Songfacts®:

• This song is about destruction of all life on Earth through nuclear weapons and the horrible aftermath. The line, "Einstein said 'We'll use rocks on the other side'," refers to the Einstein quote, "The next World War will be fought with stones," meaning, that nuclear weapons would bomb the world back to the stone age. The line, "The arsenal of Megadeth can't be rid of," comes from a pamphlet by California Senator Alan Cranston which reads, "The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid no matter what the peace treaties come to."
• The introduction comes from is a song by The Ink Spots called "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire." >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  Jon - Sweden, for above 2
• Dave Mustaine started writing this song on his trip home after being fired from Metallica while they were recording in New York. Mustaine says he found the pamphlet with the "megadeath" quote in a Greyhound terminal, and started writing lyrics on food wrappers and whatever else he could find.