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The Clash - Cool Under Heat

The Clash - Cool Under Heat Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Cut The Crap
Released: 1985

Cool Under Heat Lyrics

Rebels on the corner
Rebels to the core
Got a million dollar question
What is livin' for?

Hey! Man can scratch a livin'
In a fat man's city class
The teacher is survival
But soon the present will be the past

So!
Be Cool Under Heat
Be cool under heat
Be cool on the street
Be cool under heat

When you're rockin' down
On a cold hard night
Pitiless eyes of the cityless souls
Narrow in the lights

Sorrow upon sorrow
Go ganging up in your head
You can leave it till tomorrow
If you can balance on the edge

Hey!
Be cool under heat
Be cool under heat
Be cool on the street
Be cool under heat

When the baby and you got to fight
Go cool your love in the rain
When the match refuses to strike
Show that you really are in pain

I'm giving you a warning
Gonna burn those blue suede shoes
Swagger in the mornin'
Prints up front page news

Be cool under heat
Be cool under heat
Be cool on the street
Be cool under heat

Writer/s: BERNARD RHODES, JOE STRUMMER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Cool Under Heat

This was of many songs on the much-maligned Cut the Crap record which was heavily criticized by music reviewers at the time of its release. The lyrics are much more swaggering and one-dimensional from singer Joe Strummer, who appears to be trying too hard to come across as a cool Punk rocker and recapture the anger of his earlier lyrics for The Clash. "Where's his knack for a well-turned phrase?" asked critic Mat Snow in his NME review of the record.

The Clash - Dirty Punk

The Clash - Dirty Punk Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Cut the Crap
Released: 1985

Dirty Punk Lyrics

(strummer/rhodes)

Gonna be a Dirty Punk
Gonna rock your neighborhood
Do the sound of rebel funk
Turn it up loud like it should

I could hear your momma scream
She's gonna waste herself away
When your daddy smashed that tv screen
I understand what he had to say

I'm going to get me a big, big, big
Big, big car
Then I'm gonna drive, drive, drive
I'm gonna drive so far
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
So far up your boulevard

Gonna be a dirty punk
While my brother dresses clean
He used to be the local hunk
The girls all ride in my machine(?)

How bout the time I made him drunk
And he insult my brotherhood
I shout out I am a dirty punk
Gonna rock your neighborhood

I'm going to get a big, big, big
Big, big car
Then I'm gonna drive, drive, drive
I'm gonna drive so far
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
So far up your boulevard

Gonna get a big, big, big
Go faster!
Then I'm gonna go! big!
Let's go to (???)
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
Go so far up your boulevard

Gonna drive my big, big, big
Big, big car
Then I'm gonna drive, drive, drive
I'm gonna drive so far
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
So far up your boulevard

Writer/s: BERNARD RHODES, JOE STRUMMER
Publisher: EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Dirty Punk

The lyrics are odd, in that the aim for The Clash coming into recording the Cut the Crap album was to take the band back to their 1977 UK Punk roots. The lyrics of "Dirty Punk" are very American-centric, featuring lines such as "rock up your neighborhood," "up your boulevard."

The song talks about a stereotypical dysfunctional suburban American family, including the arguing parents ("I could hear your momma scream, She's gonna waste herself away, When your daddy smashed that TV screen, I understand what he had to say") and the clean-cut hunky brother getting drunk, picking up women and going off the rails ("While my brother dresses clean, He used to be the local hunk, The girls all ride in my machine, How bout the time I made him drunk, And he insult my brotherhood").

The music is also oddly US-centric, sounding more like a brash '80s Hair Metal track not unlike the thrashier elements of Def Leppard or Bon Jovi, although most critics cited "Dirty Punk" as one of the few good moments on the Cut the Crap album (which may just be because the rest of the album was so terrible).

This song was only performed twice by The Clash, both times in 1984 at the Brixton Miner's Benefit gigs in December of that year.

