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The Clash - Capital Radio One

The Clash - Capital Radio One Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Black Market Clash
Released: 1977

Capital Radio One Lyrics

Yes, it's time for the Dr. Goebbels show!
There's a tower in the heart of London
With a radio station right at the top
They don't make the city beat
They're making all the action stop
A long time ago there were pirates
Beaming waves from the sea
But now all the stations are silenced
'Cause they ain't got a government license
Want to tell your problems?
Phone in from your bedsit room
Having trouble with your partner?
Let us all in on the news
If you want to hear a record
Get the word from Aiden Day
He picks all the hits to play
To keep you in your place all day
Capital Radio
In tune with nothing
Don't touch that dial
Don't touch that dial
Don't touch that dial...

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

Capital Radio One

The main riff is based on the The Who's "I Can't Explain," a riff which The Clash used as a basis for many of their more Rock-orientated songs. The song actually started life in 1976 as a Mick Jones written tune called "Deadly Serious." Early live bootlegs exist of The Clash playing the song in this form, with completely different lyrics about the band choosing not to play Reggae music despite their love of it ("dig some reggae, don't play any"). Presumably they'd changed their mind on this policy by the time they covered "Police and Thieves" on their first album.

The lyrics are an attack on mainstream radio stations of the time (the song is named after popular radio station Capital Radio) and their refusal to play anything left-field like Punk Rock, sticking strictly to bland Pop and chart music. In a 1977 interview with Caroline Coon, singer Joe Strummer explained: "They're even worse because they had the chance, coming right into the heart of London and sitting in that tower right on top of everything. But they've completely blown it. I'd like to throttle Aiden Day. He thinks he's the self appointed Minister of Public Enlightenment. We've just written a new song called Capital Radio and a line in it goes 'listen to the tunes of the Dr Goebbels Show.' They say 'Capital Radio in tune with London.' Yeah, yeah, yeah! They're in tune with Hampstead. They're not in tune with us at all. I hate them. What they could have done compared to what they have done is abhorrent. They could have made it so good that everywhere you went you took your transistor radio — you know, how it used to be when I was at school. I'd have one in my pocket all the time or by my ear'ole flicking it between stations. If you didn't like one record you'd flick to another station and then back again. It was amazing. They could have made the whole capital buzz. Instead Capital Radio has just turned their back on the whole youth of the city."

As mentioned in the quote, the song includes references to Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, to reinforce the image of Capital Radio forcing bland commercial music on the listener without any choice.

This was recorded, along with early live staple "Listen," on April 3, 1977 for a giveaway single with the NME magazine. It was original drummer Terry Chimes' final recording with the band before he left and was replaced by Topper Headon.

This was introduced live on the White Riot tour and remained in the set for the rest of the Clash's career.

Singer Joe Strummer would often throw in stream-of-conciousness raps in live versions. For example, the version on the live album From Here to Eternity, recorded at the Lewisham Odeon in February 1980, features a mimicked phone conversation involving Strummer requesting the radio station to play "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs - NOT Sham 69, as he jokes! Unfortunately according to Strummer, "he said no."

The song was originally called "Capital Radio," but when they released an updated version in 1979, they changed its title to "Capital Radio One" and made the sequel "Capital Radio Two."

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.

The Clash - Cheapskates

The Clash - Cheapskates Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Give 'Em Enough Rope
Released: 1978

Cheapskates Lyrics

I have been a washer up
An' he has been a scrubber up
An' I seen him a picking up
Dog ends in the rain
An' he has never read a book
Though I told him to take a look
He lifted his pool hall cue
For another game
But it ain't no modern miracle
That we found the golden rule
What you can't buy you gotta steal
An' what you say can't steal you better leave

I don't like to hang about
In this lonely room
'Cause London is for going out
And trying to hear a tune
But people come pouncing up to me
And say what are you doing here
You're supposed to be a star
Not a cheapskate bleeding queer

Like a load of rats from a sinking ship
You slag us down to save your hip
But you don't give me the benefit
Of your doubt
'Cause I'll bite it off and spit it out

