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The Clash - The Card Cheat

The Clash - The Card Cheat Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: London Calling
Released: 1979

The Card Cheat Lyrics

There's a solitary man crying, hold me
It's only because he's a-lonely
If the keeper of time runs slowly
He won't be alive for long!

If he only had time to tell of all of the things he planned
With a card up his sleeve, what would he achieve?
It means nothing!

To the opium den and the barroom gin
In the Belmont chair playing violins
The gambler's face cracks into a grin
As he lays down the king of spades

But the dealer just stares
There's something wrong here, he thinks
The gambler is seized and forced to his knees
And shot dead

He only wanted more time
Away from the darkest door
But his luck it gave in
As the dawn light crept in
And he lay on the floor

From the Hundred Year War to the Crimea
With a lance and a musket and a Roman spear
To all of the men who have stood with no fear
In the service of the King

Before you met your fate be sure you
Did not forsake your lover
May not be around anymore

There's a solitary man crying, hold me
It's only because he's a-lonely
If the keeper of time runs slowly
He won't be alive for long!

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

The Card Cheat

Lead singer Joe Strummer, who wrote the lyrics to the song, noted in promotional interviews for the album that he had been reading the poetry of Sylvia Plath, and the darkness of her writing could well have been an influence on the dark lyrics of "The Card Cheat."

The song was recorded late in the London Calling sessions, and by this time according to reports, producer Guy Stevens was so inebriated he was unable to work most of the time, so guitarist Mick Jones was producing the recordings along with engineer Bill Price. It was Mick's idea to have everything in this song double-tracked, to create a Phil Spector-style "wall-of-sound" feel to the instrumentation ("That's the secret, two of everything" he said in a 1991 interview).

The lyrics continue the same themes of an outsider in society as other songs that proceeded it on the album, notably "Jimmy Jazz," "Rudie Can't Fail" and "Wrong 'Em Boyo." Contrasting to those other songs, however, "The Card Cheat" is incredibly downbeat, with the jaunty piano tunes contrasting with the lyrics about a lonely gambler finally running out of luck and being murdered in a card game ("The gambler is seized and forced to his knees and shot dead. He only wanted more time away from his darkest door, but his luck, it gave in").

The song features a horn section written and performed by The Irish Horns, who recorded all of the horn instrument sections on the London Calling album.

Due to the complexity of the backing track compared to the band's very spartan stage show, the song was never performed live by the Clash.

Madness - My Girl

Madness - My Girl Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: One Step Beyond
Released: 1979

My Girl Lyrics

My Girl's mad at me
I didn't wanna see the film tonight
I found it hard to say
She thought I'd had enough of her
Why can't she see?
She's lovely to me
But I like to stay in
And watch TV on my own
Every now and then

My girl's mad at me
Been on the telephone for an hour
We hardly said a word
I tried and tried but I could not be heard
Why can't I explain?
Why do I feel this pain?
'Cause everything I say
She doesn't understand
She doesn't realise
She takes it all the wrong way

My girl's mad at me
We argued just the other night
I thought we'd got it straight
We talked and talked until it was light
I thought we'd agreed
I thought we'd talked it out
Now when I try to speak
She says that I don't care
She says I'm unaware
And now she says I'm weak

Writer/s: RONALD WHITE, WILLIAM ROBINSON JR.
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

My Girl

Madness keyboard player Mike Barson wrote this on the back of a cigarette packet while employed delivering Fyffes bananas. He explained to the Kent Messenger Newspaper: "The bloke I worked with on the lorry was always talking about 'My girl and me, we're going to live in Essex. My girl and me, we're going to the coast this weekend."

Madness emerged from the ska band the Invaders, who formed in London in 1976. They changed their name to Madness in 1978 in honor of an old Prince Buster Ska song. In the UK, they had 16 Top 10 singles between 1979 and 1999, including a #1 in 1982 with "House Of Fun." Their most successful single in the US was the #7 hit "Our House," which peaked at #7.

Barson was inspired by the chord progression in Elvis Costello's "Watching The Detectives." He told interviewer Daniel Rachel (The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters): "Sometimes you hear a sound or a song that inspires you. I liked that chord progression. On 'My Girl' it's D flat minor going down to A. They had C to A minor and we changed it a semitone. I like those moody/minor key changes. I don't know if I was trying to get it exactly the same; maybe I was."

Joe Dolce - Shaddup You Face

Joe Dolce - Shaddup You Face Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Shaddup You Face
Released: 1979

Shaddup You Face Lyrics

Shaddup You Face

This novelty song pokes fun at Italian Americans with thick accents and exaggerated speaking gestures. Joe Dolce was born in Ohio, and his parents were Italian American. In the late '70s, he took a train from Ohio to California and wrote some poetry, including this song. He moved to Australia in 1979, where he created the Joe Dolce Music Theater and created the character Giuseppe, which he used to perform this song.

This song topped the chart in over 15 countries including Australia, Canada, France and Germany and 18 months later, England, where it kept Ultravox's "Vienna" from the #1 spot. It went on to sell 6 million copies worldwide and has been recorded in over 35 different foreign language cover versions. It is the most successful Australian produced single in Australian music history, with sales of over 350,000 copies.

Pink Floyd - In The Flesh?

Pink Floyd - In The Flesh? Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Wall
Released: 1979

In The Flesh? Lyrics

So ya
Thought ya
Might like to go to the show
To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow
Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
If you want to find out what's behind these cold eyes
You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise

Lights, turn on the sound effects, action
Drop it, drop it on 'em, drop it on them

Writer/s: ROGER WATERS
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

In The Flesh?

