I don’t like a lot of ‘70’s music—as anyone who has read my music posts will know—but I do like several of ABBA’s songs. One of my favorites is “Fernando,” which refers to an unnamed war that could be anything from the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 to the rebellion against the Mexican Empire in the 1860’s.
I thought it was about a future war between the US and Mexico.
I always assumed it was about the Spanish Civil War, to which many young people gravitated out of a misplaced sense of social justice.
Earnest Hemingway participated (as a ambulance driver) to get material for his future as a writer. Idealism (on the other side) about the Spanish Civil War plays a role in The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, by Muriel Spark.