We're Cheapskates anything'll do
We're cheapskates what are we supposed to do?
An' we can rock
Hey hey let's roll
An' we can walk
An' do the stroll

Just because we're in a group
You think we're stinking rich
'N we all got model girls
Shedding every stitch
'N You think the cocaine's flowing
Like a river up our noses
'N every sea will part for us
Like the red one did for Moses

Well I hope you make it one day
Just like you always said you would some day
And I'll get out my money and make a bet
That I'll be seein' you down the launderette

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

Cheapskates

The lyrics to this song are a thinly veiled attack on the music press and critics of the time who took aim at The Clash in late 1977 and early 1978, accusing them of selling out and becoming decadent Rock Stars in the wake of their signing to major label CBS and producing their first album. The band are clearly angry over the assumption that they would change as they became more famous ("But people come poncing up to me and say what are you doing here? You're supposed to be a star, not a cheapskate bleeding queer), and at what they see as critics attacking the band to save their own image ("Like a load of rats from a sinking ship, you slag us down to save your hip").

A latter verse is dedicated to claiming that The Clash don't have the Rock Star trappings of money, sex and drugs - ironically though, many close to the group claim that the band did indeed mix with drugs rather often during the time - indeed, drummer Topper Headon would later be fired from the group in 1983 because of problems with severe drug addictions. At the time of the album's release in 1978, guitarist Mick Jones admitted to Garry Bushell that "the song was written during a heavy period of drug-taking. The lyrics are meant to be a satire on that."

Cheapskates was introduced into The Clash's live set in June 1978, and was played for the rest of the year before being dropped just before their first US tour.

The Clash - City of the Dead

The Clash - City of the Dead Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Super Black Market Clash
Released: 1977

City of the Dead Lyrics

This is the City of the Dead
As we lie side by side in bed
I'd do something else instead
But it is the city of the dead

We went out kickin' around
But you got drunk an' fallen down
An' I wished I could be like you
With the Soho River drinking me down

In the city of the dead
Fall in love an' fall in bed
It wasn't anything you said
Except I know we both lie dead

Don't you know where to cop
That's what New York Johnny said
You should get to know your town
Just like I know mine

While all the windows stare ahead
An' the streets are filled with dread
Every nation in the world
Slinks through the alley after girls

What we wear is dangerous gear
It'll get you picked on anywhere
Though we get beat up we don't care
At least it livens up the air

But someday's we hide inside
All courage gone and paralyzed
Sniff that wind of ugly tension
Today the jerks have got aggression

It is the city of the dead

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

City of the Dead

For a long time "City of the Dead" was one of the most popular Clash songs not to be released on any album - it only appeared as the B-side to 1977 single Complete Control. It was then included on the rarities compilation album Black Market Clash, and it's expanded re-release, Super Black Market Clash.

Singer Joe Strummer admitted in later interviews that around mid-to-late 1977, he was suffering from severe clinical depression and was incredibly disillusioned with the future of the Punk Rock movement. This explains why the lyrical themes of this song in particular, as well as another B-side from around this period, "The Prisoner," are very dark and cynical.

The title "City of the Dead" is drawn from an obscure 1960s British horror movie of the same name starring Christopher Lee. Guitarist Mick Jones would frequently introduce it live as being a song about "being dead from the neck up," a nod to common zombie horror film convention.

The latter verses relate to a common trend in 1977 of "Punk Bashing" where, partially as a result of hyperbolic tabloid reporting encouraging violence against Punk fans (including a shameful piece in the 6th June edition of the Sunday Mirror entitled "Punish The Punks"), there were many fights and attacks on Punk rockers:

"What we wear is dangerous gear
It'll get you picked on anywhere
Though we get beat up we don't care
At least it livens up the air."

High-profile victims of brutal attacks included Jamie Reid, Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten, and Clash guitarist Mick Jones, who tells the story of his attack in the 2002 documentary film Westway to the World.

