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The Clash - London Calling Album Lyrics



The Clash - London Calling Lyrics






London Calling

London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
London calling, now don't look to us
Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain't got no swing
Except for the ring of the truncheon thing

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning
I live by the river

London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out and draw another breath
London calling and I don't want to shout
But while we were talking, I saw you nodding out
London calling, see we ain't got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eye

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear era, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning
I, I live by the river

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear era, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning
I, I live by the river

Now get this

London calling, yes, I was there, too
And you know what they said? Well, some of it was true
London calling at the top of the dial
And after all this, won't you give me a smile?

(London calling)

I never felt so much alike, alike, alike, alike
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Brand New Cadillac

Drive!
Drive!

My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
Yes, she did
My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
She said, "Hey, come here, Daddy"
"I ain't never comin' back"

Baby, baby, won't you hear my plea?
C'mon, sugar, just come on back to me
She said, "Balls to you, Big Daddy"

Baby, baby, won't you hear my plea?
Oh come on, just hear my plea
She said, "Balls to you, Daddy"
She ain't coming back to me

Baby, baby drove up in a Cadillac
I said, "Jesus Christ, where'd you get that Cadillac?"
She said, "Balls to you, big Daddy"
She ain't never coming back!
She ain't never coming back!
She ain't never coming back!
She ain't never coming back!
She ain't never coming back!
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Vince Taylor
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.




Jimmy Jazz

Police walked in for Jimmy Jazz
I said, "he ain't here, but he sure went past
Oh, you're looking for Jimmy Jazz"

Satta Massagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and chop off his head
Police come looking for Jimmy Jazz

So if you're gonna take a message 'cross this town
Maybe put it down somewhere over the other side
See it gets to Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, say

Now tell the tale
Police come in they said
"Now, where's Jimmy Jazz?"
I said, "hmm, he was here but, uh, he said, he went out
Who is it they're lookin' for?"
Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Jazz eh

Satta Massagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and they'll chop off his head
Oh, you're lookin' for
Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Jazz

What a relief
I feel like a soldier
Look like a thief
It's for the Jazz

Police come lookin' for the Jimmy Jazz
He came in and he went out
'Cause now they'll get him hanged for that
Jimmy Jazz, Jimmy Jazz

In fact
Don't you bother me, not anymore
I can't take this tale, oh, no more
It's all around
Jimmy Jazz, Jazz

Z, Z, Z, Z
J-A-Z-Z, Z, Z, Z
J-A-Z-Z, J-A-Z-Z
J-A-Z, Jimmy Jazz
And then it sucks
He said, "suck that"

So go look all around, you can try your luck, brother
And see what you found
But I guarantee you that it ain't your day
Your day, it ain't your day
Chop, chop
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Hateful

Well, I got a friend who's a man
What man?
The man who keeps me from the lonely, the only
He gives me what I need
What you need? What you got?
I need it all so badly

Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
It's hateful
And it's paid for and I'm so grateful to be nowhere

This year I've lost some friends
Some friends? What friends?
I dunno, I ain't even noticed

You see, I gotta go out again
Again? My friend
I gotta see the main man

Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
It's hateful
And it's paid for and I'm so grateful to be nowhere

Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
It's hateful
And it's paid for and I'm so grateful to be nowhere

I killed all my nerves
My nerves? What swerves?
And I can't drive so steady, and already

I've lost my memory
My mind? Behind!
I can't see so clearly

Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
Anything I want, anything I want, anything I want, anything I want, anything I want
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Rudie Cant Fail

Now, sing, Michael, sing
On the route of the nineteen bus
We hear them sayin'

How you get a rude and a reckless?
Don't you be so crude and feckless
You been drinking brew for breakfast
Rudie can't fail (no, no)

We reply

I know that my life make you nervous
But I tell you I can't live in service
Like the doctor who was born for a purpose
Rudie can't fail (ok)

I went to the market to realize my soul
What I need I just don't have (oh no)
First they curse, then they press me 'til I hurt
They say, Rudie can't fail

First you must cure your temper
Then find a job in a paper
You need someone for a savior
Rudie can't fail

We reply

Now we get a rude and a reckless
To be seen lookin' cool an' speckless
And drinking brew for breakfast
Rudie can't fail (no, no, no)

I went to the market to realize my soul
'Cause what I need I just don't have
First they curse, then they press me 'til I hurt
Rudie can't fail

Okay! Okay!
So where you want to go today?
Hey, boss man!
You're looking pretty smart
(Chicken skin suit) with your chicken skin suit
You think you're pretty hot
(Pork pie hat) In the pork pie hat

Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
Rudie can't fail
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Spanish Bombs

Spanish songs in Andalucía
The shooting sites in the days of '39
Oh, please, leave the vendanna open
Federico Lorca is dead and gone
Bullet holes in the cemetery walls
The black cars of the Guardia Civil
Spanish bombs on the Costa Rica
I'm flying in a DC 10 tonight

Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón

Spanish weeks in my disco casino
The freedom fighters died upon the hill
They sang the red flag
They wore the black one
But after they died it was Mockingbird Hill
Back home the buses went up in flashes
The Irish tomb was drenched in blood
Spanish bombs shatter the hotels
My senorita's rose was nipped in the bud

Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón

The hillsides ring with "Free the people"
Or can I hear the echo from the days of '39?
With trenches full of poets
The ragged army, fixin' bayonets to fight the other line
Spanish bombs rock the province
I'm hearing music from another time
Spanish bombs on the Costa Brava
I'm flying in on a DC 10 tonight

Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Spanish bombs, yo te quiero infinito
Yo te quiero, oh mi corazón
Oh mi corazón, oh mi corazón

Spanish songs in Andalucía, Mandolina, oh mi corazón
Spanish songs in Granada, oh mi corazón
Oh mi corazón, oh mi corazón
Oh mi corazón
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Gabriel Sopena, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Gustave Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




The Right Profile

(Strummer/Jones)

Say, where did I see this guy?
In Red River?
Or a place in the sun?
Maybe the Misfits?
Or From Here to Eternity?

Everybody say, "Is he all right?"
And everybody say, "What's he like?"
Everybody say, "He sure look funny."
That's...Montgomery Clift, honey!

New York, New York, New York, 42nd Street
Hustlers rustle and pimps pimp the beat
Monty Clift is recognized at dawn
He ain't got no shoes and his clothes are torn

I see a car smashed at night
Cut the applause and dim the light
Monty's face is broken on a wheel
Is he alive? Can he still feel?

Nembutol numbs it all
But I prefer alcohol

He said go out and get me my old movie stills
Go out and get me another roll of pills
There I go again shaking, but I ain't got the chills

ARRRGHHHGORRA BUH BHUH DO ARRRRGGGGHHHHNNNN!!!!
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: JOE STRUMMER, MICK JONES, PAUL SIMONON, TOPPER HEADON
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Lost In The Supermarket

(Strummer/Jones)

[Chorus:]
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in her for that special offer
A guaranteed personality

I wasn't born so much as I fell out
Nobody seemed to notice me
We had a hedge back home in the suburbs
Over which I never could see

I heard the people who lived on the ceiling
Scream and fight most scarily
Hearing that noise was my first ever feeling
That's how it's been all around me

[Chorus]

I'm all tuned in, I see all the programmes
I save coupons from packets of tea
I've got my giant hit discoteque album
I empty a bottle and I feel a bit free

The kids in the halls and the pipes in the walls
Make me noises for company
Long distance callers make long distance calls
And the silence makes me lonely

[Chorus]

And it's not hear
It disappear
I'm all lost


[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Clampdown

The kingdom is ransacked
The jewels all taken back
And the chopper descends
They're hidden in the back
With a message written on a half-baked potato
The spool goes 'round
Sayin' I'm back here in this place
And I could cry
And there's smoke you could click on

What are we gonna do now?

Taking off his turban, they said, "is this man a Jew?"
'Cause they're working for the clampdown
They put up a poster saying: "We earn more than you
We're working for the clampdown
We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue-eyed men
To be young believers"

The judge said, five to ten, but I say double that again
I'm not working for the clampdown
No man born with a living soul
Can be working for the clampdown
Kick over the wall 'cause government's to fall
How can you refuse it?
Let fury have the hour, anger can be power
Do you know that you can use it?

The voices in your head are calling
Stop wasting your time, there's nothing coming
Only a fool would think someone could save you
The men at the factory are old and cunning
You don't owe nothing, boy, get runnin'
It's the best years of your life they want to steal

But you grow up and you calm down
And working for the clampdown
You start wearing blue and brown
You're working for the clampdown
So you got someone to boss around
It make you feel big now
You drift until you brutalize
Make your first kill now

In these days of evil Presidentes
Working for the clampdown
But lately one or two has fully paid their due
For working for the clampdown
Ha! Get along! Get along! (working for the clampdown)
Ha! Get along! Get along! (working for the clampdown)

Yeah, I'm working hard in Harrisburg
Working hard in Petersburg
Working for the clampdown
Working for the clampdown
Ha! Get along! Get along!
Beggin' to be melted down

(Get along! Get along!)

