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Funk by The Clash - Overpowered
Funk by The Clash - Overpowered


Funk by The Clash - Overpowered Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Combat Rock
Released: 1982

Overpowered Lyrics


If you ain't reggae for it, funk out
No-one knocking at your door, funk out
Overpowered by funk, funk out
It's combatative, repetitive
Don't life just funk you out?
Asinine, stupefying
Can the clone-line dry you out?
Part of the swarming mass, funk out
Slugged by the new increase, funk out
Scared of the human bomb, funk out
Overpowered by funk, funk out
Buy dog food, rogue elephants
Tarzan on a ticker tape
Ooo-ooh
Breakfast cereals
You know you can't escape
Overpowered by funk
Don't you love our Western ways?
Car crashed by funk
Don't you love our Western ways?
Benny Goodman, trial by jury
A phone box-full of books
"It's morning, you know!"
Dustcarts at sunrise
No-one gets off the hooks
Car crashed

Food for the hungry millions, funk out!
Home for the floating people, funk out!
Over-drunk on power
This is a message from Futura, don't prophisize the future
I liven up the culture because I'm deadly as a vulture
I paint on civilization, I had this realization
It's environmentally wack, so presenting my attack
You know, I'll brighten up your shack
I'm down by law and that's a fact
Just give me a wall, any building, dull or tall
I spray clandestine night subway
I cover with red-purple on top of grey, hey
No slashing cause it ain't the way, the T.A. blew forty mil' they say
We threw it down by night and they scrubbed it off by day
OK tourists, picture frame, tickets here for the graffiti train
Funk power
Over-and-out
Funk-funk-funk, funk-funk-funk-funk-funk
Funk-funk-funk, funk-funk-funk-funk-funk, ha
Funk power, ha!
Funk power

Writer/s: STRUMMER, JOE / JONES, MICK / HEADON, TOPPER
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Overpowered
  • This song was written at the Ear Studios rehearsals in September 1981, and recorded in the Electric Lady studios in December 1981, featuring additional instrumentation in the form of keyboards by Poly Mandell and a rap section by Futura 2000, graffiti artist and friend of the band. He had toured with the band for the previous two years, spray-painting a graffiti stage backdrop whilst the band played, and joining them live onstage for an improvised rap song once he had finished his work. He even references his graffiti work on the New York subway trains in his rap ("The T.A. blew forty mil they say, we threw down by night, they scrubbed it off by day").

    There are rumors that Futura 2000 recorded a standalone track, "The Escapades of Futura 2000" in these sessions too, but if he did it has never been released.
  • "Overpowered By Funk" is very much a continuation of the themes and musical styles first experimented with on "The Magnificent Seven." It is a heavy Funk track with freeform lyrics referencing capitalism ("Don't you love our Western ways?"), the Vietnam War ("Home for the floating people? Skin for the napalm victim?"), capital punishment ("Fry me in your shockin' chairs") and even using the Funk genre of music to represent the repetitive boredom of being stuck in a dead-end job ("Combative, repetitive, don't life just funk you out?"). It also includes subtle references to Tarzan and Benny Goodman.
  • Like "The Magnificent Seven," this song was remixed multiple times by rap radio stations in New York, and a bootleg exists of an extended six-minute-plus instrumental remix of the song.
  • This was only played by The Clash a handful of times - in their Paris residency in September 1981- before being dropped again. Presumably with "The Magnificent Seven" still being a massive fan favorite in The Clash's set, there wasn't room for another rap/funk song with lengthy instrumental sections and improv lyrics.

  • Joan Jett - I Love Rock And Rol
    Joan Jett - I Love Rock And Roll


    Joan Jett - I Love Rock And Roll Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: I Love Rock And Roll
    Released: 1981

    I Love Rock And Roll Lyrics


    I Love Rock And Roll
  • This was originally recorded by a British group called The Arrows in 1975, and it was written by their lead singer Alan Merrill and guitarist Jake Hooker. Merrill explained in a Songfacts interview how this song came about: "That was a knee-jerk response to the Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'N' Roll.' I remember watching it on Top of the Pops. I'd met Mick Jagger socially a few times, and I knew he was hanging around with Prince Rupert Lowenstein and people like that – jet setters. I almost felt like 'It's Only Rock and Roll' was an apology to those jet-set princes and princesses that he was hanging around with - the aristocracy, you know. That was my interpretation as a young man: Okay, I love rock and roll. And then, where do you go with that?"

    The song was released as a B-side with The Arrows' "Broken Down Heart." The group was recording for RAK Records, which was run by Mickie Most. As Merrill explains, "I Love Rock And Roll" didn't suit his current tastes, as during that time Most preferred ballads and blues. Most's wife Christina Hayes encouraged him to flip the sides, but the song didn't catch on, as it suffered from a poor run of luck at the time of its release. First, it had to be re-released as an A-side. Second, the song came out during an English newspaper strike, so new songs weren't getting the exposure they'd normally get. Third, The Arrows were feuding with their record label. As a result, the song didn't chart and was banished to obscurity.

    All was not lost, however, as The Arrows performed this song when they were guests on the UK TV series Pop 45. The show's producer, Muriel Young, was so impressed that on the strength of this performance, she gave them their own TV show, simply called The Arrows Show, which ran from 1976-1977 in the UK for two full 14-week seasons on the ITV network. It was this show that Joan Jett saw in 1976, which prompted her to acquire a copy of "I Love Rock and Roll" and later cover it in 1981, producing what is arguably one of the most successful covers in rock history.
  • Jett was touring England as a member of an all teenage girl group called The Runaways when she discovered this song. She wanted to record it with The Runaways, but the other members didn't like the song and made the mistake of passing it up. So, in 1979, Jett recorded it with Paul Cook and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols and released it as a B-side. Finally, in 1981, Jett recorded the song with her band The Blackhearts, resulting in a monster hit.

