"Life During Wartime" is a song by the American new wave band Talking Heads, released as the first single from their 1979 album Fear of Music.

David's lyrics describe a Walker Percy-ish post-apocalyptic landscape where a revolutionary hides out in a deserted cemetery, surviving on peanut butter.

"[7] AllMusic's Bill Janowitz reviewed the song, calling attention to its nearness to funk, saying that it is a "sort of apocalyptic punk/funk merge" comparable to Prince's later hit single "1999".

[8] In 2012, The New Yorker described "Life During Wartime" as, "an apocalyptic swamp-funk transmission in four-four time," adding "[it] is the band’s pinnacle, and the song is still a hell of a thing to hear.

"[9] The lyrics are told from the point of view of someone involved in clandestine activities in the U.S. (the cities Houston, Detroit, and Pittsburgh are mentioned) during some sort of civil unrest or dystopian environment.

[8] The line "This ain't no Mudd Club or CBGB" refers to two New York music venues at which the band performed in the 1970s.

[11] An alternative mix of the song, featuring prominent guitar playing by Robert Fripp, was released on the 2005 compilation Talking Heads and the 2005 expanded CD reissue of Fear of Music.