This is the first song of the album, and the first part of this song is music from the last song of the album, "Outside the Wall." At the end of that song, a man says "Isn't this where..." and and in the beginning of "In the Flesh" he says "...we came in?" This was one manifestation of Roger Waters' fascination with cycles.

There is another song named "In the Flesh" on the album, which has the same tune but relatively different lyrics. The first song concerns the protagonist Pink's birth, while the latter concerns Pink becoming a Nazi dictator after he suffers a schizophrenic break.

Anita Ward - Ring My Bell

Anita Ward - Ring My Bell Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Songs Of Love
Released: 1979

Ring My Bell Lyrics

I'm glad you're home
Now did you really miss me?
I guess you did by the look in your eye
(Look in your eye, look in your eye)
Well lay back and relax
While I put away the dishes (put away the dishes)
Then you and me can rock a bell

You can Ring My Bell, ring my bell
You can ring my bell, ring my bell
You can ring my bell, ring my bell
You can ring my bell, ring my bell

The night is young
And full of possibilities
Well, come on and let yourself be free, yeah
My love for you (love for you, love for you)
So long I've been savin'
Tonight was made for me and you

You can ring my bell, ring my bell
(Ring my bell, ding-dong-ding)
You can ring my bell, ring my bell
(Ring my bell, ring-a-ring-a-ring)
You can ring my bell, ring my bell
(Ring my bell, ding-dong-ding)
You can ring my bell, ring my bell
(Ring my bell, ring-a-ring-a-ring)

You can ring my bell
You can ring my bell
(Ding, dong, ding, ah-ah, ring it)
You can ring my bell, anytime, anywhere
(Ring it, ring it, ring it, ring it, ow)

You can ring my bell, you can ring my bell
(Ding, dong, ding, ah-ah, ring it)
You can ring my bell, anytime, anywhere
(Ring it, ring it, ring it, ring it, ow)

Bell, ring my bell
(Ring my bell, ding-dong-ding)
You can ring my bell, ring my bell
(Ring my bell, ring-a-ring-a-ring)
You can ring my bell, ring my bell
(Ring my bell, ding-dong-ding)
You can ring my bell, ring my bell

Writer/s: FREDERICK DOUGLAS KNIGHT
Publisher: Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Ring My Bell

This was one of first hit songs to feature a synthesized drum. The hook was the synthesized drum of Carl Marsh, which produced a sound that became copied by many other disco records.

This was written by Ward's producer Frederick Knight, who is known for his 1972 hit "I've Been Lonely For So Long." He originally intended it for 11-year-old Stacy Lattishaw, but when she signed with a different label, Ward was asked to sing it instead. She disliked the song and only recorded it as Frederick Knight insisted they needed another dance number on the album.

Ward started out as a Memphis gospel singer. This was her only hit.

This song required three studios, four engineers, two remixers and a 'midnight mix by Richie Rivera' as well as the production of Frederick Knight to produce its innovative sound. Knight also provided backing vocals.

DJ Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) recorded a rap version in 1991 that made #20 US.

Rapper Snoop Dogg disclosed to Clash magazine that this was the first record that he ever bought.

The Clash - Four Horsemen

The Clash - Four Horsemen Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: London Calling
Released: 1979

Four Horsemen Lyrics

Well they were given the grapes that go ripe in the sun
That loosen the screws at the back of the tongue
But they told no one where they had begun
Four Horsemen

They were given all the foods of vanity
And all the instant promises of immortality
But they bit the dust screamin' insanity!
Four horsemen

One was over the edge, one was over the cliff
One was lickin' 'em dry with a bloody great spliff
When they picked up the hiker he didn't want the lift
From the horsemen

But you!
You're not searching, are you now?
You're not looking anyhow
You're never gonna ride that lonely mile
Or put yourself up on trial
Oh, you told me how your life was so bad
An' I agree that it does seem sad
But that's the price that you gotta pay
If you're lazing all around all day
Four horsemen coming right through
Four horsemen and they're pissing by you
They make you look like you're wearing a truss
Four horsemen and it's gonna be us

Well they gave us everything for bending the mind
And we cleaned out their pockets and we drank 'em blind
It's a long way to the finish so don't get left behind
By those horsemen

And they gave us the grapes that went ripe in the sun
That loosen the screws at the back of the tongue
But we still told nothing 'bout what was to come
Four horsemen

We know, only rock and roll
We know, got rock and roll
We're in the park
Or in the campus
Cannot breathe
We beat the thief, ae ohh ah
Cannot breathe
We beat the theft, ohh ah
Cannot breathe

We know, only rock and roll
We know, got rock and roll
We know, got rock and roll
We know, got rock and roll

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

Four Horsemen

"Four Horsemen" was The Clash's attempt to lighten the tone of London Calling in the midst of very apocalyptic and dark-sounding songs such as the title track, "Clampdown," and "Death Or Glory." It features deliberately humorous lyrics, presenting The Clash as the Four Horsemen of the apocalypse in the style of Monty Python-esque parodies who are in the middle of a bit of a rubbish day ("One was over the edge, one was over the cliff, One was lickin' em dry with a bloody great spliff. When they picked up the hiker he didn't want the lift, from the horsemen"). It acts as an attempt to poke fun at themselves, showing that they acknowledge that their lyrics veer close to pretentious at times.

This song was only ever played live once: at the Russrock Festival in Finland, in August 1979. One can only assume that the band didn't play it all too often in case audiences just didn't get the joke of the lyrics.