    Jett recalled to Uncut August 2010 her version with the Pistols duo: "I did a very early version with them, it was great working with them, and no, there was no sense of trepidation on my part, despite the fact that everyone was telling me they were the most notorious band on the planet."
  • Alan Merrill: "I had the chorus, which to me sounded like a hit. And I thought, I'll do something really unusual. I'll write it that this is a song separate from the verse. So the actual chorus is something that's coming out of a jukebox, and the two kids in the disco who are flirting are hearing this song that's a hit. It felt like The Twilight Zone. I was so sure 'I Love Rock and Roll' was gonna be a hit for the Arrows that I thought, Well, when we have a hit with it, it's gonna be a hit within a hit. A fictional hit coming out of the chorus with the kids singing it as their favorite song in the verse of the song. So when it actually became a huge hit for Joan Jett, my Twilight Zone concept came true. And I don't think too many people get that about the song, you know? They just like the melody, and it's catchy. But it was actually a pretty clever stroke, one that I'm proud of." (Want to find out what shot down The Arrows and see them in action? Check out our full interview with Alan Merrill .)
  • When the Runaways broke up, Joan Jett and her producer Kenny Laguna put her first solo album together with studio time and travel arrangements fronted by The Who. They struggled to get a record deal and had to form their own label, Blackheart Reocrds, to release the album in America. Jett and Laguna both thought "I Love Rock and Roll" was a great song, but since they didn't have the backing of a major label, they held off on it until they could establish themselves and get better distribution. When "Do You Wanna Touch Me" and "Bad Reputation" started getting airplay, they got a deal with Boardwalk Records. That first album, which was called Joan Jett, was remixed and renamed Bad Reputation. Now that she had a record deal, Jett released "I Love Rock and Roll," which was her first single on a major label and was included on her second album.
  • The Runaways' bass player Michael Steele went on to join the Bangles, and their guitarist Lita Ford had a successful solo career, but Joan Jett emerged as their most famous alumna. Kenny Laguna plays a big part in her story, as he helped Jett get started as a solo artist and worked with her throughout most of her solo career. In 1972, after working with acts like Tommy James & the Shondells and Tony Orlando, Kenny was looking for work and found it through Peter Meaden, who managed The Who when they were still known as The High Numbers. Meaden got Kenny a job working at Mobile Records in England, where he became friends with The Who and met The Runaways' manager, who asked him to produce what would be their last album. Kenny didn't work on that album, but when The Runaways broke up, he started working with Jett. Peter Meaden, who introduced Kenny to The Who and helped revive his career, was the manager of The Arrows, the group that wrote and originally recorded "I love Rock and Roll." If Kenny had accepted the job and produced The Runaways' last album, there is a good chance he would have made them record it, since he thought it was a hit.

    Jett's 1979 version of the song was owned by The Polygram company, who were not enthusiastic about Joan or the song. Laguna explains: "They could care less about Joan Jett, they were busy signing every other Runaway. They thought Joan was the loser and they signed the other girls, who we're all friends with, but I looked at the band and thought she was the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the band. The company decided that if I would pay the studio cost of $2,300, I could have all the rights, and I got three songs. I got 'I Love Rock and Roll' with The Sex Pistols, I got 'You Don't Own Me' - they did a great version of the Lesley Gore hit, and they did a song Joan wrote called 'Don't Abuse Me.' So I buy these songs back. In the meantime, Joan has a couple of fans. Rodney Bingenheimer of K-ROCK, KMAC in Long Beach, BCN in Boston, LIR in Long Island, they were playing The Sex Pistols' kind of cruddy version of the song, and it was #1 on the alternative stations. It was really alternative music, they were way-out stations that would play some pretty adventurous stuff, that's why they would play Joan, because Joan was not getting a record deal, Joan was way on the outside, like a Fugazi of her day. We saw some kind of potential there. I remember these guys from the big record distributors in Long Island kept calling and saying, 'This is a hit record, we're getting so many requests for it.' So we cut it over and did a really good version of it." (The above two Songfacts come from our interview with Kenny Laguna)
  • In the original version, the lyrics are about a guy picking up a young girl and taking her home, which was fairly typical rock and roll subject matter. When Jett covered this, however, it became a song about a girl who notices a guy next to a jukebox and brings him home to have sex. Other hit songs like "Physical" by Olivia Newton John and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar also had sexual overtones, but Jett sang about aggressively pursuing the guy, which for many women made this a female-empowerment anthem. This song helped shape Jett's image as a tough, confident rock star and became an inspiration to many female musicians.
  • The line "Put another dime in the jukebox" was dated by the time Jett released her version, as very few jukeboxes took dimes. "Quarter" didn't sound good in the lyrics, and as jukeboxes slowly disappeared or became computerized contraptions accepting paper currency, it didn't matter anyway.
  • Jett's next two singles, "Crimson And Clover" and "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" were also covers of songs originally recorded by male singers. When Laguna worked with Bow Wow Wow, he had them record "I Want Candy," another song that had to be adapted for a female singer.
  • In the US, this was #1 for seven weeks in 1982. "Ebony And Ivory" by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney did the same a few weeks later.
  • The video was directed by Arnold Levine, who also did many of the Loverboy and Bruce Springsteen clips. Jett wore a red leather outfit to the shoot, which took place at New York club called Private's with an assortment of fans that showed up that day forming the crowd. When Jett and Levine looked at the edit, the colors were a mess, with way too much red and mauve in the shots because of poor fashion choices. This was not the rock and roll video they imagined, but when Jett saw the black-and-white work copy, she loved it. Without the color, the clip looked gritty and retro, which is what they were going for.

    This black-and-white version stood out on MTV among far more colorful clips by the likes of the Go-Go's and The J. Geils Band. It became a huge hit on the network, which had launched just months earlier and was becoming a criterion of cool. The video helped send the song up the charts and establish an image for Jett as a rough-hewn rocker.

    The color version, now available on YouTube, was released in 2003 on Jett's Real Wild Child video anthology.
  • In an interview with Mojo magazine January 2008, Jett looked back on this song: "I think most people who love some kind of rock 'n' roll can relate to it. Everyone knows a song that just makes them feel amazing and want to jump up and down. I quickly realized, this song is gonna follow you, so you're either gonna let it bother you, or you gotta make peace with it, and feel blessed that you were involved with something that touched so many people."
  • In 1998, Rolling Stone magazine reported that Jett, Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker made a very unusual financial move when they offered bonds secured by future royalties from this song. The story turned out to be very deceptive, as only Hooker was in on the deal, which never materialized.
  • This seems like a perfect fit for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance, but when Jett was inducted in 2015, she didn't play the song. Although it is by far her biggest hit, Jett has downplayed it throughout her career, typically performing it in the middle of sets while typically using "Bad Reputation" and "I Hate Myself For Loving You" as bookends.

