"Song for a Future Generation" is a song by new wave band

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

. The song was released as the third single from the album ''

Whammy! ''Whammy!'' is the third studio album by American new wave band the B-52's, released on April 27, 1983 in the United States, with Warner Bros. Records as the primary label. It was recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, in December ...

'', peaking at #63 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It is the first of two songs by the B-52's to feature more than 3 band members singing lead vocals, the second being "Theme for a Nude Beach" from the album ''

Bouncing off the Satellites ''Bouncing off the Satellites'' is the fourth studio album by American, new wave band the B-52's, released on September 8, 1986 by Warner Bros. Records. It was recorded in July 1985 and was produced by Tony Mansfield. Founding member and guitari ...

''.

Concept & lyrics

The song's lyrical content made implicit references to "familiar media images of glamorous people,

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'The Empress of Fashion' and 'The Captain of the Enterprise'" and describes "a goofy series of mythic couples meeting to populate the future."

Music video

A music video was filmed to accompany "Song for a Future Generation" for promotion on television. It features the band members performing the song on podiums and swings and in a ''

Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, after ...

'' style split screen. The video also features the female members of the band wearing outlandish wigs, including one made of golden tinsel, one with a chicken wire frame (nicknamed "the bird cage") and one bouffant atop which sat a giant bow made from wig-hair.

Live performances

In a 1983 music concert at the

Forest Hills Tennis Stadium The West Side Tennis Club is a private tennis club located in Forest Hills, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The club has 38 tennis courts in all four surfaces (clay court, Har-Tru, grass court and hardcourt), a junior O ...

, the band sang live vocals with a prerecorded

backing track A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live music ...

sang "Song for a Future Generation" live over a backing track on the ''

'' tour in 1983.

Reception

Critical reception

The song garnered positive reviews from music critics, who praised of the song's concept and praised its lyrics. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' described the song as "mock-utopian" but felt that the song was "self-conscious." Stephen Holden from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the song as "an amusing evocation of the

baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are often ca ...

" and fun but serious. Music critic Robert Christgau commented that the song "is a completely affectionate, completely undeluded look at the doomed, hopeful, cheerfully insincere dreams and schemes of the kids who dance to B-52's songs." The song continues to be highly regarded retrospectively. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for Allmusic, noted "Song for a Future Generation" as one of the best songs off of ''Whammy!'', going on to state that the song is one of the "B-52's classics."

Commercial Reception

The song reached number 63 on the

, peaking in its second week and spending a total of three weeks on the tally. It was the group's highest-peaking single in nearly three years, their last single to crack the Top 75 of the UK Singles Chart being "

Give Me Back My Man "Give Me Back My Man" is a song written and recorded by the American rock band the B-52's. It was released as the second single from their album ''Wild Planet'' (1980), and is one of many solo vocal performances from Cindy Wilson in the band's ea ...

," from "

Wild Planet ''Wild Planet'' is the second studio album by the B-52's, released in 1980. As with their first album, the B-52's traveled to Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas to record ''Wild Planet''. Several of the songs from the album had been concert s ...

" (which reached number 61).

Covers

Electronica band

Chicks on Speed Chicks on Speed is a feminist music and fine art ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, after members Australian Alex Murray-Leslie and American Melissa Logan met at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status th ...

remade the song for their 2000 albums, ''The Unreleases'' and ''Re-Releases of the Un-Releases'' as well as their 2000 EP ''Chix 52,'' which is an EP full of the B52s covers.

Track listing

;UK vinyl 12" single ;;Side A # "Song for a Future Generation" # "Song for a Future Generation" (Instrumental) ;;Side B # "

Planet Claire "Planet Claire" is the second single released by The B-52's from their self-titled debut album. Based on Duane Eddy's 1959 version of the Peter Gunn theme song, the single was their second to chart anywhere, at no. 43 in Australia and no. 24 on ...

" ;UK 2 x vinyl 7" single # "Song for a Future Generation" # "Song for a Future Future Generation" (Instrumental) # "Planet Claire" # "There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)"

Charts

References

External links

Official Music Video
for "Song for a Future Generation" {{DEFAULTSORT:Song For A Future Generation 1983 singles The B-52's songs Songs written by Fred Schneider Songs written by Kate Pierson Songs written by Keith Strickland Songs written by Cindy Wilson Warner Records singles Island Records singles 1983 songs