"Let Me Die in My Footsteps": South Bend and the Fallout Shelter Problem

Abstract

American folk singer Bob Dylan's 1962 song, Let Me Die in My Footsteps declared a bold stance against the building of fallout shelters as a means of protection against atomic weapons at a time in history when the horrors of nuclear war were a constant concern for the country. This constant, nerve-wracking fear of atomic bombs permeated American society in various ways through news outlets such as The New York Time and entertainment outlets such as The Twilight Zone years before Dylan released this song in which he strongly questioned the morality of fallout shelters. And, just as Dylan proclaimed that he would "die in his footsteps" and carry on living, before he would ever "carry himself down to die", a great number of Americans would also question the morality of fallout shelters during the 1960s despite their fears of nuclear war. Although these shelters had the potential to save their lives, should a nuclear attack occur on American soil -would having in a fallout shelter be a way to live at all? And, what sort of life would be left after the devastation caused by atomic weapons? In the words of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, "The living will envy the dead." Thus, the paranoia and fear that would erupt after the invention of nuclear weapons would be so great that death would begin to seem like the better option