  • The Clash - This Is Radio Clash
    The Clash - This Is Radio Clash


    The Clash - This Is Radio Clash Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: The Essential Clash
    Released: 1981

    This Is Radio Clash Lyrics


    Interrupting all programs

    This Is Radio Clash from pirate satellite

    Orbiting your living room,
    Cashing in the bill of rights
    Cuban army surplus or refusing all third lights
    This is radio clash on pirate satellite

    This sound does not subscribe
    To the international plan
    In the psycho shadow of the white right hand
    Then that see ghettology as an urban Vietnam
    Giving deadly exhibitions of murder by napalm

    This is radio clash tearing up the seven veils
    This is radio clash please save us, not the whales
    This is radio clash underneath a mushroom cloud
    This is radio clash
    You don't need that funeral shroud

    Forces have been looting
    My humanity
    Curfews have been curbing
    The end of liberty

    Hands of law have sorted through
    My identity
    But now this sound is brave
    And wants to be free - anyway to be free

    This is Radio clash on pirate satellite
    This is not free Europe
    Not an armed force network
    This is Radio Clash using audio ammunition
    This is Radio Clash can we get that world to listen?
    This is Radio Clash using aural ammunition
    This is Radio Clash can we get that world to listen?
    This is Radio Clash on pirate satellite
    Orbiting your living room,
    Cashing in the bill of rights
    This is radio Clash on pirate satellite
    This is radio Clash everybody hold on tight

    A-riggy diggy dig dang dang

    Go back to urban 'nam

    Writer/s: STRUMMER, JOE / JONES, MICK / SIMONON, PAUL / HEADON, TOPPER
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    This Is Radio Clash
  • The initial idea for "This Is Radio Clash" apparently came from a conversation between singer Joe Strummer, aide Kosmo Vinyl and manager Bernie Rhodes about the band setting up their own radio station. Having read Dispatches by Michael Herr, Strummer wrote the line "ghettology is an urban Vietnam" and later fleshed out the lyrics at Marcus Music in Kensington in April 1981 in the inaugural sessions before the song was completed at the Electric Lady studios in New York in November of that year.
  • Joe Strummer admitted in an interview with Melody Maker in 1988 that he had nicked the bassline from the Queen hit "Another One Bites The Dust" (which in itself shares many similarities with another Disco classic, Chic's "Good Times").

    The song as a whole is the band's tribute to New York rap acts such as the Sugarhill Gang and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - indeed, Strummer's sinister high-pitched laugh at the start of the song was directly inspired by Grandmaster Flash's "The Message."
  • Two sets of lyrics exist for "This Is Radio Clash" - the original, featuring references to the Bill of Rights, Napalm and the American Armed Forces Network, and a separate set that was recorded onto another take, later named just "Radio Clash." Confusingly they are both identical tracks bar the lyrics, and even feature as A and B sides on the single, which led to some mistakes in later re-releases - on the Story of the Clash Volume 1 compilation, the tracklisting lists "This Is Radio Clash," but it is in fact the "Radio Clash" version on the CD.
  • After the musical mish-mash of the Sandinista! album, many critics were hoping the band would get back to more traditional sound, which probably explains some of the more scathing reviews of this song when it came out, as critics tired of the band's dalliance with Hip-Hop influences. Gavin Martin, usually a supporter of the band, ripped it apart upon release in NME: "Another rag-bag of musical clichés and political simplifications sprawling, splintered fantasy which presents the zombified vision of would-be guerillas with rampant hysteria."

    It's worth noting that many UK critics really took against The Clash from 1980 onwards when the band started spending more and more time in America, which in turn meant the band resented coming home more and more. Ironically, by the time of the 30th Anniversary of London Calling's release, NME were desperately trying to backtrack on their more negative comments from 1979-83, claiming that their original review of the album was highly rated. It wasn't!
  • Don Letts' music video for "This Is Radio Clash" drew on footage shot for the unreleased Clash on Broadway film, which was a documentary shot by Letts during 1981 as he accompanied The Clash on their New York residency in Bonds Casino, including two full gigs from their 16-gig stay at the venue across two weeks and footage of the band backstage and living life in New York. It was mooted for a November 1982 release, but perhaps due to turmoil within the band, the project was quietly forgotten about, and by 1994 Joe Strummer told Mojo magazine that "as far as I know the reels were stored in a rental place in New York. Bernie (Rhodes, their manager) forgot to pay the rent and the footage was destroyed."

    A cutting copy of 30 minutes' worth of footage was found by Letts in a cupboard in the mid-1990s, and what is left of the film was put together for release on the Westway to the World DVD. One of the few surviving live performances from the Bonds shows is, ironically, of "This Is Radio Clash" in one of it's first live outings.

  • Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl
    Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl


    Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Working Class Dog
    Released: 1981

    Jessie's Girl Lyrics


    Jessie is a friend,
    Yeah I know he's been a good friend of mine
    But lately something's changed
    It ain't hard to define
    Jessie's got himself a girl
    And I want to make her mine
    And she's watching him with those eyes
    And she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it
    And he's holding her in his arms late, late at night

    You know I wish that I had Jessie's Girl
    I wish that I had Jessie's girl
    Why can't I find a woman like that

    I'll play along with this charade
    That doesn't seem to be a reason to change
    You know I feel so dirty when they start talking cute
    I want to tell her that I love but the point is probably moot
    'Cause she's watching him with those eyes
    And she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it
    And he's holding her in his arms late, late at night

    You know I wish that I had Jessie's girl
    I wish that I had Jessie's girl
    Why can't I find a woman like that?

    Like Jessie's girl
    I wish that I had Jessie's girl
    Why can't I find a woman
    Why can't I find a woman like that

    And I'm lookin' in the mirror all the time
    Wonderin' what she don't see in me
    I've been funny; I've been cool with the lines
    Ain't that the way love's supposed to be
    Tell me why can't I find a woman like that

    You know I wish that I had Jessie's girl
    I wish that I had Jessie's girl
    Why can't I find a woman like that?
    Like Jessie's girl

    I wish that I had Jessie's girl
    I want, I want Jessie's girl

    Writer/s: SPRINGFIELD, RICK
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Jessie's Girl
  • Who is Jessie's girl? We may never know, but in our interview with Rick Springfield , he told us the story. Said Rick: "I don't know her name. It was a brief relationship I had when I was making stained glass for a while. I was going to a stained glass class in Pasadena, and I met this guy and his girlfriend. I was completely turned on to his girlfriend, but she was just not interested. So I had a lot of sexual angst, and I went home and wrote a song about it. Then about 4 months later I stopped going to the class and lost contact with them. The only thing I remember is his name was Gary, so I changed the name, because 'Gary' didn't sing very well. But the whole thing is absolutely what I was feeling. He was getting it and I wasn't, and it was really tearing me up. And sexual angst is an amazing motivator to write a song. Actually, Oprah's people tried to find her, and they got as far back as finding the stained glass guy. I couldn't remember his name, but I said it was late '70s; they found him, and he had died 2 years earlier, and they'd thrown all his papers out a year after that. So we missed finding out who she was by a year."
  • This was Springfield's second Top 20 hit (the first being "Speak To The Sky" in 1971) and it was his only #1, where it stayed for two weeks in August, 1981. The popularity of the song and album that summer was bolstered by the fact that Springfield, also an actor, had landed the role of Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera General Hospital earlier that spring. Springfield began acting in the mid-'70s when his music career had stalled and his then-girlfriend, actress Linda Blair, suggested he try it.

