"War Child" is a 1982 song by the American rock band Blondie, featured on their sixth studio album '' The Hunter''. The song was released as a second single from the album in various countries, but not in the band's native US. There is no music video for this single.

Single information

"War Child" was written by

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...

and

Nigel Harrison Nigel Harrison (born 24 April 1951) is an English musician. Harrison spent several years as the bassist of the American rock band Blondie during the 1970s and 1980s. Life and career Harrison grew up in Princes Risborough, a small town in the ...

, who had previously written the hits "

One Way or Another "One Way or Another" is a song by American rock band Blondie from their 1978 album ''Parallel Lines''. Lyrically, the song was inspired by Blondie frontwoman Deborah Harry's experience with a stalker in the early 1970s, an incident which for ...

" and "

Union City Blue "Union City Blue" is a song by the American new wave band Blondie. The song was featured on their 1979 studio album ''Eat to the Beat''. Written by Debbie Harry and Nigel Harrison, the song was inspired lyrically by Harry's experiences while act ...

" together. In the lyrics, Harry sings in first person about being a war child (a child soldier) and reflects on living within the violent conflicts of then-current wars, such as those in the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between Democratic Kampuchea, controlled by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It began in December 1978, with a Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia which to ...

and in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. It was first performed live in Blondie's 1982's ''Tracks Across America Tour''. A recording was included in subsequent live albums and VHS/DVDs. In 2014, "War Child" was included in Blondie's live setlists as a medley with

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

's " War Pigs". The single was the second and final release from the album, and would therefore be the last new Blondie single for seventeen years, when the band reformed and released " Maria" in 1999. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to this single was "Little Caesar", also from ''The Hunter'' album. The 12" single included an extended remix of "War Child" by producer

Mike Chapman Michael Donald Chapman (born 13 April 1947) is an Australian record producer and songwriter who was a major force in the British pop music industry in the 1970s. He created a string of hit singles for artists including The Sweet, Suzi Quatro ...

, which can be found as a bonus track on

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

's 1994 and 2001 CD re-issues of the album ''The Hunter''.

Track listing

UK 7" (CHS 2624, July 1982) & 7" Picture Disc (CHSP 2624, July 1982) #"War Child" (

Deborah Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in M ...

) - 3:49 #"Little Caesar" (Deborah Harry,

Chris Stein Christopher Stein (born January 5, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter known as the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film '' Wild St ...

) - 3:00 UK 12" (12 CHS 2624, July 1982) #"War Child" (12" Mix) (Harry, Harrison) - 8:04 #"Little Caesar" (Harry, Stein) - 3:00

Chart positions

References

Blondie (band) songs 1982 singles Songs written by Debbie Harry Songs written by Nigel Harrison Song recordings produced by Mike Chapman Chrysalis Records singles 1982 songs {{1980s-rock-song-stub