“Why?” was originally a B-side to the “Ghost Town” single released in June 1981. While the single’s A-side focusses on the social deprivation brought about by the economic conditions of early 1980s Britain, “Why?” takes a very personal look at the rise in racist crime that those same conditions have given birth to.

In July 1980, Specials singer and guitarist Lynval Golding was attacked by a gang of racists outside the Moonlight Club in West Hampstead, London. He was admitted to hospital with broken ribs. “Why?” is his attempt to understand the thoughts and feelings of his attackers, and to condemn the senseless nature of racist violence.