    Speaking of Linda Blair, when Springfield and Blair were dating, Blair was just 15 years old while Springfield was 25. They only lived together for one year, and according to an interview on VH1's Behind the Music, Blair said, "He's someone I'll always love" while Springfield says that of all his former girlfriends, Blair is the only one he remains friends with. Remember that this was 1974, when standards were a little more relaxed, and median age of consent for most of Springfield's native country of Australia is 16. (thanks, Dawn - Highlands Ranch, CO)
  • Spingfield's take on relationships: "We’re clueless. Desperately clueless. Everybody is on relationships. Truly, I remember being a jerk because I thought that’s what girls wanted. You only really learn about women when you get into a long relationship, unless you got a really great dad – a really clued-in father – or a really open mom."
  • This was the #1 song in the United States when MTV launched on August 1, 1981. The video became a favorite on the fledgling network, as the photogenic Springfield starred in a well-produced promo where he used his acting skills to portray his angst.

    Springfield says it's his only video where he took creative control, storyboarding it himself. The scene where he smashes the mirror remains an iconic clip; it was the most expensive part of the video, since Rick estimates that went through 24 mirrors.
  • In the category of weird covers, this song was covered by The Chipmunks, using the same instrumental backing track, no less. Check out their 1982 album Chipmunk Rock if you just have to have it.
  • This song was used in the movie 13 Going On 30 starring Jennifer Garner. (thanks, Julian - Anaheim, CA)

  • U2 - Fir
    U2 - Fire


    U2 - Fire Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: October
    Released: 1981

    Fire Lyrics


    Falling falling
    The sun is burning black
    Falling falling
    It's beating on my back
    With a fire
    With a fire

    Falling falling
    The moon is running red
    Falling falling
    It's pulling me instead
    With a fire
    Fire

    But there's a Fire inside
    When I'm falling over
    There's a fire in me
    When I call out
    I built a fire
    I'm going home

    Falling falling
    The stars are falling down
    Falling falling
    They knock me to the ground
    With a fire
    Fire

    But there's a fire inside
    When I'm falling over
    There's a fire in me
    When I call out
    There's a fire inside
    When I'm falling over
    I feel the fire
    I'm going home

    Writer/s: JONES, GARETH
    Publisher: Chrysalis One Music
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Fire Song Chart
  • This song was released as a single three months before October came out. It was the first U2 song to chart, going to #35 in England.
  • U2 recorded this in the Bahamas in 1981 while on a break from their US tour. It was the only track on October not recorded in Dublin.
  • The lyrics contain apocalyptic, biblical themes. Bono has always worked a lot of religious imagery into his lyrics, but he's rarely this dire, singing about the "sun burning black" and "stars falling down."
  • U2 performed this on their first appearance on British TV show Top Of The Pops.
  • A distorted guitar segment of this appears at the end of some of the vinyl copies of Boy.

  • Genesis - No Reply At Al
    Genesis - No Reply At All


    Genesis - No Reply At All Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Abacab
    Released: 1981

    No Reply At All Lyrics


    Talk to me, you never talk to me.
    Ooh, it seems that I can speak.
    I can hear my voice shoutin' out.

    But there's No Reply At All.

    Look at me, you never look at me.
    Ooh, I've been sittin, starin', seems so long.
    But you're lookin' through me
    Like I wasn't here at all.

    No reply. There's no reply at all.

    Dance with me, you never dance with me.
    Ooh, it seems that I can move.
    I'm close to you, close as I can get.

    Yet there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.

    Be with me. Seems you're never here with me.
    Ooh, I've been tryin' to get over there.
    Oh, but it's out of my reach.

    And there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.

    I get the feelin' you're tryin' to tell me;
    Is there somethin' that I should know?
    What excuse are you tryin' to sell me?
    Should I be readin' stop or go?
    I don't know.

    Be with me. Seems you're never here with me.
    Ooh, I've been tryin' to get over there.
    Oh, but it's out of my reach.

    And there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.

    I get the feelin' you're tryin' to tell me;
    Is there somethin' that I should know?
    What excuse are you tryin' to sell me?
    Should I be readin' stop or go?
    I don't know.

    Maybe deep down inside,
    I'm tryin' for no one else but me,
    Too stubborn to say, "The buck stops here.
    I'm not the one you're lookin' for."

    But maybe deep down inside, I'm lyin'
    To no one else but me.
    Oh, but my back is up. I'm on my guard
    With all the exits sealed.

    Listen to me, you never listen to me.
    Oooh, and it seems there's no way out.
    I've been tryin' but we cannot connect.

    And there's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.
    There's no reply at all.
    No reply at all.
    Is anybody listenin'? Oh, there's no reply at all...

    Writer/s: PHIL COLLINS, MICHAEL RUTHERFORD, ANTHONY BANKS
    Publisher: IMAGEM U.S. LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    No Reply At All
  • Phil Collins poached the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section (known as The Phenix Horns) for his 1981 solo hit "I Missed Again," so a few months later when he was working with Genesis on the Abacab album, he decided to use them again. "I thought, if we're going to reinvent ourselves, why not have horns on it? This is a song here that sounds like a funky, R&B thing, so let's put horns on it. So we did it, and people hated it."

    The song did turn off some of Genesis' fans who were accustomed to their prog-rock sound. It's one of the Genesis songs that sounds like it could be a Phil Collins solo cut.
  • In the song, Phil Collins sings about being frustrated and feeling ignored by his partner, who he thinks is hiding something from him. Collins poured his heart out on his solo Face Value album and could certainly related to these emotions, but he has never described this as a personal song for him - he was writing in character with a touch of paranoia, but with nowhere near the delusional tone of "Mama."

  • The Clash - Inoculated City
    The Clash - Inoculated City


    The Clash - Inoculated City Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Combat Rock
    Released: 1982

    Inoculated City Lyrics


    The soldier boy for his soldier's pay, obeys
    The sergeant at arms, whatever he says
    The sergeant will for his sergeant's pay, obey
    The captains until his dying day
    The captain will, for his captain's pay, obey
    The general order of battle play
    The generals bow to the government, obey the charge
    You must not relent

    What of the neighbours and the prophets in bars?
    What are they saying in our public bazaars?
    We are tired of the tune, "you must not relent"

    At every stroke of the bell in the tower, there goes
    Another boy from another side
    The bulletins that steady come in say those
    Familiar words at the top of the hour
    The jamming city increases its hum, and those
    Terrible words continue to come
    Through brass music of government, hear those
    Guns tattoo a roll on the drums

    No one mentions the neighbouring war
    No one knows what their fighting is for
    We are tired of the tune, "you must not relent"

    The generals bow to the government
    We're tired of the tune, "you must not relent"

    Writer/s: JOE STRUMMER, MICK JONES
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Inoculated City
  • Lyrically and musically this song is a follow-up to The Clash's 1981 single "The Call Up." It's a jaunty tune about the futility of war and war crimes and the actions of soldiers being defended by the age-old adage of "I was just following orders:

    "The sergeant will for his sergeant's pay
    Obey the general order of the battle play
    The generals bow to the government
    Obey the charge you must not relent"

    A possible inspiration for these lyrics - written by Clash guitarist Mick Jones - is XTC's 1980 single "Generals and Majors."
  • Interestingly, the original version of the song had a sample from a US TV commercial about the toilet cleaner 2,000 Flushes. What point it served the song is uncertain (perhaps a comment on rampant commercialism), but it sounds pretty good at least. The company behind the product, Flushco Inc., threatened a million-dollar lawsuit and a temporary injunction against the manufacture of the Combat Rock LP, and the whole saga forced The Clash to go into hiding to avoid being served with a writ.