The Clash - Gates of the West

The Clash - Gates of the West Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Cost of Living
Released: 1979

Gates of the West Lyrics

I would love to be the lucky one on chill
Avenue
Who could keep your heart warm when ice has turned it blue
But with the beggin' sleeping losers as they turn in for the night
I'm looking back for home and I can see the lights

I should be jumpin' shoutin' that I made it all this way
From Camden Town station to Fortieth and Eighth
Not many make it this far and many say we're great
But just like them we walk on an' we can't escape our fate
Can't you hear the sighing
Eastside Jimmy and Southside Sue
Both say they needed something new

So I'm standing at the Gates of the West
I burn money at the lights of the sign
The city casts a shadow of the perfect crime
I'm standing at the gates of the east
I take my pulse and the pulse of my friend
The city casts a shadow, will I see you again?

The immigrants an' remnants of all the glory years
Are clustered around the bar again for another round of beers
Little Richard's in the kitchen playing spoons and plates
He's telling the waitress he's great

Ah say I know somewhere back'n'forth in time
Out on the dustbowls, deep in the roulette mine
Or in a ghetto cellar only yesterday
There's a move into the future for the USA.

I hear them crying
Eastside Jimmy and Southside Sue
Both said they needed something new

Standing at the gates of the west
In the shadow again
I'm standing at the gates of the west
In the shadow again

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

Gates of the West

The music and basic tune to this song was based upon "Ooh Baby, Ooh (It's Not Over)," an early Mick Jones composition that he wrote before The Clash formed in 1976. Their first attempt at recording it was during the Give 'Em Enough Rope sessions at Basing Street Studios in May 1978, under the working title of "Rusted Chrome." The song came together in sessions in New York in September 1978 and finally completed at Wessex with engineer Bill Price (who went on to help produce the Clash albums London Calling and Sandinista!).

Clear influences on "Gates of the West" include "Time Is Tight" by Booker T and the MGs, of which the opening bass riff is very reminiscent (The Clash covered the song for the Black Market Clash rarities LP), and Bruce Springsteen's 1970s output.

The lyric, "I should be jumpin' and shoutin' that I made it all this way, from Camden Town station to Fortieth and Eighth" is a deliberate nod to Mott the Hoople's "All The Way From Memphis," which includes the line "From the Liverpool Docks to the Hollywood Bowl."

This was included on The Cost of Living EP, and was a fan favorite. The Clash never played it live, however, which prompted one fan at a September 1979 concert at the New York Palladium to shout out a request for it. Singer Joe Strummer answered by admitting they couldn't play the song live because "it's a bit complicated!"

The Clash - Groovy Times

The Clash - Groovy Times Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Cost of Living
Released: 1979

Groovy Times Lyrics

The High Street shops are boarded up
An' the terrace it is fenced in
See-through shields are walled across
The way that you came in
But there's no need to get excited

As the lorries bring the bacon in
'cause the housewives are all singing
Groovy Times are here again

They discovered one black Saturday
That mobs don't march they run
So you can excuse the nervous triggerman
Just this once for jumping the gun
As they were picking up the dead
Out of the broken glass
Yes it's number one, the radio said
Groovy times have come to pass!

Groovy times groovy times groovy times

The intake is on the uptake
The acceleration's pretty grim
I can remember his first appearance
Now look what's happened to him
So they put him in a dog suit
Like from 1964
The king of early evening TV
Groovy times forever more

Groovy times

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

Groovy Times

Singer Joe Strummer explained: "what sparked the song was that they started to put fencing around English football grounds. It looked horrible, like cages with the fans inside. It distressed me."

His instincts were proven right a decade after the song was released when 96 fans were killed at a match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest on April 15, 1989. The incident, which took place at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, became known as the Hillsborough disaster.

Like "Gates of the West," which was recorded around the same time, "Groovy Times" was first demoed in Utopia Studios for the Give 'Em Enough Rope sessions before being completed in Wessex in 1979 with Bill Price producing. Musically it is another subtle departure from The Clash's Punk roots, heavily dominated by acoustic guitars and harmonica (played apparently by Bob Jones - guitarist Mick Jones later said "That's me, it's a Bob Dylan joke").

The lyrics: "I can remember his first appearance, now look what's happened to him. So they put him in a dog suit, like from 1964, the king of early evening TV" appear to be an amusing reference to TV presenter Bill Grundy, who's career spiraled downhill after he drunkenly goaded the Sex Pistols into swearing on prime time TV in 1976 in what became known as the Filth and the Fury scandal. By the time of "Groovy Times"' writing, he was presenting Sunday evening religious programmes.

Pink Floyd - In The Flesh

Pink Floyd - In The Flesh Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Wall
Released: 1979

In The Flesh Lyrics

So ya
Thought ya
Might like to go to the show
To feel the warm thrill of confusion
That space cadet glow
Tell me is something eluding you, sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
If you want to find out what's behind these cold eyes
You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise

Lights, turn on the sound effects, action
Drop it, drop it on 'em, drop it on them

Writer/s: ROGER WATERS
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

In The Flesh

This is the song on the album The Wall when the protagonist Pink finally yields to his inner demons and becomes a psychopathic, race-baiting fascist.

Pink's calling out of various minorities in the audience (that one looks Jewish, that one's a coon, etc.) is a reference to the meetings of the British Union of Fascists before World War II. in these meetings, the speakers would rant about how foreigners, minorities and socialists were destroying Britain. Near the end of his speech, he would identify members of various minorities in the crowd, who would immediately be roughed up by the blackshirts (similar to Hitler's brownshirts) and thrown out onto the sidewalk.

