Lyric discussion by Wikitiki 

Okay, so we've established that this is about the Cold War.

Hopefully I'm not pointing out the obvious/ repeating another user/ completely misguided, but-

This pretty much about people freaking out over nothing (Second Red Scare, anyone?) and becoming so paranoid they end up destroying themselves in their attempt to destroy their "enemy." (I suggest reading the script/ watching the episode "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" of the X-Files, which I happened to see around the first time I heard the song. It's pretty much a different take on the same exact concept.)

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