    In the end the sample was withdrawn, and isn't present on the CD re-release. However, the original version of the song (with sample intact) is floating around on original pressings.

    The song had already been chopped down by nearly two minutes from an early mix by Jones as part of the Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg early mix of the album. When this overlong mix was edited down by producer Glyn Jones, "Inoculated City" was one of many tracks to be cut down to decrease the run time.
  • This was featured on the B-side of the US release of the "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" single. It was played live by The Clash for a short time in 1981, during their Paris residency and on the following UK tour.

  • Patti Austin and James Ingram - Baby, Come To M
    Patti Austin and James Ingram - Baby, Come To Me


    Patti Austin and James Ingram - Baby, Come To Me Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Every Home Should Have One
    Released: 1981

    Baby, Come To Me Lyrics


    Baby, Come To Me
  • This was initially released in 1981 on Patti Austin's album Every Home Should Have One. In May of 1982, it peaked at #73 on the US charts. Months later, the song found new life when it was used in the ABC soap opera General Hospital for romantic scenes involving Luke Spencer (played by Anthony Geary) after his wife Laura temporarily left the show. ABC got lots of calls and letters about the song, and Warner Brothers Records decided to re-release the song as a single due to popular demand. It hit #1 in the US in February 1983.

    Later that year, "Think Of Laura" by Christopher Cross was used in scenes where Luke was missing Laura. Thanks to its use on the show, the song went to #9 US in 1984.
  • Quincy Jones produced this. Both Austin and Ingram had worked with Jones in the past and signed to his record label, Quest.
  • Rod Temperton wrote this. This is one of many songs he wrote that Quincy Jones produced. Others include Michael Jackson's "Rock With You," "Off The Wall" and "Thriller," as well as songs by The Brothers Johnson and Rufus with Chaka Khan.
  • Ingram has done a lot of duets, including "Just Once" with Quincy Jones, "Yah Mo B There" with Michael McDonald, and "Somewhere Out There" with Linda Ronstadt.
  • After 2 weeks at #1 in the US, this was replaced by Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." That song was also produced by Jones.
  • Patti Austin is the goddaughter of Quincy Jones. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for above 5)

  • The Clash - Cool Confusion
    The Clash - Cool Confusion


    The Clash - Cool Confusion Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Super Black Market Clash
    Released: 1981

    Cool Confusion Lyrics


    Between Cool Confusion
    And kung fu in the car park
    Could the weekend be losing
    That reactive spark

    Even in the shebeen
    Or down in the meat rack
    Longtime I feel cold
    To send Cinderella's shoe back

    Along the length of the wire
    Party jam on the line
    I can't hear a thing
    Can't get no number nine

    Now we must get in touch
    If the night is to burn
    Someone out there in luck
    Lend me your star for a turn

    As heroes fix their hair
    Some are saving their breath
    Just on the walkways tonight
    For a glue bag death

    Screens flick in unison
    Some gaze at the soul
    From the tiers and the heights
    Go for the fifteenth floor stroll

    It's immediately obvious;
    Anybody star-gilt
    Would have left this club
    Way before it was built

    This strikes you so late
    As the guy with the broom
    Sweeps you and the bottles
    Right out of the room

    Now I wash in the factory
    Confess in the tile house
    I don't need to bleed anybody
    To strike out

    Today my godfather
    He sent a note from the jail
    Said go get 'em kid
    But don't get chained to the rail

    Between cool confusion
    And kung fu in the car park
    Could the weekend be losing
    That romantic spark

    Even in the shebeen
    Or down in the meat rack
    Long time I feel cold
    To send Cinderella's shoe back

    Writer/s: JOE STRUMMER, MICK JONES, PAUL SIMONON, TOPPER HEADON
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Cool Confusion
  • Collectively credited to the band as a whole, the lyrics were mostly written by singer Joe Strummer, who explained his inspiration for them: a visit to New York's famous Studio 54 disco nightclub. "I started to notice that stars with big egos would always swan into places, make an appearance, and swan out again. Whenever we went out, we'd always be in a place for the duration."

    The lyrics reflect this, with references to superficial celebrity: "lend me your start for a turn, as heroes fix their hair."
  • "Cool Confusion" was recorded in the Combat Rock sessions at the Electric Lady studios in November/December 1981, and though it didn't make the album, it became one of the B-sides to the US release of "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" It ended up not getting a UK release until it appeared on the rarities compilation Super Black Market Clash.
  • The song is described by the band as "semi-electro dub-funk," and shows influences from their former producer and Dub Reggae star Lee "Scratch" Perry.

  • Saga - On The Loos
    Saga - On The Loose


    Saga - On The Loose Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Worlds Apart
    Released: 1981

    On The Loose Lyrics


    One day you feel quite stable
    The next you're comin' off the wall
    But I think you should warn me
    If you start heading for a fall
    I see the problem start
    I watch the tension grow
    I see you keeping it to yourself
    And then instead of reaching conclusions
    I see you reaching for something else

    No one can stop you now
    Tonight you're On The Loose
    No one to tell you how
    Tonight you're on the loose

    I see no harm or danger in escaping
    If the method suits the style
    We put the mind on idle
    And let the others take it for awhile
    When the pace is too fast
    And I think I won't last
    You know where I'll be found
    I'll be standing here beside myself
    Getting ready for the final round

    No one can stop you now
    Tonight you're on the loose
    No one to tell you how
    Tonight you're on the loose

    The time we feel most stable
    Is the time we're comin' off the wall
    And there's every indication
    We may be heading for a fall
    So let the problems start
    And let the tension grow
    We'll be keeping it to ourselves
    And while they're busy reaching their conclusions
    We'll be reaching for something else

    No one can stop you now
    Tonight you're on the loose
    No one to tell you how
    Tonight you're on the loose

    Writer/s: CRICHTON, IAN / CRICHTON, JAMES / NEGUS, STEVE / GILMOUR, JAMES / SADLER, MICHAEL
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    On The Loose Song Chart
  • This was the biggest hit for Saga, a Canadian band that incorporated elements of progressive rock into their pop sound. Lead singer Michael Sadler wrote the song with his bandmates Ian Crichton (guitar), Jim Crichton (bass), Jim Gilmour (keyboards) and Steve Negus (drums).