Roger Waters wanted this song to parody mindless stadium rock. He told Rolling Stone in 2010: "We needed a beginning, so I went into a room with a bass guitar and went, 'I need something that's really stupid-sounding. Really loud, monolithic, dumb.' And I've grown rather fond of that riff in the intervening years."

The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton

The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: London Calling
Released: 1979

The Guns Of Brixton Lyrics

When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

When the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement
Or waiting on death row

You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, The Guns Of Brixton

The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell

You see, he feels like Ivan
Born under the Brixton sun
His game is called survivin'
At the end of the harder they come

You know it means no mercy
They caught him with a gun
No need for the Black Maria
Goodbye to the Brixton sun

You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton

When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton

Shot down on the pavement
Waiting in death row
His game is called survivin'
As in heaven as in hell

You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton

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

The Guns Of Brixton

This song was written by bass player Paul Simonon, but only because he was envious of the royalties main songwriters Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were getting. He decided to get in on the songwriting himself, and this became one of the Clash's best known songs and a staple of their live set until their demise in the mid-'80s. Simonon takes lead vocal duties on the song, which is about gangsters in his home town Brixton, which is in South London.

Interestingly, he was reticent about singing lead vocals initially, but Strummer noted that "they're your lyrics, you sing them" and the rest of the band agreed. Simonon notes: "The vocal mike was right up against the glass panel of the control room and sitting two feet behind the glass was some American CBS bloke. That's probably why the vocals came out the way they did."

Brixton was the site of race riots in 1981 and again in 1985. This song captures the alienation many citizens of Brixton felt leading up to the riots.

The central plot has Ivan, the anti-hero character from the popular film The Harder They Come (the soundtrack of which contained many of The Clash's favorite Reggae songs, including the title track) in urban South London ("You see, he feels like Ivan, born under the Brixton sun, his game is called survivin', at the end of the harder they come") and on the wrong side of the law ("When the law break in, how you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement, or waiting on death row").

In 1990 the bassline to "The Guns of Brixton" was sampled in the Beats International (AKA Norman Cook, AKA Fatboy Slim) hit single "Dub Be Good To Me," and became a UK hit single, meaning Simonon received a credit of the royalties for his bassline. Interviewed by Scott Rowley on October 1999 for Bassist magazine, Simonon said that he "was surprised that it became number one, that was quite shocking. And the fact that it was my performance that they had lifted. The smart thing would've been to copy it and change it slightly, but they just lifted it straight off. So, really, I have done Top of the Pops! I met up with Norman [Cook] and we came to an arrangement which was much needed at the time. But I thought it was a really good idea and it was quite reassuring for that to happen to my first song."

This song was not released as a single when the London Calling album first came out, however in 1990 with the re-release of London Calling on CD, a remixed version entitled "Return to Brixton," which included the original "Guns of Brixton" mix on the B-side, was released and reached #57 on the UK charts in July 1990. Interestingly, a typo on the sleeve notes of the CD release meant Paul Simonon's name was misspelled as Paul Simon; although a very successful recording artist in his own right, the actual Paul Simon (half of Simon and Garfunkel) had nothing to do with the writing of "The Guns of Brixton"!

The song was always a popular live fixture, and Simonon's moment of glory onstage as he took lead vocals. He would swap instruments with Joe Strummer, who would play bass whilst Simonon played some rhythm guitar and sang (or usually bellowed) his vocals with great gusto. An example of this is the live version of the song which appears on the From Here To Eternity live compilation CD, taken from one of their many New York shows in June 1981. The song was first played live by the band at a September 1979 show in Chicago and at almost every show after that.

The Clash - Revolution Rock

The Clash - Revolution Rock Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: London Calling
Released: 1979

Revolution Rock Lyrics

Revolution Rock, it is a brand new rock
A bad, bad rock, this here revolution rock

Careful how you move, Mac, you dig me in me back
An' I'm so pilled up that I rattle
I have got the sharpest knife, so I cut the biggest slice
But I have no time to do battle

Everybody smash up your seats and rock to this
Brand new beat
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your ma, tell your pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Gonna be alright

Revolution rock, I am in a state of shock
So bad, bad rock, this here revolution rock

Careful how you slide, Clyde, all you did was glide
And you poured your beer in me hat
With my good eye on the beat, living on fixation street
And I ain't got no time for that

Everybody smash up your seats and rock to this
Brand new beat
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your ma, tell your pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Gonna be alright

Revolution rock,
Everybody smash up your seats and rock to this
Brand new beat
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your ma, tell your pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Gonna be alright

Revolution rock,

To the cruellist mobsters in Kingstown,
With the hardest eyes and the coldest tongue
Is your heart so made of rock
That the blood must flow 'round the block?
Are you listening mobsters? Hey!
All people grow old, gotta die,
While those kinda fools go rolling by
It's food for thought, mobsters
Young people shoot their days away
I've seen talent thrown away
All you loan sharks!

The organ plays
And they're dancing to the brand new beat
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your ma-ma-ma-ma, tell your pa-pa-pa-pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Everything's gonna be alright
I say, revolution rocks

There's that old cheese grater
Rubbing me down
This must be the way out

Here's the cheap bit
OO la oo la oo la

Any song you want
Playing requests now on the bandstand
El Clash Combo
Paid fifteen dollars a day
Weddings, parties, anything
And Bongo Jazz a speciality

Writer/s: J. EDWARDS, D. RAY
Publisher: CONEXION MEDIA GROUP, INC., NEWMAN & COMPANY CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Revolution Rock

This song was originally recorded by the Jamaican group Danny Ray and the Revolutioneers in 1976. Danny Ray sampled the Jackie Edwards song "Get Up" on the track, so Edwards and Ray are the credited songwriters of "Revolution Rock."

