Yes, its 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


Lyrics submitted by aebassist

Capital Radio Lyrics as written by Mick Jones Joe Strummer

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Capital Radio song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    "Hey you guys - come on. Jonesie! (Yeah, what?) Hey listen, I been thinking. We'll never got on the radio like this. You know that? Now, I've been studying the charts, using my mind and my imagination, and I can see it all now. The drummer's in the box-office and he's counting all the money! You guys don't get what to do! Are y'all ready? Alright. On the count of four! Four! Hey! Yes, let's count it! Movin' up! Wow! Pure gold! Hey! Yeah, get that DJ home alive! Have you seen me dance? I'm the one that I want! Oh baby! Slow me down! Slow me down!"

    thedarkcanuckon January 25, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    does anyone know what they're saying at the beginning of this song? there's this big conversation, and i can only make out parts of it.

    susiehighschoolon June 20, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    capital radio wouldnt play the tracks the clash and the rest of the youth were intersted in at the time including the clash's own material and they claimed they were at the heart of london which really pissed off joe strummer and they hated the station for claiming to be what they werent.

    joeytheboyon May 04, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Haha, Jonesie!

    Joe!on April 11, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is just another example of how The Clash were so ahead of their time (or at least timeless.) Replace the word Capitol with the word Corporate and doesn't this pretty much describe radio today?

    cardcheaton May 27, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Strummer about Radio: 'The only person who played ‘White Riot’ on the radio was John Peel — and he's gone on holiday,' says Joe, his voice a mixture of amused incredulity and frustration. 'You play our record against any of the other stuff and it just knocks spots off them left, right and centre. They must be cunts for not playing it.'

    He is holding a can of spray paint (colour: War Dance Orange) and that night he sprayed 'White Riot' in huge letters over the tinted glass façade of Capital Radio's offices.

    'I want to slag off all the people in charge of radio stations,' he continues. 'Firstly, Radio One. They outlawed the pirates and then didn’t, as they promised, cater for the market the pirates created. Radio One and Two, most afternoons, run concurrently and the whole thing has slid right back to where it was before the pirates happened. They've totally fucked it. There's no radio station for young people any more. It's all down to housewives and trendies in Islington. They're killing the country by having that play list monopoly.

    'No 2: Capital. 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.'

    Reinton October 02, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    capital radio was a pirate station (now legal), i make the dr. goebbels association with the fascist-like demonisation of the pirate stations. how can anybody party to state sponsored rock'n'roll!

    ramptonon June 13, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i personally prefer capital radio two to capital one.

    GIJOE77on January 09, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "On the count of four . Four!" Fuckin great

    Joe!on April 11, 2007   Link

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