    Sadler told us: "'On the Loose' is blowing off steam. Everybody's got to just let it out every once in a while, you can't keep things inside. You know: tonight I'm on the loose, we're on the loose, you're on the loose. It's as simple as that.

    At the time, and it's just gotten more so, stress, stress, stress for everybody, every single human on this planet. Every once in a while we've got to let go and just blow it out and deal with the consequences later. You've got to open that valve every once in a while."
  • The music video was one of the first concept clips by a North American band. It earned airplay in the early days of MTV, which was launched in 1981 a few months before the album came out. MTV had very little to choose from, and this one checked a lot of boxes in terms of their criteria:

    Slick rock sound.
    Good production value.
    Could pass for American.

    It was Saga's management that encouraged them to make the video, which combined performance footage with a vague storyline about a man escaping from some kind of facility.

  • Sammy Hagar - Heavy Meta
    Sammy Hagar - Heavy Metal


    Sammy Hagar - Heavy Metal Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Standing Hampton
    Released: 1981

    Heavy Metal Lyrics


    Head bangers in leather
    Sparks fly in the dead of the night
    It all comes together
    When they shoot out the lights
    Fifty thousand watts of power
    And it's pushin' overload
    The beast is ready to devour
    All the metal they can hold
    Reachin' overload
    Start to explode

    [Chorus]
    It's your one way ticket to midnight
    Call it Heavy Metal
    Higher than high, feelin' just right
    Call it heavy metal
    Desperation on a red line
    Call it heavy metal noise

    Tight pants and lipstick
    She's riding on razor's edge
    She holds her own against the boys
    Yea, cuts through the crowd just like a wedge
    Ohh, can you feel the static
    So many contacts being made
    We've got up front fanatics
    Tearing down the barricade
    To reach the stage
    Can you feel the rage

    [Chorus]

    Writer/s: TIPTON, GLENN RAYMOND/HALFORD, ROB/DOWNING, KENNETH
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Heavy Metal
  • This song was used in the science fiction movie of the same name, and was also featured on the movie's soundtrack album (the film was based on a comic book). Released in 1981, Heavy Metal was an animated film with enough cartoon nudity to get an R rating (now known as NC-17) in the US.

    Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, Journey, and Devo were also on the soundtrack.
  • Hagar wrote this song with Jim Peterik , who was a member of the band Survivor at the time. Hagar had just signed with Geffen Records, whose executive John Kalodner had signed Survivor and deployed Peterik to help .38 Special write songs. Kalodner arranged the writing session between Hagar and Peterik, which took place in San Francisco.

    At first, the pair had trouble coming up with ideas, but then Hagar remembered that his manager had mentioned the Heavy Metal movie was in production and looking for songs, so they decided to write one for the film. They came up with the idea of two metalheads attending a rock show, and the session moved smoothly, which Hagar and Peterik coming up with riffs and lyrics based on those moments of anticipation when waiting for the band to come onstage.

    They recorded a demo of the song, and Hagar later recorded it as part of his first Geffen album. An alternate version also earned a spot in the film, but not as the main theme: that honor went to "Heavy Metal (Takin' A Ride)" by Don Felder.

  • Van Halen - (Oh) Pretty Woma
    Van Halen - (Oh) Pretty Woman


    Van Halen - (Oh) Pretty Woman Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Diver Down
    Released: 1982

    (Oh) Pretty Woman Lyrics


    Who!

    Pretty woman, walking down the street!
    Pretty woman, the kind I'd like to meet!
    Pretty woman, I don't believe you, you must be true
    No one can look as good as youuu

    Mercy!!

    Pretty woman, won't you pardon me??
    Pretty woman, I couldn't help but see
    Pretty woman. Oh you look lovely as you can be
    Are you lonely just like me!!???

    Ahhrrrr!

    Pretty woman, stop awhile
    Pretty woman, talk awhile
    Pretty woman, give your smile to me

    Pretty woman, yeah yeah yeah!!
    Pretty woman, look my way!!
    Pretty woman, say you'll stay with me!

    Cause I need you,
    I'll treat you right!
    Come with me baby
    Be mine tonight!

    Pretty woman, don't walk on by!!
    Pretty woman, don't make me cry!!
    Pretty woman. Don't walk away-yay. Okay.

    If that's the way it must be, okay
    I guess I'll go on home, it's late
    There'll be tomorrow night, but wait, what do I see?
    Is she walking back to me?
    Yeah she is walking back to me

    Whoa, whoa, pretty woman

    Writer/s: DEES, BILL / ORBISON, ROY
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Barbara Orbison Music Company, Orbi-Lee Music, R-Key Darkus, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    (Oh) Pretty Woman Song Chart
  • Roy Orbison first recorded this in 1964. Along with "Where Have All The Good Times Gone," "Dancing in the Street," "Big Bad Bill," and "Happy Trails," this was one of 5 covers on the album. Van Halen made an album a year from 1978-1983, and their constant touring made it difficult to write new songs.
  • The promo clip from this song was the first concept video Van Halen made. With MTV launching on August 1, 1981 and desperate for new rock videos, the network convinced the band's label to make a clip for "Unchained." The band had no interest in videos, but when the producer Robert Lombard put together concert footage to make the "Unchained" clip, the band loved the results and had Lombard to the video for "(Oh) Pretty Woman," which was a tawdry affair. It was very costume intensive, with David Lee Roth dressed as Napoleon, Eddie Van Halen as a cowboy, Alex Van Halen as Tarzan, and Michael Anthony a Samurai Warrior. The band wanted to be as outrageous as possible, and Lombard obliged, enlisting two midgets and a drag queen to appear in the video, and making sure the band had access to their drugs and alcohol of choice. At the end of the video, the midgets are seen fondling the "woman," who flips her wig to reveal that she is a he. MTV aired the video sparingly, as they didn't want to scare cable companies away with anything too lascivious.
  • Van Halen recorded this after completing their 1981 "Invasion" tour. They put it out as a single a few months before the album was released.
  • This was released at a time when the band was not touring or recording. It was the first break they took since hitting the road in 1978 to support their first album, and they put this out so people wouldn't forget them.
  • After this came out, Sasson jeans (it was the '80s, designer jeans were cool) used the original Roy Orbison version in a TV commercial.
  • An a cappella version of the Dale Evans classic "Happy Trails" was released as the B-side. Van Halen wanted something easy to record so they could start their vacations.