When The Clash recorded the song, lead singer Joe Strummer changed some of the original lyrics, inserting a reference to Bobby Darin's "Mack The Knife" ("Careful how you move, Mac, you dig me in me back") and to the Punk craze of smashing/ripping up seats in venues with seating instead of standing room ("Everybody smash up your seats, and rock to this brand new beat").

First recorded at Wessex in July 1979, an instrumental version of this song features over the end credits of the Rude Boy movie taken from these early sessions. The song was then re-recorded with Guy Stevens for London Calling, with new instrumental parts by the Irish Horns.

Always a fun song to play live, often becoming quite a rave-up, "Revolution Rock" was a live fixture from it's introduction at The Clash's 1979 Christmas shows in London until it was dropped in mid-1981.

Pink Floyd - Outside The Wall

Pink Floyd - Outside The Wall Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Wall
Released: 1979

Outside The Wall Lyrics

All alone, or in two's,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down Outside The Wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and the artists
Make their stand.

And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall.

"Isn't this where..."

Writer/s: WATERS, ROGER
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Outside The Wall

This is the aftermath after the song "The Trial." It is most likely either Pink or his loved ones summarizing everything that happened.

Roger Waters played clarinet on this song during The Wall 1980-81 live shows.

Bette Midler - The Rose

Bette Midler - The Rose Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Rose
Released: 1979

The Rose Lyrics

Some say love, it is a river, that drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor, that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed

Its the heart afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance
Its the dream afraid of waking, that never takes a chance
Its the one that won't be taking, that cannot seem to give
It's the one afraid of dying, that never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely and the road has been too long
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love in the spring becomes The Rose.

Writer/s: MCBROOM, AMANDA
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

The Rose

This was written by Los Angeles singer/songwriter Amanda McBroom. Midler recorded it for the 1980 movie of the same name, which she starred in. McBroom explained: "A song came on the radio. It was 'Magdalena' by Danny OKeefe, sung by Leo Sayer. I liked it immediately. My favorite line was, 'You're love is like a razor. My heart is just a scar.' I thought, 'Ooh, I love that lyric, but don't agree with the sentiment that love is a razor.'"

"As I continued to drive down the road the thought came, 'What, then, do I think love is.' Suddenly, it was as if someone had opened a window in the top of my head. Words came pouring in. I had to keep reciting them to myself as I drove faster and faster towards home, so I wouldn't forget them. I screeched into my driveway, ran into the house, past various bewildered dogs and cats and husbands, and sat down at the piano. Ten minutes later, The Rose was there."

"A year or so later, a professional songwriter friend of mine said, 'Listen, there is this movie coming out called The Rose, based on the life of Janis Joplin. They are looking for a title tune. Do you want me to submit this to them? I had never really tried to submit a song to anyone. I didn't consider myself a songwriter at the time. So I said, 'Sure.'"

"The producers hated it. They thought it was dull and not Rock And Roll and totally wrong. They put it in the reject box. But Paul Rothchild, who had been Janis Joplin's producer, and now the music supervisor on the film, hauled it out and asked them to reconsider. They again said no. So he mailed it to Bette Midler, the star of the movie. She liked it, lobbied in favor of it; and that's how it got into the film and changed my life forever."

This won a Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. It was Midler's second Grammy - seven years earlier she won for Best New Artist.

Roses show up a lot in titles of hit songs, often with very different meanings. Other Top 10 hits include "Bed Of Roses" by Bon Jovi, "Roses Are Red (My Love)" by Bobby Vinton," "Eighteen Yellow Roses" by Bobby Darin, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison and "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal. Here's a photo that demonstrates the lyrical appeal of the rose .

To tie in with this song, Bette Midler appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone (issue dated December 13, 1979) lying on a literal bed of roses. The photo was taken by Annie Leibovitz; an assistant had to cut off all the thorns.

The song appeared on the television show Family Guy in the episode "Baby Not on Board." The song is sung by the Griffin Family, as Peter, the father, tries to suggest a good driving song.

This song appeared in a very humorous scene in the movie Napoleon Dynamite, a 2004 cult classic, as the lead character performs the song in sign-language.

Eagles - Heartache Tonight

Eagles - Heartache Tonight Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Long Run
Released: 1979

Heartache Tonight Lyrics

Heartache Tonight

Don Henley and Glenn Frey wrote this with Bob Seger and J.D. Souther. When Frey was a 19-year-old in Detroit, Seger took him under his wing and got his music career started. Souther, who is sometimes considered an "Unofficial Eagle," was the first person Frey met when he moved to Los Angeles in the late-'60s. When we spoke with J.D. Souther, he told us how this song started: "Glenn Frey and I had been listening to Sam Cooke records at my house. So we were just walking around clapping our hands and snapping fingers and singing the verses to those songs. The melody sounds very much like those Sam Cooke shuffles. There's not much to it. I mean, it's really just two long verses. But it felt really good." (Here's the full J.D. Souther interview .)

Bob Seger's contribution to this song was the chorus. Souther told us what happened: "We didn't get to a chorus that we liked within the first few days, and I think Glenn was on the phone with Seger, and he said, 'I wanna run something by you,' and sang it to him, and Seger just came right in with the chorus, just sang it and it was so good. Glen called me and said, 'Is four writers okay on this?' And I said, 'Sure, if it's good.' And he said, 'Yeah, it's great. Seger just sang this to me,' and he sang it to me and I said, 'That's fantastic.'"