The Clash - Three Card Trick

The Clash - Three Card Trick Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Cut The Crap
Released: 1985

Three Card Trick Lyrics

Patriots of the wasteland torching two hundred years
Dragging my spirit back into the dungeon again
Bring back crucification cry the moral death's head legion
Using steel nails manufactured by the slaves in Asia

You won't fall for that law and order is a baton in the rib
You won't fall for that just like your mummy and your daddy did

Blood inside a fountain pen wrote you out of life again
Who knows any better than to kick and scratch under English weather
From a chain gang to the mill.
The mill that sits on top of the hill
The fog drowned towns arr gonna have to fade
The wrong side of the a scissor blade

You won't fall for that law and order is a baton in the rib
You won't fall for that just like your mummy and your daddy did
I'll eat my hat I'm gonna be sick
They own the pack while we play the Three Card Trick

Don't you remember the place
Where we hid the ace?
Yeah not thick but slick
Now we all gotta play the three card trick

Writer/s: BERNARD RHODES, JOE STRUMMER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Three Card Trick

"Three Card Trick" was, along with "This Is England" generally cited as one of the better songs on the Cut the Crap debacle, mainly because both songs actually sound like The Clash, using a Reggae rhythm and revisiting classic Clash themes of oppression, breakdown of society ("Patriots of the wasteland torching two hundred years, dragging my spirit back into the dungeon again") and protest ("You won't fall for that law and order is a baton in the rib, you won't fall for that just like your mummy and your daddy did"). In this case, singer Joe Strummer's lyrics relate to two core actions occurring at the time: many of the steel mills closing due to foreign imports ("Using steel nails manufactured by the slaves in Asia") and the Miners Strikes of 1984.

This is the only post-Mick Jones Clash song to remain in their live set right until their final festival performances in summer 1985, having been introduced on the Out of Control tour in early 1984.

The Clash - We Are The Clash

The Clash - We Are The Clash Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Cut The Crap
Released: 1985

We Are The Clash Lyrics

Punk rockers, hip-hoppers
Brit poppers, show stoppers
Beboppers, hair droppers
Are you ready to sing?

Right wing, left wing
I want something
To see me through (???)
Bout what do you think

We ain't gonna be treated like trash
We got one thing
We Are The Clash
What?
We are the Clash
It's like a patch
You can strike that match

With my guitar now
(???) last dance
I see them where they (???)
How they usually stay

Beating on a drum
Did they tell them 'take it in'
Got the (???)
Where the fat boy blew

We ain't gonna be treated like trash
We got one thing
We are the Clash
That's right
We are the Clash
It's like a patch
You can strike that match

Home fires burnin'
In motorcycle city
The rockin' gods will choose
If I'm worthy to live
The first (???) engine
(???) forty-six
And there's no more (???)
To imitate respect

We ain't gonna be treated like trash
We got one thing
We are the Clash
Don't take no shit
We are the Clash
Do ya hear me?
It's like a patch
You can strike that match

Writer/s: BERNARD RHODES, JOE STRUMMER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

We Are The Clash

This song was written in the aftermath of the sacking of founding member Mick Jones from The Clash, who threatened to form a new band with fellow fired Clash member Topper Headon and use The Clash name. Singer Joe Strummer was infuriated, and wrote "We Are The Clash" as an angry response to make it clear to fans who the "real" Clash were. In the end, Mick's threat was empty, and he instead formed the entirely new band: Big Audio Dynamite.

"We Are The Clash" is the sign of a general anti-Mick Jones attitude in the Clash camp after his firing. As well as playing the song live in the post-Jones lineup, singer Joe Strummer would change the lyrics to previous songs to attack Jones. For example, "Complete Control" saw the "You're my guitar hero!" lyric changed to "F--k off guitar hero!").

The Clash played this song regularly throughout 1984, presumably to make the point known to their fans that this was still the true Clash despite the firing of half of their core members in 1982-3. Part of the reason the band toured so extensively in 1984 before recording the Cut the Crap record was to gel the new lineup (new drummer plus TWO new guitarists to replace Mick Jones), and to demonstrate their commitment to their fans.

