sLcXYfE
You would think the song was entirely of its moment — it’s been a long time since nuclear war seemed like a real possibility — but it was covered just last year by Australian singer Katie Noonan, who must have been prescient about Putin.