The Long Run was the Eagles' last studio album until they re-formed in 1994. There was a lot of tension in the band, and a lot of pressure to make the album perfect. As a result, they spent 3 1/2 years working on the album, which was the follow-up to Hotel California. Frey later explained to Rolling Stone that he learned from the experience: "All one need do was listen to early Stones records to realize that all this striving for perfection is totally unnecessary."

This won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group.

Artists to cover this song include Conway Twitty, Tom Jones (as "A Heartache Tonight"), John Anderson, and Michael Bublé, who did a big band version of the song in 2009.

Eagles - King Of Hollywood

Eagles - King Of Hollywood Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Long Run
Released: 1979

King Of Hollywood Lyrics

King Of Hollywood

This song is about the decadent lifestyle of the big bosses of Hollywood, primarily the producers. There are rumors that Don Henley was angry about a promised role in a Western movie he didn't get.

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

Fleetwood Mac - Tusk Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Tusk
Released: 1979

Tusk Lyrics

Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?
Why don't you tell me what's going on?
Why don't you tell me who's on the phone?

Why don't you ask him what's going on?
Why don't you ask him who's the latest on his throne?
Don't say that you love me!
Just tell me that you want me!

Tusk!
Just say that you want me
Just tell me that you

Tusk!
Tusk!
Tusk!

Writer/s: LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM
Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Tusk

The "Tusk" is slang for penis, so the song is basically about sex. When Stevie Nicks heard the album was going to be called Tusk, she objected, but Mick Fleetwood really wanted to use the title, so he ignored her and she dropped the subject.

Stevie Nicks recalled to Mojo in 2015: "I didn't understand the title, there was nothing beautiful or elegant about the word 'tusk.' It really bought to mind those people stealing ivory. Even then, in 1979 you just thought, the rhinos are being poached and that tusks are being stolen and the elephants are being slaughtered and ivory is being sold on the black market. I don't recall it being (Mick's slang term for the male member), that went right over my prudish little head. I wasn't told that until quite a while after the record was done, and when I did find out I liked the title even less!"

The music was based on a riff the band used to play when they were introduced at concerts as the lights came up and they were introduced to the audience. When it came time to record the Tusk album, they decided to use it for a song.

The University of Southern California marching band played on this track. Mick Fleetwood decided to use a big brass sound after a visit to Europe in 1978 where he saw brass bands marching down the street.

Speaking with Johnny Black in 1995, Mick Fleetwood explained how it happened: "In soundchecks we used to jam on that riff, and I did the riff in drum form. When it came time to make the album, we pulled that riff out, screwed around with it, put it in the dustbin, and then a year into making that album, I pulled it out again and took it with me as a rough track to Normandy and came up with the idea of using the brass band on it, and using about 100 drummers on it, which we did.

That really worked. It's a glorious noise, and it's something I'm proud of because it's all drums. There's really no lyrics to it.

So I resurrected that, much to everyone's amazement, and I insisted on recording the USC marching band at Dodger Stadium. By this time they'd thought for sure I'm round the twist, and I said, 'Well, I'm going to pay for it. And we're going to film it.' They thought, 'For sure, he's blown it. He's way off the deep end.'"

The USC Trojan Marching Band was recorded at Dodger Stadium on June 4, 1979 while the Los Angeles Dodgers were on a road trip. This was a few weeks after graduation, so while some band members didn't show, most did, since just about everyone had a copy of Rumours in their dorm room and was thrilled to play on a Fleetwood Mac track.

Rehearsals took place in late May, and the day of the recording, each band member signed a release and was paid a dollar. The whole scene was filmed, and the footage used to make the music video. Stevie Nicks is seen twirling, but not like her signature stage move - this time it was with a baton.

Lindsey Buckingham was keen on experimentation at the time, so he recorded some of his vocals for this song in his bathroom using a microphone he placed on the floor that was connected to his home studio. He
also did some percussion for the track on empty Kleenex boxes in his bathroom.

During the recording of the album, Mick Fleetwood got a large pair of replica elephant tusks that he set up on either side of the console, which became known as "Tusk." Whenever the console wasn't working, the band would say, "Tusk is down, Tusk isn't working!"

According to Stevie Nicks, the tusks gave them inspiration. "Those 13 months working in that room were our journey up the sacred mountain to the sacred African percussion place, were all the gods of music lived," she said.

The group's bass player John McVie had a falling out with Lindsey Buckingham and never made it to Dodger Stadium for the shoot, so he was replaced in the video with a cardboard cutout. When MTV launched in 1981, the song had already been out for two years, but the network played it anyway, as they didn't have many clips by popular rock bands.

In 1977, Fleetwood Mac released Rumours, which was one of the most successful albums ever released. Tusk was the follow-up, but the band (especially Lindsey Buckingham), decided to experiment instead of copying the sound of Rumours. The result was a 20-track double album with some very adventurous songs. The title track was the first single, and it did well, reaching #8 in the US. The next single was "Sara," which made #7.

Tusk ended up selling far fewer copies than Rumours, partly because the double disc was sold for a hefty $15.98 in America. It certainly didn't tarnish the band's legacy, as it showed that they were willing to take risks when they could have simply recycled Rumours.

"Tusk is probably my favorite and most important Fleetwood Mac album," Mick Fleetwood said. "Tusk meant this band's survival - if we hadn't made that album, we might have broken up."

On the Tusk tour, Fleetwood Mac played five shows in December 1979 at The Forum in Inglewood, California, near Los Angeles. The USC Trojan Marching Band appeared with them at each of these shows, lifted from hydraulic risers behind the stage to join the band on this song.

