Synopsis

X perform "Country at War" in a raw 1993 live setting, with the camera staying close to the band as John Doe delivers the song's urgent lead vocal and Exene Cervenka adds her distinctive harmonies. The performance emphasizes the group's tension, chemistry, and confrontational energy instead of building a separate storyline. The arrangement moves between tense, measured passages and harder-driving sections, giving the video the feel of a compact club performance rather than a polished, heavily conceptual production.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Country at War" appeared on X's 1993 album *Hey Zeus!*, the band's seventh studio album. The album was released on June 8, 1993.

• The song was written by John Doe and is primarily sung by him, with Exene Cervenka contributing harmony vocals.

• The track became X's highest-charting song on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, reaching No. 15 in 1993. "New Life," another song from *Hey Zeus!*, peaked at No. 26.

• The video circulated in the alternative-music television environment of the period, including *120 Minutes*, where X also appeared as a featured guest during the 1993 promotional cycle.

• The performance footage is commonly identified as live 1993 material, making the clip a useful document of the band's lineup with Tony Gilkyson on guitar rather than the earlier classic lineup featuring Billy Zoom.

• The song's political focus and references to social unrest fit the broader tone of *Hey Zeus!*, an album that presented X in a more expansive alternative-rock setting while retaining the band's vocal friction and punk-rooted directness.