The lines, "Don't you know where to cop, that's what New York Johnny said" were written in response to several unsavory incidents with drug abuse on the Anarchy tour in 1977, with the 'New York Johnny' being the American Rock frontman Johnny Thunders, formerly of the New York Dolls and at the time leader of Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. According to reports, he was regularly doing drugs on the tour and would try to intimidate others - including members of The Clash - to shoot up drugs with him.

The lyrics "Fall in love an' fall in bed, it wasn't anything you said, except I know we both lie dead" could have been inspired by Mick Jones' fractious relationship with his girlfriend at the time, Slits guitarist Viv Albertine. According to roadie Johnny Green, "she broke his heart... Mick used to cry and cry about Viv. He played the rock star normally with girls, but not with Viv, he really loved her." His breakup with Albertine would later form the basis for the lyrics to 1979 single "Train in Vain (Stand By Me)."

"City of the Dead" is the first Clash song to feature additional instrumentation beyond just the bass/guitars/drums/vocals quartet. In this case, the recording features saxophone and pianos, the latter played by Steve Nieve from Elvis Costello and the Attractions. The Clash were at the time greatly influenced by Bruce Springsteen, and this influence can be heard in the rich production and musical style.

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.

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 - The Crooked Beat

The Clash - The Crooked Beat Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Sandinista!
Released: 1980

The Crooked Beat Lyrics

Start the car lets make a midnight run
Across the river to South London
To dance to the latest hi-fi sound
Of bass, guitar and drum
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the pressure off
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

Take a piece of cloth, a coin for thirst
For the sweat will start to run
With a cymbal splash, a word of truth
And a rocking bass and drum
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the pressure on
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

So one by one they come on down
From the tower blocks of my home town
Stepping with the rhythm of the rockers beat
Drowning out the pressure of The Crooked Beat
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the tension on
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

It has crooked past this crooked street
Where cars patrol this crooked beat
Badges flash and sirens wail
They'll be taking one and all to jail

Prance! Prance! You want a law to dance?

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

The Crooked Beat

"The Crooked Beat" is often viewed as bassist Paul Simonon's followup to his popular song on the London Calling album, "The Guns Of Brixton." The songs share a South London location in the lyrics and also Simonon's monotone vocals. Both songs were written fully by him.

This was one of the very last songs recorded for the Sandinista! album, at Wessex in September 1980. It is rumoured to have been written and recorded quickly in order to both fill space on the huge triple-album, and give Paul Simonon some royalties. Indeed, the track is actually two versions of the same song - the original is then followed back to back by a dub remix by Mikey Dread, the Clash's producer at the time, featuring authentic Trenchtown patois vocals from Dread and an echo-saturated production.

The lyrics are inspired by the popular nursery rhyme "There Was A Crooked Man."

The song was one of the many more obscure tracks on Sandinista! never to be played live by The Clash, probably because "The Guns of Brixton" was used live as Simonon's signature song (he would swap instruments with singer Joe Strummer, who would play bass while Simonon sang lead vocals).

The Clash - Deny

The Clash - Deny Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Clash UK
Released: 1977

Deny Lyrics

Deny
You're such a liar
You won't know the truth if it hits you in the eye
Deny
You're such a liar
You're selling your no-no all the time

You said we were going out
To the 100 Club
Then you said it ain't my scene
But then you turned up alone
Then you turned up alone

Deny
You're such a liar
Won't know the truth if it hits you in the street
Deny
You're such a liar
You're selling your no-no all the time

Then you said you'd given it up
Gone an' kicked it in the head
You said you ain't had none for weeks
Baby, I seen your arms
Baby, I seen your arms

Deny
You're such a liar
Won't know the truth if it hits you in the eye
Deny
You're such a liar
Selling your no-no all the time

Do you think I'm a raving idiot?
Just got off the boat
Step in line, sign this form, baby ain't got a hope
You ain't got a hope

(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar) deny, you're such a liar
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar) deny, lie, lie, lie, lie
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)
(What a liar, what a liar, what a liar)

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

Deny

The song was originally written by guitarist Mick Jones for the London SS, the band which existed just before Joe Strummer joined to form The Clash. It seems to originally have been about denial in all its forms, and could have been aimed at Jones' then-girlfriend whom he had a fractious relationship with; she also inspired "I'm So Bored With You," the original version of the song that would become "I'm So Bored With The USA."