  • The Rolling Stones Songs - Waiting On A Friend
    The Rolling Stones - Waiting On A Friend


    The Rolling Stones - Waiting On A Friend Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Tattoo You
    Released: 1981

    Waiting On A Friend Lyrics


    Watching girls go passing by it ain't the latest thing
    I'm just standing in a doorway
    I'm just trying to make some sense
    Out of these girls passing by, the tales they tell of men
    I'm not waiting on a lady, I'm just Waiting On A Friend

    A smile relieves a heart that grieves, remember what I said
    I'm not waiting on a lady, I'm just waiting on a friend
    I'm just waiting on a friend, just waiting on a friend
    I'm just waiting on a friend, I'm just waiting on a friend
    I'm just waiting on a friend

    Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, yeah
    Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, yeah
    Don't need a whore, don't need no booze, don't need a virgin priest
    But I need some one I can cry to
    I need someone to protect

    Ooh, making love and breaking hearts, it is a game for youth
    But I'm not waiting on a lady
    I'm just waiting on a friend
    I'm just waiting on a friend, just waiting on a friend
    Waiting on a friend, I'm just waiting on a friend
    I'm just waiting on a friend, waiting on a friend

    Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, yeah
    Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, yeah

    Writer/s: Jagger, Mick / Richards, Keith
    Publisher: EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, SONY ATV MUSIC PUB LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Waiting On A Friend Song Chart
  • This is a rare mature reflection from The Stones, as Mick Jagger sings about the values of friendship as opposed to women. Then again, it might be about drugs. Keith Richards was a heroin user at the time, and the song could be a euphemism for waiting on the "connection" - the man with the drugs. Should Keith (or in this case, Mick, as he is singing in the video) get questioned by the police, his response would be, "I'm just waiting on a friend." (thanks, Russell - High Desert, CA)
  • Originally Recorded in 1972 at the sessions for their album Goats Head Soup, this didn't make the cut but was repackaged and released on Tattoo You nine years later. Released as a single, it did very well in America thanks to the advent of MTV; the network launched in 1981 and was thrilled to have a new video by a rock band of The Stones' stature.
  • There are no musician credits on Tattoo You, but it is clear that Mick Taylor contributed on guitar, which he was not compensated for. Taylor fell into obscurity after leaving The Stones in 1974.
  • Think this is about waiting for a woman? Think again. Mick Jagger said in 1983: "Just let me be cynical for a moment. First of all, it's really NOT about waiting on a woman friend. It's just about a FRIEND; it doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman. I can see people saying, Oh, we're all much older now, Mick's writing this much more compassionate stuff, must be about a real person. But that's only in their perception of it." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
  • The Stones hired Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins to play on the Tattoo You album. He played on this as well as the tracks "Slave" and "Neighbors." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
  • The video ran constantly on MTV. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who did their Rock and Roll Circus special in 1968, it featured Jagger and Richards meeting on a New York City street, then going to a local bar to join the rest of The Stones. Reggae legend Peter Tosh is the Rasta sitting on the stoop with Mick Jagger. (thanks, Eli - Albuquerque, NM)
  • This also features Nicky Hopkins on piano, Jimmy Miller on percussion and Kasper Winding on tambourine. Winding was a Danish session drummer who played on the Tattoo You sessions. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

  • U2 - Stranger In A Strange Lan
    U2 - Stranger In A Strange Land


    U2 - Stranger In A Strange Land Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: October
    Released: 1981

    Stranger In A Strange Land Lyrics


    Stranger
    Stranger in a strange land
    He looked at me like I
    Was the one who should run
    We asked him to smile for a photograph
    Waited a while to see if we could make him laugh

    A soldier asked for a cigarette
    His smiling face I can't forget
    He looked like you across the street
    But that's a long way here

    And I wish you were here
    And I wish you were here

    Stranger
    A stranger in a strange land
    He look at me like I
    Was the one who should run
    I watched as he watched us
    Get back on the bus
    I watched the way it was
    The way it was when he was with us

    And I really don't mind
    Sleeping on the floor
    But I couldn't sleep after what I saw
    I wrote this letter to tell you
    The way I feel

    I wish you were here
    I wish you were here
    To see what I could see
    To hear
    And I wish you were here

    Writer/s: ADAM CLAYTON, DAVE EVANS, PAUL HEWSON, LARRY MULLEN
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Stranger In A Strange Land Song Chart
  • The title was taken from a 1961 Robert Heinlein book of the same name about a boy who comes to Earth after being raised on Mars.
  • This song was inspired by an encounter the band had while entering Berlin from East Germany while on their Boy tour in February 1981. At the time, East Germany and West Germany were separate countries, and Berlin was divided by the Berlin wall. U2 was sleeping in the back of their tour van when it pulled up to the crossing. The guards, understandably suspicious, made the driver open the back to see what they were smuggling, only to discover a sleepy rock band.

    Bono was struck by how young the guards were, and imagined what their lives were like. He wrote the lyric bases on this interaction.
  • U2 never performed this live.

  • Willie Nelson - Angel Flying Too Close to the Groun
    Willie Nelson - Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground


    Willie Nelson - Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Honeysuckle Rose
    Released: 1981

    Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground Lyrics


    If you had not have fallen
    Then I would not have found you
    Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
    And I patched up your broken wing and hung around a while
    Trying to keep your spirits up and your fever down

    I knew someday that you would fly away
    For love's the greatest healer to be found
    So leave me if you need to, I will still remember
    Angel flying too close to the ground

    Fly on, fly on past, the speed of sound
    I'd rather see you up than see you down
    So leave me if you need to, I will still remember
    Angel flying too close to the ground.

    So leave me if you need to, I will still remember
    Angel flying too close to the ground.

    Writer/s: Nelson, Willie
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground
  • Nelson wrote and performed this song for his starring role as a Country singer in the movie Honeysuckle Rose (1981).
  • The origins of this song are a little murky. Some fans assume the title angel refers to the Hells Angels biker Charlie Magoo, a friend of Nelson's who was killed, though the singer won't confirm or deny it. He has hinted that it's about his former wife Connie Koepke. (thanks, Kyle - Sparta, NJ)
  • During live performances, Nelson sometimes dedicates this song to his son Billy, the third child from his first marriage to Martha Matthews, who committed suicide in 1991.
  • This was Nelson's seventh chart-topping solo hit on the US Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
  • Bob Dylan covered this song while recording his 1983 album Infidels.
  • Nelson recorded a live version of this song with Patty Griffin for his 2005 album Songs for Tsunami Relief: Austin to South Asia to aid the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

  • The Clash - Sean Flynn
    The Clash - Sean Flynn


    The Clash - Sean Flynn Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Combat Rock
    Released: 1982

    Sean Flynn Lyrics


    You know he heard the drums of war
    When the past was a closing door

    The drums beat into the jungle floor

    Past was always a closing door
    Closing door

    Rain on the leaves and the soldiers sing
    You never-never hear anything

    They filled the sky with a tropical storm

    You know he heard the drums of war
    But each man knows what he's looking for

    Writer/s: STRUMMER, JOE / JONES, MICK / SIMONON, PAUL / HEADON, TOPPER
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Sean Flynn
  • The song is named after real-life photojournalist Sean Flynn, the son of Hollywood star Errol Flynn. It is based on the story of Flynn and Dana Stone, who were both widely respected war correspondents and photographers working extensively with Time magazine. In April 1970 Flynn and Stone traveled from Phnom Penh in Vietnam and were stopped at a checkpoint before being led away by either Vietcong or Khmer Rouge members. Neither were ever seen again, and CIA intel suggests that they were executed by their captors in 1971.