The Clash - Play to Win

The Clash - Play to Win Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Cut the Crap
Released: 1985

Play to Win Lyrics

Spoken

Voice: Hey (???) piranah
Joe: Yup and the piranah got it
V: Yeah, well if it's hooligan you want
J: We British will tear upon the street
V: (???)
J: I see you've lived in Germany.
V: Yankee (???)
J: (???)
V: (???)

Sung
I long for the prairie
Of the wild frontier
We got to take it to the space age
(???) back at pioneers

V:I thought I'd call a taxi
J: Well what you got is a police car
V: Are you gonna (???) cleanin'?
J: (???) use a burglar
V: (???)
J: I'll say to give you a kiss
V: No (???)
J: Come on lets go out get smashed

I long for the prairie
Of the wild frontier
We got to take it to the space age
(???) back at pioneers

V: What kind of food for the picnic
J: Hey don't worry about our (???)
V: (???) obviously then
J: Well everyday seems the same
V: No. I don't want (???)
J: Look at you. Turn your plastic into gold.
V: (???)
J: Just get your face in a centerfold
V: 2,3,4

I long for the prairie
Of the wild frontier
We got to take it to the space age
(???) back at pioneers

Writer/s: BERNARD RHODES, JOE STRUMMER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Play to Win

"Play to Win" is an interesting attempt at something different musically on the Cut the Crap album, with the verses structured over a loose percussion backing in the form of a conversation between singer Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon.

Probably because of it's very loose structure and odd conversational vocals, this song was never played live by The Clash.

The Clash - Movers And Shakers

The Clash - Movers And Shakers Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Cut The Crap
Released: 1985

Movers And Shakers Lyrics

The boy stood in the burning slum
Better times had to come
Fate lay in the hands that clap
The muscles that move and the power that raps
He went up on money street
Waving an popping to the beat
Off his wits an on his feet
He worked a coin from the cold concrete

Movers And Shakers come on you got what it takes to make it
Movers an shakers come on even if you have to fake it

Where the highway meets the lights
With a red bandanna and rapid wipes
He shines Glass and he cleans chrome
He'll accept what he gets thrown
This man earns 'cause its understood
Times are bad and he's makin' good
Down on him but he's got it beat
He's working coin from the cold concrete

Movers and shakers come on....etc
And when I see you down and I say
That ain't no way through that ain't no way through
Movers and shakers come on...etc

Way back in some city heat
When a friend was anybody with food to eat
It was lousy life with a leaking roof
We got up to find that truth
Make a drum from a garbage can
Allow your tongue to be a man
When the beat propels you off your seat
You got it made in the cold concrete

Movers and shakers come on!

Writer/s: BERNARD RHODES, JOE STRUMMER
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Movers And Shakers

This song came in for particularly heavy criticism from Clash fans for its lyrical content, which contradicts one of The Clash's core messages of striving to make the most of life and not accepting a bottom-rung job. The song seems to suggest that doing menial jobs like washing cars is worthwhile because it's at least something to do ("He shines glass and he cleans chrome, he'll accept what he gets thrown, this man earns 'cause its understood, times are bad and he's makin' good").

Journalist Marcus Gray noted in the Last Gang in Town biography that lyrics such as these sounded remarkably hypocritical. Of course, this being Joe Strummer, a man known for sardonic commentaries, it could be a wry and sarcastic take on it to make a point that actually washing cars isn't a worthwhile career move.

Musically, "Movers and Shakers" is somewhat of a mess, with the main guitar riff being very similar to the main riff from Sham 69's "Hurry Up Harry (Come On)." Poorly-mixed gang vocal choruses and an out-of-place keyboard riff badly added into the mix.

This was only ever performed live by The Clash on their acoustic Busking tour in 1985, in a more stripped-down arrangement which perhaps suits the song better than the lumpen studio mix.