Between being a kid growing up in the 80s, and later being a young adult who’d dance her ass off at “Flashback 80s” clubs, I must have heard the song about zillion times!
However, I never really heard what the song was about...
catdad:
Great observation. Husker Du's Divide and Conquer was released in 1985 and now comes across as somewhat prescient (http://www.metrolyrics.com/divide-and-conquer-lyrics-husker-du.html).