Fittingly, this is a very popular song among marching bands, especially at USC where the song has been performed regularly since its inception. At home games, fans often chant "UCLA Sucks!" during the song, even if they are not playing UCLA.

Two other schools also claimed it: the University of Alabama and the University of Arkansas. The Arkansas mascot is a razorback (boar) known as "Tusk"; the University of Alabama's mascot is an elephant known as "Big Al," which is actually tuskless in anthropomorphic form, but the University of Alabama is in Tuscaloosa.

Dead Kennedys - California Über Alles

Dead Kennedys - California Über Alles Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Released: 1979

California Über Alles Lyrics

I am Governor Jerry Brown
My aura smiles
And never frowns
Soon I will be president

Carter power will soon go away
I will be FÁ¼hrer one day
I will command all of you
Your kids will meditate in school

California Á?ber Alles
Á?ber Alles California

Zen fascists will control you
A hundred percent natural
You will jog for the master race
And always wear the happy face
Close your eyes, can't happen here
Big Bro' on white horse is near
The hippies won't come back you say
Mellow out or you will pay

California Á?ber Alles
Á?ber Alles California

Now it is 1984
Knock knock at your front door
It's the suede/denim secret police
They have come for your uncool niece

Come quietly to the camp
You'd look nice as a drawstring lamp
Don't you worry, it's only a shower
For your clothes here's a pretty flowerâ?¦

Die on organic poison gas
Serpent's egg's already hatched
You will croak, you little clown
When you mess with President Brown

California Á?ber Alles
Á?ber Alles California

Writer/s: JELLO BIAFRA, JOHN GREENWAY
Publisher: BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

California Über Alles

This is about then-Governor of California Jerry Brown, and is sung from his perspective. In the song, an imaginary President Brown outlines his hippie/zen/fascist vision of America.

"Über Alles" is a German phrase meaning "above all else." It was part of the German national anthem until the end of World War II, and is closely associated with the Nazis.

In 1984, the Dead Kennedys released a sequel to this song on their album In God We Trust, Inc., which is about then-president Ronald Reagan, who preceded Brown as Governor of California. This update - which is done in jazz/lounge style for most of the song - is called "We've Got A Bigger Problem Now."

In our interview with Dead Kennedys lead singer Jello Biafra , he said: "I realized I was wrong about my conspiracy theory about Jerry Brown. Sure, I'd made it up all by myself and it turned out not to be true, so it was updated with Reagan lyrics until 'We've Got A Bigger Problem Now,' and the jazz version we goofed off with at sound check wound up becoming a staple of that record and the live show."

This was the Dead Kennedys first single. The band formed in San Francisco in 1978, but took their cue from the anarchist punk that was coming out of England. (Lead singer Jello Biafra is from Boulder, a bucolic city in Colorado that seems an unlikely place for an uprising. He claims that he somehow got his hands on an import of the Sex Pistols single "Anarchy in the U.K.," which set him on his path.)

"California Über Alles" set the provocative tone that would become the group's prime directive: upsetting the establishment. They quickly built up a following with their chaotic live shows and shocking songs like "Kill The Poor" and "Holiday In Cambodia."

The group released this song on their own independent record label, Alternative Tentacles, in 1979. Bob Last, the head of a British label called Fast Product, head the group when he was vacationing in New York City, and signed a deal with the band to distribute "California Über Alles" in the UK. The song got the attention of the influential BBC DJ John Peel, who played the song on his show, boosting the band's fortunes considerably.

The group then signed a one-year deal with a large independent label called Cherry Red Records, which issued the Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables album in 1980. After the year, the band was back on their own, using Alternative Tentacles to peddle their goods.

Jello Biafra wrote this song with his friend John Greenway; they were in a band called The Healers at the time and performed this song with that group.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger took over as Governor of California, Jello Biafra couldn't resist a new update of this song. The result was "Kali-Fornia Über Alles 21st Century," which he recorded with the Melvins and released in 2005. He told us: "How can you drop a song that has lines like 'Steroids for the master race, So you all can have my face?'"

This looks like a good place to mention somebody else who had a dark view of California: Al Kooper in Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards says, "The New York sensibility has always regarded California with suspicion. If your system is geared to New York's nonstop adrenaline rush, the relaxed California life-style can seem as if you're playing a 45 RPM record at 33(1/3). Usually, if New Yorkers follow that slow a pace, they move to Florida."

Kooper also relates the experience of staying at a friend's house which was actually a disgusting bug-ridden crash pad, and visiting another friend who, although rich, was too stoned to notice that he was eating dog food. Together, these experiences gave him an impression that California is depressing.

Rex Smith - You Take My Breath Away

Rex Smith - You Take My Breath Away Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Sooner Or Later
Released: 1979

You Take My Breath Away Lyrics

You
I don't know what to say
You Take My Breath Away
You're every song I sing
You're the music that I play
And you take my breath away

You
You smile and it's okay
You take my breath away
Like water from a stream on a sizzling summer day
You take my breath away
There are words for the magic of a sunrise
Only none of them will due
For You
You take my breath away
And I don't know what to say
Cause you take my breath away

You
You take my breath away
And I don't know what to say
Cause you take my breath away
You take my breath away
You take my breath away
You take my breath away
You take my breath away

Writer/s: MERCURY, FREDDIE /
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY, THE LAUGHING WILLOW MUSIC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

You Take My Breath Away

Rex Smith made his Broadway debut playing Danny in the original Grease!, and has played many roles in television and stage productions. This song was written for the TV movie Sooner Or Later in which he starred.

