Content:
Atomic Garden is a playful and excited anti-nuke song by Bad Religion. Brett, one of the band members, describes it as a critique of the stupidity of having multiple nuclear bombs on Earth. The song was inspired by the style of Elvis Costello.
Video:
The music video for Atomic Garden was filmed and edited by Gore Verbinsky and can be found in the Big Bang video. It was shot in the old Epitaph warehouse and features a smoke machine, black cloth, a chair, a window frame, and wild strobe effects. The video was made in just five hours on the last day of mixing the Generator album. Brett mentions that it pays homage to Sergei Eisenstein, a great filmmaker.
Release:
Atomic Garden was first released as a 7″ single in 1991 on Sympathy For The Record Industry. The cover artwork was done by The Pizz, and the vinyl had etchings on it.
Live:
During a live performance of Atomic Garden in Las Vegas in 1999, Greg replaced Gorbachev’s name with that of Slobodan Milosevic, reflecting the ongoing bombing of Serbia at the time. In another live version at The Palladium, Jay talked about the war and how people seemed to be taking the toll on human life for granted. Roger Vulture, the former webmaster of The Bad Religion Page, sang the song onstage with other band members.
Trivia:
Brett played piano on Atomic Garden. The talking at the end of the original recording is from a radio program, but during live performances, Jay improvises and makes up different things to say.
This content was originally written by the badass contributors of thebrpage.net, the best superfan resource and website that exists for any band, let alone the best band in the whole entire world. I’ve been lurking on that site for over 20 years and if you’re into Bad Religion as much as I am, I’m sure you’re familiar. If you are not, go there right now and never come back to this site again. You should, and I totally understand.
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