Early Clash guitarist Keith Levene, who left before the group recorded their first album, offered the opinion that "Deny" referred to him, although this is unlikely as it was written and played live while he was still in the group. However it is obvious that the song's subject is a drug addict and the narrator has a severe problem with this.

Mick Jones has said in interviews that Pretenders guitarist Chrissie Hynde "probably helped with the end bit." It is also speculated that Jones took influence from the Sex Pistols' similar song of the time, "Liar," which he would've heard from Pistols bassist Glen Matlock.

"Deny" was recorded in a semi-live style at the Whitfield studios, the same sessions that produced the single version of "White Riot." It uses the studio trick of fade-in, not commonly used by Rock groups but used by The Beatles on "Eight Days a Week." The rhythm guitar riff is also a distant relative to the Who's "The Kids Are Alright."

"Deny" didn't survive for long in the Clash's live set - it was played from their very first gigs in 1976, often as the opening song, and survived up till the White Riot tour in June 1977 before being replaced by newer material.

On the recording Joe Strummer can be heard ad-libbing a reference to a "12p comic," which was the price of a Marvel or DC comic in 1977.

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 - Drug-Stabbing Time

The Clash - Drug-Stabbing Time Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Give 'Em Enough Rope
Released: 1978

Drug-Stabbing Time Lyrics

Drug stabbing time
Well I got working on the Ford line
A paying off the big fine
Drug stabbin' time

Drug stabbin' time
Is from nine to nine
Nobody wants a user
Nobody needs a loser
So kick him out that door
An' don't answer it no more

Drug stabbin' time
It's a Greenwich Mean Time
Your friends all hate each other you think
You've got another
But who's at the door?
Don't answer it no more

Drug stabbin' time
In a bedroom crime
There's a tape recording on a telephone line
An' it's ringin' from the floor
So don't answer it no more

Now I was lying in my room
It was raining drugs all afternoon
I hear this car pull up outside
Comes to a stop like, skreeee

Someone's in a hurry
'N someone better worry
'Cos these four guys all had on their feet
A pair of black shoes shining and neat
I thinks

Black shoes on
No that's bad news
Here they come charging up the stairs alright
Sonny just tell us where

Drug stabbin' time
Don't ask me mate
Working on the ford line
Paying off the big fine
Drug stabbin' time

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

Drug-Stabbing Time

"Drug-Stabbing Time" was first demoed at the Clash's rehearsal space, Rehearsal Rehearsals, in January 1978 and so was one of the first songs written for second album Give 'Em Enough Rope.

The lyrics written by singer Joe Strummer are fiercely anti-drugs, and describe in great detail the paranoia they can induce - not just from usage, but from the fear of getting caught, as the subject of the song does in an elaborate police sting ("I hear this car pull up outside, Comes to a stop like, skreeee", "Blackshoes on, No that's bad news, Here they come charging up the stairs alright, Sonny just tell us where").

It's quite possible that Strummer had seen early rushes of the film Rude Boy, a film about a fictional roadie for The Clash and featuring lots of live Clash footage from 1977-79, where a subplot involves a drug bust. Or it's possible he was talking from personal experience - what makes the anti-drugs message ("Nobody wants a user, nobody needs a loser") hugely ironic is that members of the group, mainly guitarist Mick Jones, were heavily involved in drug usage at the time. Critic Marcus Gray noted that this fact serves "to rob it of much comedy value."

The song was debuted live on the On Parole tour in June 1978, and remained in the live set into 1979, which is better than most of the Give 'Em Enough Rope non-single tracks. The song was dropped after the Pearl Harbour tour, although it was revived for one last performance in Monterey in September 1979.