The Jam - The Eton Rifles

The Jam - The Eton Rifles Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Setting Sons
Released: 1979

The Eton Rifles Lyrics

Sup up your beer and collect your fags
There's a row going on down near slough
Get out your mat and pray to the west
I'll get out mine and pray for myself
Thought you were smart when you took them on
But you didn't take a peep in their artillery room
All that rugby puts hairs on your chest
What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?

Hello-hooray, what a nice day, for The Eton Rifles, Eton rifles
Hello-hooray, I hope rain stops play, with the Eton rifles, Eton rifles

Thought you were clever when you lit the fuse
Tore down the house of commons in your brand new shoes
Compose a revolutionary symphony
Then went to bed with a charming young thing

Hello-hooray, cheers then mate, its the Eton rifles, Eton rifles
Hello-hooray, an extremist scrape, with the Eton rifles, Eton rifles

What a catalyst you turned out to be
Loaded the guns then you run off home for your tea
Left me standing, like a guilty schoolboy

What a catalyst you turned out to be
Loaded the guns then you run off home for your tea
Left me standing, like a naughty schoolboy

We came out of it naturally the worst
Beaten and bloody and I was sick down my shirt
We were no match for their untamed wit
Though some of the lads said they'll be back next week

Hello-hooray, there's a price to pay, to the Eton rifles, Eton rifles
Hello-hooray, I'd prefer the plague, to the Eton rifles, Eton rifles

Hello-hooray, there's a price to pay, to the Eton rifles, Eton rifles
Hello-hooray, I'd prefer the plague, to the Eton rifles, Eton rifles

Eton rifles, Eton rifles
Eton rifles, Eton rifles

Writer/s: WELLER, PAUL JOHN
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

The Eton Rifles

This makes reference to England's elite college, Eton. It is a song about class warfare, with lines like, "What chance do you have against a tie and a crest." Paul Weller was inspired to write the song by a news article that he read about unemployed demonstrators on a "Right to Work" march, a campaign initiated by the left wing Socialist Workers Party, passing the prestigious Eton College. The "Eton Rifles" are a cadet corps of Eton College, and the song itself is about the rivalry between boys at Eton and the neighboring working class schoolboys. Paul Weller himself attended Sheerwater Comprehensive school, which was located quite close to Eton.

Paul Weller wrote this during his first holiday since the ascendancy of The Jam two years earlier. In the summer of 1979 he rented a caravan in the seaside town of Selsey in West Sussex on the southern coast of England. The Jam was a Punk/New Wave band that came out of England in the late '70s.

Weller recalled to Mojo magazine in 2015: "We had a week off and I never even thought about going abroad for a holiday at that time. So I went down to my mum and dad's caravan in Selsey and it pissed with rain for the whole week, so I just ended up writing. And I wrote 'Eton Rifles.' I thought it was a powerful statement."

Throughout the 1980s Paul Weller was a political active Labour supporter. However he has since become disillusioned with politics. It was no surprise then, that he was shocked when in 2008 the Conservative leader David Cameron nominated this class war diatribe as a favourite tune. A flabbergasted Weller commented to the Daily Mirror October 24, 2008: "Which part of the song didn't he get? Did he think it was a celebration of being at Eton or something? I don't know. He must have an idea what it's about, surely? It's a shame really that someone didn't listen to that song and get something else from it and become a socialist leader instead. I was a bit disappointed really."

Its possible that Paul Weller read about the march in the June 17, 1978 edition of The Socialist Worker newspaper in which case he would have read the following: "Eton had never seen anything like it. Right to Work marchers met Rock Against Racism punks weaving through the streets of Eton behind Crisis, a band pounding out driving rock music from the back of a lorry. Two movements coming together outside Eton public school, heart of privilege and pomp. The chants, 'Annihilate the National Front,' fake upper-class accents, 'What does one want - the Right to Work,' 'Eton boys rather naughty, Liverpool boys rather good.' Pogoing in protest as a giant silver spoon is presented to the Eton Head Boy. 'I hope your jolly campaign gets you somewhere,' he said."'

The opening line, "Sup up your beer and collect your fags, there's a row going on down near Slough" is a clever start to the song. The word 'fag' has a double meaning in England. It can be another word for 'cigarettes,' but an Eton schoolboy would more likely interpret it as a slang term for a young public schoolboy who must perform chores for an older student.

The Charlie Daniels Band - Reflections

The Charlie Daniels Band - Reflections Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Million Mile Reflections
Released: 1979

Reflections Lyrics

I remember you back in nineteen-fifty-six
You had all the moves and you knew all the tricks
You left all the ladies in a hell of a fix
When your voice took wings

Then you'd shake around and oh, how'd you sing
Just an old boy from Memphis with a big diamond ring
A country girl's prayer and a city girls dream, hail the King

But it's alright now, keep on singin' loud
It's alright now, heaven should be proud

The fifties left town on a crowded dance floor
The sixties came in with a bang and a roar
The world heard a knock
It was Janis at the door, they let her in

And when it seemed this whole world was falling apart
The houselights would fall and the music would start
She'd be givin' us all the little piece of her heart once again

But it's alright now, keep on singin' loud
It's alright now, heaven should be proud

It was October in St. Louis town
When we heard that the Free Bird had fell to the ground
We all said a prayer before we went down to play

And Ronnie, my buddy, above all the rest
I miss you the most and I loved you the best
And now that you're gone I thank God
I was blessed just to know you

But it's alright now, keep on singin' loud
It's alright now, heaven should be proud

Writer/s: EDWARDS, DORAN
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Reflections

The first verse is about Elvis Presley, the second verse is about Janis Joplin, and the third verse is about Ronnie Van Zant from Lynyrd Skynyrd.