"When the War Is Over" is a
power ballad
A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...
of Australian band
Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums and Don Walker on piano and keyboards. They were soon joined by Jimmy Barnes (at the ...
from their 1982 album ''
Circus Animals
''Circus Animals'' is the fourth studio album by Australian band Cold Chisel, released on 8 March 1982. It was recorded and mixed at Paradise Studios and EMI Studios 301, Sydney (Sep-Dec 1981). It reached number one on the Australian charts, ...
''. The song was written by drummer
Steve Prestwich
Steven William Prestwich (5 March 195416 January 2011) was an English-born Australian drummer, guitarist, singer and songwriter. After relocating from Liverpool, Prestwich was the founding and long-term drummer for the band Cold Chisel, which for ...
and issued as the third single from the album, peaking at number 25 on the national singles chart, and also resurfaced in August 2011 due to download sales (peaking at number 82 on the ARIA chart).
In January 2018, as part of
Triple M
Triple M is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Southern Cross Austereo. The network consists of 40 radio stations broadcasting a mainstream rock music format and 5 digital radio stations.
The network dates back to th ...
's "Ozzest 100", the 'most Australian' songs of all time, "When the War Is Over" was ranked number 61.
Background
Like many of the songs from "Circus Animals" that were deliberately written to be as different in style as possible from those on the pop-laced ''
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
'' that had preceded it, "When the War is Over" has a distinctly odd structure. The chorus is repeated at the beginning and end of the song, with the verses in the middle. It also deviates from traditional songwriting by featuring the instrumental break and
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
solo between the first and second verse, instead of the more usual arrangement between the second and third. Guitarist
Ian Moss
Ian Richard Moss (born 20 March 1955) is an Australian rock musician from Alice Springs. He is the founding mainstay guitarist and occasional singer of Cold Chisel. In that group's initial eleven year phase from 1973 to 1984, Moss was recorde ...
sings lead vocal on the first two verses, with the band's regular lead vocalist
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...
singing the third, which rises to a crescendo before returning to the quiet, melodic refrain from the beginning of the song, underlined by more soloing from Moss. Despite this unusual arrangement, "When the War is Over" has become one of Cold Chisel's most popular songs and the one that has been covered by more artists than any other. At least five other versions of the song have been recorded, one of which attained number one on the Australian music chart.
Author Prestwich said, "I got the first verse of melody and lyric quite spontaneously, and that, coupled with the verse guitar melody, brought it all together. However, I had to write the middle eight in the studio just prior to it being recorded."
Moss described the song as, "a pretty fine example of Steve's songwriting. It all seems fairly straight ahead and easy when you hear it, like all good things are. It's so simple, but so effective." Don Walker said, "I didn't see the potential in it at the time. I thought, 'another ballad.' Since then, I know from the reaction when we play it live, this is one of the most loved songs that we did."
Charts
Little River Band version
Australian band
Little River Band
Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...
recorded a version featuring Prestwich on drums and
John Farnham
John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...
on vocals. This version featured as the theme song to the Australian mini-series ''Sword of Honour''. It was released in December 1986 as the third and final single from the group's ninth studio album, ''
No Reins
''No Reins'' is the ninth studio album by Australian group Little River Band. ''No Reins'' was released in July 1986 and peaked at number 85 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. It was the band's last studio album with John Farnham on le ...
''.
Track listing
; Australian 7" (Capitol Records - CP 1895)
:A. "When the War Is Over"
:B. "How Many Nights?"
Cosima De Vito version
Former ''
Australian Idol
''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...
'' contestant
Cosima De Vito
Cosima De Vito (born 1 November 1976), also known as Cosima, is an Australian pop and R&B singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Perth, Western Australia, she is best known for her cover of the classic Australian hit "When the War Is Over" (200 ...
released a version of the song as a double
A-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
with the track "
One Night Without You
"One Night Without You" is a song written by Diane Warren for Australian singer Cosima's debut album, '' Cosima'' (2004). The song was released on 9 August 2004 as a double A-side with a cover of the Cold Chisel song "When the War Is Over".
...
" on 9 August 2004. She had previously performed the song on the ''Australian Made'' episode of the program.
De Vito's version presented an acoustic-guitar and string driven theme as opposed to the strong guitar and drums of the original. It received very limited airplay on mainstream radio stations. Despite this, it managed to become the first independently recorded and released single to debut at number one on the
ARIA Singles Chart and was also the best selling independent Australian single for 2004. The release stayed in the top five for over a month and was certified platinum for shipments of over 70,000 units.
Track listing
Australian CD single
# "When the War Is Over" – 3:47
# "One Night Without You" – 4:21
# "When the War Is Over" (acoustic version) – 3:45
# "One Night Without You" (extended mix) – 4:52
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Other versions
Farnham recorded the track a second time as a bonus for the re-release of his 1988 album ''
Age of Reason
The Age of reason, or the Enlightenment, was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th to 19th centuries.
Age of reason or Age of Reason may also refer to:
* Age of reason (canon law), ...
''.
British
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band
Uriah Heep recorded a version of the song for their seventeenth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''
Raging Silence
''Raging Silence'' is the 17th album by British Rock group Uriah Heep. It marked the studio debut of Canadian vocalist Bernie Shaw and keyboardist Phil Lanzon, both of whom have remained with the band since. It was produced by Richard Dodd and ...
''.
Something for Kate
Something for Kate are an Australian alternative rock band, which formed in 1994 with Paul Dempsey on lead vocals and guitar, and Clint Hyndman on drums. They were joined in 1998 by Stephanie Ashworth on bass guitar and backing vocals. The grou ...
covered "When the War is Over" on the 2007 tribute album ''
Standing on the Outside: The Songs of Cold Chisel''.
John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew
John Schumann and the Vagabond Crew are an Australian folk group formed in Adelaide in 2005. The band's name is taken from a line in Henry Lawson's poem "Knocking Around". Since it was founded a number of Australian musicians have been involved. ...
covered the song on their 2008 album
Behind the Lines.
[John Schumann official websit]
Behind the Lines information
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:When The War Is Over
1982 singles
1986 singles
1982 songs
2004 singles
Cold Chisel songs
Little River Band songs
Number-one singles in Australia
Rock ballads
Song recordings produced by Mark Opitz
Songs written by Steve Prestwich
Warner Music Group singles