 Genius Lyrics
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The Clash – Clampdown
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Clampdown (n.) – a severe or concerted attempt to suppress something.
Its lyrics comment on people who forsake the idealism of youth and urge young people to fight the status quo.
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The Clash – London Calling
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The title “London Calling” alludes to the BBC World Service’s station identification: “This is London calling …”, which was used during World War II, often in broadcasts to
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The Clash – Complete Control
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This classic, seething punk single was released on the US version of The Clash’s debut album and takes aim at the band’s label, CBS records, as well as meddling punk managers of
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The Clash – Hateful
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Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones with vocals by Strummer, the song is about how drugs are simultaneously delightful – because they keep you “from the lonely” – and hateful
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The Clash – Lost in the Supermarket
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[Chorus] / I'm all lost in the supermarket / I can no longer shop happily / I came in here for the special offer / Guaranteed personality / [Verse 1] / I wasn't born, so much as I
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The Clash – White Riot
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On 31 August 1976 band members Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon, then living in squats nearby, joined the rioting in Notting Hill, West London, when hundreds of black youths fought
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The Clash – This Is Radio Clash
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The band’s first single of 1981, “This Is Radio Clash” displayed The Clash’s ability to seamlessly weave their hip-hop and dub influences into a single sound that still maintained
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The Clash – Career Opportunities
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[Verse 1] / They offered me the office, offered me the shop / They said I'd better take anything they'd got / Do you wanna make tea at the BBC? / Do you wanna be, do you really
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The Clash – Straight to Hell
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“Straight to Hell” is a song about immigration, from a British and American perspective.
The first verse deals with the UK, which saw immigration from its former colonies in the
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The Clash – Wrong 'Em Boyo
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“Wrong ‘Em Boyo” (written by Clive Alphonso; and originally performed by The Rulers)
The song also briefly covers Stagger Lee, the song in paints Stagger Lee as explicitly the
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The Clash – (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
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[Intro] / 1,2, a'1, 2,3,4 / [Verse 1] / Ooh / Midnight to six, man / For the first time from Jamaica / Dillinger and a'Leroy Smart / Delroy Wilson, your cool operator / [Verse 2
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The Clash – The Call Up
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The song is about conscientious objection. Strummer and the rest of the Clash grew up in England, which for centuries has celebrated a tradition of fighting “for King/Queen and
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The Clash – We Are the Clash
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Punk rockers, hip-hoppers / Pill poppers, show stoppers / Beboppers, hair droppers / Are you ready to sing? / Right wing, left wing / I want something / To see me through the siege
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The Clash – Lover's Rock
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[Intro] / (Two, three, four) / [Chorus] / Yeah, you must treat your lover girl right / If you wanna make lover's rock / You must know the place you can kiss / To make lover's rock
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The Clash – Death or Glory
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This song is about Clash frontman, the late Joe Strummer, looking back at his life, acknowledging the complications and responsibilities of adulthood. He notes on the error of
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The Clash – Tommy Gun
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Released as a single in November 1978 “Tommy Gun” explores the appeal of extremist groups like the Red Brigade and Baader-Meinhof Gang.
Indeed, Joe had run ins with the terrorist
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The Clash – Rudie Can't Fail
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Like other songs on London Calling, “Rudie Can’t Fail” has a strong reggae influence.
The song revolves around Rudie, who is part of the rude boys, a 1960s Jamaican subculture
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The Clash – The Guns of Brixton
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Classic song from UK punk band The Clash’s most successful and influential album, 1979’s London Calling. Written as a protest about the economic situation for UK youth at the time
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The Clash – Stay Free
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Clash guitarist Mick Jones wrote “Stay Free” for Robin Crocker, a boyhood chum who fell in with the wrong crowd and wound up serving time for robbery. In a 2008 interview with The
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The Clash – Should I Stay or Should I Go
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“Should I Stay or Should I Go” is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash, from their album Combat Rock. It was written in 1981 and featured Mick Jones on lead vocals.
It
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The Clash – I Fought the Law
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“I Fought the Law” is a song written by Sonny Curtis of the Crickets which became popularized by the Bobby Fuller Four, who had a top-ten hit with it in 1966.
In mid-1978, the
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The Clash – Safe European Home
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The meaning behind this song is made clear by a story The Clash have told about a writing trip to Jamaica gone wrong. Singer Joe Strummer and guitarist Mick Jones were sent to
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The Clash – The Card Cheat
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The Card Cheat is the final track on the third side of The Clash’s 3rd LP London Calling.
While working on “The Card Cheat”, the band recorded each part twice to create a “sound
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The Clash – Koka Kola
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This song is notable because The Clash were known for their anti-corporatist rhetoric, and it is out of character for them to create an entire song around a soft drink brand.
They
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The Clash – The Magnificent Seven
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From The Clash’s Sandinista! album, this rap follows the day of a minimum wage supermarket employee. Chronicling a day under the capitalist grind, it’s musically influenced by the
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The Clash – Rock the Casbah
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“Rock The Casbah” was the second single from Combat Rock and the band’s most successful in the US, reaching #8 in January 1983. It also performed well in the UK, peaking at #30.
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The Clash – Four Horsemen
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“Four Horsemen” is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse, who, according to The Book of Revelation, were be unleashed upon the world as harbingers of the Apocalypse
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The Clash – I'm Not Down
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Lead vocals are sung by Mick Jones, who wrote the song as a response and defiance to difficult times he had faced, like the assault described in verse 2.
The first time it was
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The Clash – Washington Bullets
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The melody is similar to “The Card Cheat”, but on a xylophone. This track is from the album Sandinista!, from December 1980.
Joe Strummer once again displays a comprehensive and
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The Clash – 1977
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[Vese 1] / In 1977 / I hope I go to heaven / I too long on the dole / And I can't work at all / [Chorus] / Danger stranger / Ya' better paint your face / No Elvis, Beatles, or the
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The Clash – The Right Profile
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“The Right Profile” is about American actor Montgomery Clift with lyrics alluding to his car crash and subsequent alcohol and drug abuse; the time from his crash in 1956 to his
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The Clash – The Prisoner
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Live premiere at Mont-de-Marsan Festival in August 1977.
Recorded at Marquee Studio (10 Richmond Mews, London W1) in March 1978.
B-side to the “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais
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The Clash – Spanish Bombs
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This song deals with the Spanish Civil War, which devastated Spain from 1936 – 1939 and resulted in a dictatorship led by the Nationalist General Francisco Franco.
The song was
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The Clash – Somebody Got Murdered
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[Verse 1] / Someone lights a cigarette / While riding in a car / Some old guy takes a swig / And passes back the jar / But where they were last night / No one can remember
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The Clash – Something About England
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Historical and musical context:
“Something About England” is one of many crazy musical variations on the Sandinista! album, with The Clash experimenting with Music Hall, one of
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