88 Seconds In Greensboro by OMD

Album: Crush (1985)

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Songfacts®:

This song is about the morning of November 3,1979, when five civil rights demonstrators were killed by a group of Klan and Nazi Party members in Greensboro, North Carolina. The attack took 88 seconds. >>
Suggestion credit:
Susan - Wellington, New Zealand
Andy McCluskey of OMD learned about the Greensboro massacre from an investigative news report called "88 Seconds In Greensboro," which gave him the title. "It just made such an impact on me," he said. "The minute the title rolled up, I said, 'Yeah, that's the title.'"

McCluskey completed the song with his bandmate, Paul Humphreys.
Like "I Don't Like Mondays," this is a song by a European band about an American tragedy. At the time, OMD was starting to make inroads in America. The lead single from the Crush album was "So in Love," which was their first hit in that country.

Comments: 5

Colin from Newcastle, EnglandThe band Pop Will Eat Itself also sang about the same incident in their song "88 Seconds" from their 1990 album "Cure For Sanity".
Zack from Manila, PhilippinesAfter listening to it I noticed how the end of "88 Seconds In Greensboro" directly leads to the next song "The Native Daughters Of The Golden West". Just like how "Night Sky" by Chvrches goes straight to "Science/Visions". Interesting tidbit.

Also, according to Wikipedia, the Native Daughters of the Golden West is a non-profit organization that focuses on the care and preservation of California history. Wonder how OMD heard of the group and why they became the song title.
Jill from Decatur, GaIn January 1986 I was driving to Charlottesville, Va with a friend to go skiing and to visit her brother. We were listening to my OMD tape and had to turn it over (remember those days?). When we popped the tape out, the radio automatically came on and we heard the news about the space shuttle Challenger crashing 73 seconds after takeoff. We pulled over in a daze. After a few minutes, we drove off, the tape kicked in and "88 Seconds In Greensboro" came on..."88 seconds is all it takes"...it was eerie and to this day that song reminds me of the Challenger crash.
Rebecca from College Station, TxHello, I am originally from Greensboro, North Carolina and was there when this happened. I remember the sound of the shots being fired and all the frightened citizens. We really did not know at the time what was happening.
I thank my lucky stars, I no longer live in that city and will never again.
Rebecca
Russ from Greensboro, Mdit is takes abot that long to drive thruogh greensboro md

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More Songfacts:

Deep In The Heart Of TexasPerry Como

The seemingly inoffensive song, "Deep In The Heart Of Texas," was banned by the BBC when it was released in 1942. They deemed the song too catchy, with authorities in wartime Britain concerned that factory workers would be distracted if they heard it during a shift.