    The mournful, eerie feel of the song is inspired by these events, and coincides with singer Joe Strummer's interest in the Vietnam War. He was intrigued by how many Americans seemed to feel a guilt about even getting involved in the war in the first place, let alone losing it.
  • "Sean Flynn" was written in 1981 at Vanilla studios in London, and recorded at Marcus Music studios in April of that year. The full version of the song is over seven minutes long; much of the backing track is drummer Topper Headon's work - the oriental-sounding drum patterns were his idea. Joe Strummer worked out his lyrics to this pattern, while session musician Gary Barnacle added multi-layered saxophone solos throughout the song. Mick Jones used an echo box and multiple overdubs for his guitar parts. "Playing chromatically, like an Irish reel," according to engineer Jeremy Green.
  • This is a spectacular mood piece, one that many hardcore Clash fans consider one of the most under-appreciated in the band's canon. However, not everybody liked it. Manager Bernie Rhodes sat through an early mix and at the end apparently threw his hands up and shouted "Does EVERYTHING have to be a raga?!" It's possible this accusation was aimed not just at this track, but other lengthy songs such as "Straight To Hell" that were recorded for the album. On the plus side, Rhodes' exclamation gave Strummer the opening line for "Rock the Casbah."
  • This was one of many longer tracks on the record which ended up causing much tension during the mixing process. Joe Strummer discovered that their previous album, the triple-LP Sandinista!, was very hard to obtain - many record shops even in New York didn't stock the record. So Strummer decided that their next album would be a single one so it would be easier to sell, as well as being more straightforward musically. Except that Jones disagreed, and wanted another sprawling double or triple LP like Sandinista! or London Calling.

    Jones produced an early mix of the finished album, named Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg, in late 1981, which Strummer criticized for being overlong and self-indulgent. It included all the tracks at full length, as well as several tracks which remain unreleased (including a 12-minute improvised Jazz piano instrumental called "Walk Evil Talk"). The veteran producer Glyn Johns took over production of the album and was tasked with cutting the running time down, and against Jones' wishes he cut several tracks (some of which became B-sides and others which are still unreleased) from the LP altogether, and slashed the runtime down of other tracks. "Sean Flynn" was one of the worst hit, being cut from eight minutes plus down to just over four minutes.
  • Because of the extreme complexity of the backing track, as well as the surreal nature of the song, it was never performed live by the band.

  • The Divinyls - Only Lonel
    The Divinyls - Only Lonely


    The Divinyls - Only Lonely Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

    Album: Monkey Grip Soundtrack
    Released: 1981

    Only Lonely Lyrics


    Well, I feel all right when it comes daylight
    But when it comes the night
    I am Only Lonely, I am only lonely

    And if it doesn't feel right when I hold you tight
    Oh baby, it's all right - I am only lonely
    Oh baby, wonder if we could get involved
    Oh baby, wonder if we could get involved

    And if it doesn't feel right when it comes daylight
    But when it comes the night, I am only lonely

    He said, "Come on, baby, not on the first date."
    So I said, "Okay, baby, how long must I wait?"

    And if it doesn't feel right when it comes daylight
    But when it comes the night, I am only lonely

    And if it doesn't feel right when I hold you tight
    I am only lonely

    Wonder could we get involved

    Writer/s: AMPHLETT, CHRISTINA/MCENTEE, MARK
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Only Lonely Song Chart
  • Written for the 1981 Australian film Monkey Grip, this song is about a heroin-addicted prostitute junkie living on the streets of King's Cross in Sydney. Lead singer Christina Amphlett was in the movie. (thanks, Alex Portnoy - Sydney, Australia)

  • The Allman Brothers Band - Never Knew How Much (I Needed You
    The Allman Brothers Band - Never Knew How Much (I Needed You)


    The Allman Brothers Band - Never Knew How Much (I Needed You) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Brothers Of The Road
    Released: 1981

    Never Knew How Much (I Needed You) Lyrics


    Never Knew How Much (I Needed You) Song Chart
  • Written by Gregg Allman about his wife, Julie. They married in 1979 and divorced soon after this was released in 1981.
  • Gregg and Julie Allman had a daughter, Delilah Island, in 1980.

  • Tom Waits - Jersey Gir
    Tom Waits - Jersey Girl


    Tom Waits - Jersey Girl Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

    Album: Heart Attack And Vine
    Released: 1980

    Jersey Girl Lyrics


    Got no time for the corner boys,
    Down in the street makin' all that noise,
    Don't want no whores on eighth avenue,
    Cause tonight I'm gonna be with you.

    'Cause tonight I'm gonna take that ride,
    Across the river to the jersey side,
    Take my baby to the carnival,
    And I'll take you on all the rides,
    Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.

    Down the shore everything's alright,
    You're with your baby on a Saturday night,
    Don't you know that all my dreams come true,
    When I'm walkin' down the street with you,
    Sing sha la la la la la sha la la la.

    You know she thrills me with all her charms,
    When I'm wrapped up in my baby's arms,
    My little angel gives me everything,
    I know someday that she'll wear my ring.

    So don't bother me cause I got no time,
    I'm on my way to see that girl of mine,
    Nothin' else matters in this whole wide world,
    When you're in love with a Jersey Girl,
    Sing sha la la la la la la.

    And I call your name, I can't sleep at night,
    Sha la la la la la la.

    Writer/s: TOM WAITS
    Publisher: BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

    Jersey Girl Song Chart
  • Waits wrote this song about his new wife, Kathleen. He was getting over a 2-year relationship with Rickie Lee Jones when she came into his life and "saved him." (thanks, John - Los Angeles, CA)
  • Bruce Springsteen covered this song in concert on many occasions. He started performing it at a series of shows in 1981 at the new Meadowlands arena in New Jersey. Even though he did not write this, Springsteen feels the character is the same guy from his earlier songs "Sandy" and "Rosalita," who has now grown up and got the Jersey Girl.
  • Springsteen released this as the B-side of "Cover Me" in 1984. Two years later, he used the same version, taken from a show at The Meadowlands, on his boxed set Live 1975-1985. This is one of the few cover songs Springsteen released. Usually it was other artists performing his songs.
  • In 1981, Waits joined Springsteen on stage for this at a show in Los Angeles.

  • Lyrics

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