 Though the song does employ some keyboards, the use of guitars by the band was not lost on music critics who brought up the "no guitars rule" that the band had publicly adopted in 1981.The lyrics were an attempt to make a statement on the Lebanese civil war which had been exacerbated by the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in 1982.In a television interview, band member Philip Adrian Wright commented that Oakey's politically-charged lyrics were written specifically about the Sabra and Shatila massacre.