The Clash - The Equaliser

The Clash - The Equaliser Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Sandinista!
Released: 1980

The Equaliser Lyrics

No! Gang boss no!
We don't want the whip!

As you get weaker - it will get harder
So don't be like him
Keep your bones of effort and strength
Don't sell them to him

We don't want no gang boss
We want to equalize
To my fathers fathers fathers father
Work was no joy
When his son had grown of age
You got to work now boy
Never ceasing for many years
Want to follow that boy?

Till half and half is equalized
Put down the tools
See the car see the house
See the fabulous jewels
See the world you have built it with shoulders of iron
See the world but it is not yours say the stealers of Zion

Geneva
Wall Street
Who makes them so fat?
Well well me an' you better think about that
In overdrive whooo

Till humanize is equalize
Put down the tools
Every face on every side
Throw down the tools
Stay at home
Don't check with Rome paint strike on the door
It's one to one the fight is on so don't go to war

We don't need no gang boss
We have to equalize

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

The Equaliser

"The Equaliser" is a song often ignored by The Clash, and its writers appear to be slightly ashamed of it - singer Joe Strummer confessed in a 1999 interview with Q magazine that this and other examples (such as the ludicrous Rock Against the Rich tour in 1988, beset by protests from the Socialist Worker newspaper and claims of hypocrisy as to what constituted "the rich" in the first place) that sometimes his social idealist beliefs would blind him and he would become obsessed with the unobtainable.

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 - 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.

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.

The Clash - Hate And War

The Clash - Hate And War Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: The Clash
Released: 1977

Hate And War Lyrics

Hate And War
The only things we got today
An' if I close my eyes
They will not go away
You have to deal with it
It is the currency
Hate, hate, hate, the hate of a nation
A million miles from home
And get war from the junkies
Who don't like my form
I'm gonna stay in the city
Even when the house fall down
I don't dream of a holiday
When hate an' war come around
Hate and war
The only things we got today
Hate and war
The only things

I have the will to survive
I cheat if I can't win
If someone locks me out
I kick my way back in
An' if I get aggression
I give 'em two times back
Every day it's just the same
With hate an' war on my back

Hate and war, I hate all the English, man
Hate and war, they're just as bad as wops
Hate and war, I hate all the politeness
Hate and war, I hate all the cops
Hate and war, I want to walk down any street
Hate and war, looking like a creep
Hate and war, I don't care if I get beat up
Hate and war, by any rotten Greek

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

Hate And War

Singer Joe Strummer noted in a 2002 interview with Uncut magazine that the title "Hate and War" was a direct reversal of the hippy phrase "Love and Peace," done to illustrate the contrast between the optimism and hope of the late 1960s and the grim reality of Britain in the '70s. "It was a good punk rock blast to have a song called that" he said.

In a 1991 interview, Strummer remembered that he "wrote the lyrics in a disused ice cream factory I'd broken into. It was just behind the Harrow Road in Foscote Mews. I wrote it in the dark by candlelight and the next day took it to Rehearsals and Mick put a tune to it."

The lyrics in question are an angry indictment of everyday working class life in London, and a rallying call to toughen up if you want to survive in the mean streets ("I have the will to survive, I cheat if I can't win. If someone locks me out, I kick my back in, an' if I get aggression, I give it to them two time back").

It also controversially uses racist terms such as "wops" and "Kebab Greeks." The lyrics are ambiguous as to their usage, although it would appear the song uses these terms to add to the gritty realistic feel of urban London at the time where such language may well have unfortunately been commonplace.

"Hate and War" was first introduced into The Clash's live set on the Anarchy tour of 1977, and was dropped by 1978, but after that would reappear every so often on tours - the Pearl Harbour tour in 1979 (and on their appearance on the Alright Now TV show), occasionally in Europe in 1980, once in Newcastle in 1982, all of their 1983 US Festival warm-up shows (and the festival itself), and their last festival shows in the summer of 1985 with Strummer handling all lead vocals after original singer on the song Mick Jones had been fired.

