The War Song
original song written, composed, and performed by Culture Club
"The War Song" is a song by British band Culture Club, featuring background vocals from Clare Torry. It was released as the lead single from the band's third album, Waking Up with the House on Fire (1984), in September 1984. The song became the group's seventh top-five hit on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, the single peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere, it reached the top 10 in several countries, including Australia, Canada, and Ireland, peaking at number one in the latter country.
Lead singer Boy George later stated on BBC3 that "most people are very ignorant politically and we're all told how glamorous war is." The band mostly played the song live during the 1980s. The group played the song at a gig on New Year's Eve 2011. They also performed the song in 2014.
Critical reception
Cash Box said that "this strong anti-war statement is delivered with simple but effective words and a varied melody." Billboard called it "an effervescent protest song, hard to disagree with."
Track listings
Depending on region, Spanish B-side "La cancion de guerra" is replaced with another alternate-language version, including French version "La chanson de guerre", German version "Der Kriegsgesang", and Japanese version "Sensō no uta" ("戦争のうた").
7-inch single
A. "The War Song" – 3:57
B. "La cancion de guerra" – 4:06
12-inch single
A1.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7773485. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984, 2011 and 2014.
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This entry incorporates text from “The War Song” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.