Ghost – The Future is a Foreign Land (2024) (Official Video) (Lyrics)

(Written February 10, 2026)

One of the absolute highlights of the chaos that was 2025 happened to be seeing Ghost in Grand Rapids in July.  The only live performance I’ve ever seen that even came close to Tobias Forge and company was Ringo Starr and his All-Star Band.  I left Van Andel Arena in absolute awe.  I would gladly go see Ghost again.

The funny thing is that when John and I bought tickets early in 2025, I really only knew their song Little Miss Sunshine.  I wanted to check out something new.  By the time John and I drove all over northern Michigan on our way to the concert (another story altogether), I’d become a full-fledged fan and knew half of their setlist.  Even that didn’t prepare me for what I was about to experience.  Tobias Forge’s stage presence is on an entirely different level.

Somewhere along the line, I couldn’t get the Ghost song The Future is a Foreign Land out of my head.  I blame my love of storytelling.  Add in a solid literary reference (Orwell’s 1984) mixed with historical references (brownshirts, Kennedys, etc.), how could I resist?  Then there is the video.  In my opinion, the animation is perfect.  The 60s/70s eve of destruction vibe works well.  Their animated videos tend to be among my favorites.  The Future is a Foreign Land, however, almost manages to romanticize the end of it all, and asks us all to become better people for it.

After the concert, I asked myself why The Future is a Foreign Land looms so large in my imagination.  Then I thought about what it means Gen X, or in my case, Xennial.  In the world we were born into, it has always been one minute to midnight.  The threat of nuclear war is a constant that’s never going away.  As a generation, we seem to have a fatalist streak, and it is no coincidence that my peers’ children grew up on series like The Hunger Games and Divergent.  In fact, The Future is a Foreign Land can be added to a dystopian playlist, which could include:

Eve of Destruction – Barry McQuire (1965)

99 Luftballons – Nena (1983) (I prefer the German language version)

It Is the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) – R.E.M (1987)

We Didn’t Start the Fire – Billy Joel (1989)

Zombie – The Cranberries (1994) (or Rock Orchestra)

If you grew up on 80s rock and/or metal, you need to check out Ghost if you haven’t already.  Definite 80s vibes in the best possible way.