The Clash - If Music Could Talk

The Clash - If Music Could Talk Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Sandinista!
Released: 1980

If Music Could Talk Lyrics

Make sure!
Taking cover in the bunker tonight
Waiting for Bo Diddley's headlights
I feel alright
Gotta Fender Stratosphere
I can do anything tonight
It's in neon lights an' global rights
Frank? He's on the phone
There ain't no German girl outside
But who cares when its warm inside?
With music
Special mystery of music tragically
Exchanging slaves for majesties
Modern waves of tragedy
Packing a two piece colt pair of shoots
A shiny grey Mexican suit
The blue eyed traffic can sashay by
'Cause tonight the sailor boys have hit Shanghai
The kick-out traffic goes creaking by
I smash my glass and shout shanghai
My drummer friend comes shooting by
He said Errol Flynn will never die
Oh no! Who am I to question why?
And are you lonesome tonight
And do ya need a country cowboy
Who's just thin and tight in those
Br' bus depot jeans
With a squirt resistant stud stud
Hey stoner

Get over there in the spliff bunker one
Because London Bridge was sold somehow
But it was too old anyhow
When Uncle Sam has broken down
We'll make him down in old Japan
Say ye'

Well there ain't no better blend
Than Joe Ely and his Texas Men
Where the wind blows
I ain't seen none like that scenery
You can see from a bus if you pay the price

Wave my arms around
Flag one of those taxi's maybe
I saw a girl somewhere somehow
Forever sticks in my mind somehow
I've just got three lines
And a pair of two's
Like a lucky roll of dice that you
You cast

If Music Could Talk!
Which means
Whatever your mind can bring
Like the apple fell off the tree
Pah! Fell right on his head
Yeah many years ago

There was a man who said
I am a shaman
A voodoo shaman
Got in trouble so he's going out
Mixing up and Haiti! Oh!
And the crickets
Buddy Holly said it was
Br' br' yee'

If music could talk you know

I feel kinda lonely
Standing out on the floor
Of Electric Ladyland

'cause this is a good question Samson
Are you partly Arabic?

Chi man! Whatcho all about

I don't want to I can't hope to
Say it all in one go
Occasionally once or twice
A day I feel alive enough to say
Let's hear what the drummer man's
Got to say about
He said is it Errol Flynn's birthday or not?
Sept twelfth until October
If they pack two piece
Colt pair of shoots
We got the shiny grey Mexican suits
I'm just wasting a great big
Corporation and the entire fund
The girders of Wall Street
And the temples of money
And the high priests
Of the expense account
And I'm wasting the whole thing
I come down in Yamaha-ha
They make the best pianos-time to step-up

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

If Music Could Talk

The backing track to "If Music Could Talk" is in fact another one of the songs on the Sandinista! album: "Shepherd's Delight," which was recorded at Pluto Studios two months previously with producer Mikey Dread. The band decided to revisit the track, and singer Joe Strummer added a stream-of-consciousness set of lyrics about New York city, including a plethora of references to Joe Ely , Errol Flynn, singer Bo Diddley (whom The Clash had toured with in 1979), Buddy Holly, Jim Morrison and Elvis Presley's song "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

There are also personal references to The Clash themselves, including the Electric Lady studios they had worked, lighting engineer Warren "Stoner" Steadman, and his own "spliffbunker," which was a nest-type contraption Strummer built in whichever studio the band were recording in out of flight cases where he would sit and write songs in peace whilst recording took place elsewhere in the studio.

Production tricks abound on this song, as they do throughout the album. In this case, Joe Strummer double-tracked his vocals, putting one track in the left channel and another in the right to create an all-encompassing sound. Gary Barnacle, session musician and longtime friend of the band, added jazzy saxophone interludes when the song was recorded in Wessex studios in August 1980.

As it's possible to tell from the backing track complexity, this never featured in The Clash's live set, probably because the band just wouldn't be able to do it justice in concert.