Work, work, work
And I'll give away no secrets
Work, work, more work, more work
Work, work, work, work, work

Who's barmy now?
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Topper Headon, Paul Gustave Simonon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




The Guns Of Brixton

(Paul Simonon)

When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

When the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement
Or waiting on death row

You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton

The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell

You see, he feels like Ivan
Born under the Brixton sun
His game is called survivin'
At the end of the harder they come

You know it means no mercy
They caught him with a gun
No need for the Black Maria
Goodbye to the Brixton sun

You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton

When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton

Shot down on the pavement
Waiting in death row
His game is called survivin'
As in heaven as in hell

You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: PAUL SIMONON
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Wrong Em Boyo

(C. Alphanso)

Stagger Lee met Billy and they go down to gambling
Stagger Lee throwed seven
Billy said that he throwed eight
So Billy said, hey Stagger! I'm gonna make my big attack
I'm gonna have to leave my knife in your back

Why do you try to cheat?
And trample people under your feet
Don't you know it is wrong?
To cheat the trying man
So you better stop, it is the wrong 'em boyo

You lie, steal, cheat and deceit
In such a small, small game
Don't you know it is wrong

Billy Boy has been shot
And Stagger Lee's come out on top
Don't you know it is wrong
To cheat the trying man
To cheat Stagger man
You'd better stop
So you must start all over again-all over again
You got to play it, Billy, play, you got to play it, Billy, play
And you will find it is the right 'em boyo

But if you must lie and deceit
And trample people under your feet
Don't you know it is wrong
It is the wrong 'em boyo
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher




Death Or Glory

(Hey!)

Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the world
Ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl
"Love 'n' hate" tattooed across the knuckles of his hands
Hands that slap his kids around 'cause they don't understand how

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story

And every gimmick hungry yob digging gold from rock 'n' roll
Grabs the mike to tell us he'll die before he's sold
But I believe in this and it's been tested by research
He who f*cks nuns will later join the church

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story

Fear in the gun sights
They say "lie low"
You say "okay"
Don't wanna play a show
No other thinking
Was it death or glory now?
Playing the blues of kings
Sure looks better now

Death or glory, just another story
Death or glory, just another story

In every dingy basement on every dingy street
Every dragging hand clap over every dragging beat
That's just the beat of time, beat that must go on
If you've been trying for years we already heard your song

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory, just another story

Gotta march a long way
Fight a long time
You got to travel over mountains
Got to travel over seas
We gonna fight your brother
We gonna fight 'til you loose
We gonna raise trouble
We gonna raise hell
We gonna fight your brother
Raise hell

Death or glory becomes just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story

Death or glory, just another story
Death or glory becomes just another story
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Koka Kola

Elevator goin' up
In the gleaming corridors of the fifty-first floor
The money can be made if you really want some more
Executive decision, a clinical precision
Jumping from the windows, filled with indecision

I get good advice from the advertising world
Treat me nice, party girl
Koke adds life where there isn't any
So freeze, man, freeze

It's the pause that refreshes in the corridors of power
When top men need a top up long before the happy hour
Your snakeskin suit and your alligator boot
You won't need a launderette, you can take 'em to the vet!

I get my advice from the advertising world
"Treat me nice", says the party girl
Koke adds life where there isn't any
So freeze, man, freeze

Koka Kola advertising and cocaine
Strolling down the Broadway in the rain
Neon light sign says it
I read it in the paper, they're crazy
Yeah, suit your life, maybe so
In the White House, I know
All over Berlin, they do it for years
And in Manhattan

Coming through the door is a snub nose forty four
What the barrel can't snort it can spatter on the floor
Your eyeballs feel like pinballs
And your tongue feels like a fish
You're leapin' from the windows sayin'
"Don't get me none of this!"

Koke adds life, advertising world
"Treat me nice", says the party girl
Koke adds life where there isn't any
So freeze, man, freeze

Hit the deck
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




The Card Cheat

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 the things he planned
With a card up his sleeve, what would he achieve?
It means nothing!

To the opium den and the bar room 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 an forced to hi 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
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: JOE STRUMMER, MICK JONES, PAUL SIMONON, TOPPER HEADON
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Lovers Rock

(Strummer/Jones)

Yeh, you must treat your lover girl right
If you wanna make lover's rock
You must know a place you can kiss to make lovers rock
'Cause everybody knows it's a crying shame
But nobody knows the poor babie's name
When she forgot that thing that she had to swallow

You Western man, you're free with your seed
When you make lovers rock
But woops! there goes the strength that you need
To make real cool lovers rock
'Cause a genuine lover takes off his clothes
And he can make a lover in a thousand go's
An' she don't need that thing that she had to swallow
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: JOE STRUMMER, MICK JONES, PAUL SIMONON, TOPPER HEADON
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Four Horsemen

(Strummer/Jones)

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 al lthe foods of vanity
And all the instant promises of immortality
Buyt 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 horsement coming right through
Four horsemen and they're pissing by you
They make you look like you're wearing a truss
Four hosemen and it's gonna be us

Well they gave useverything 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 scews at the back of the tongue
But we still told nothing 'bout what was to come
Four horsemen
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: JOE STRUMMER, MICK JONES, PAUL SIMONON, TOPPER HEADON
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Im Not Down

If it's true that a rich man lead s a sad life
N' that's what they from day to day
Then what do all the poor do with their lives?
Have nothing to say on judgment day?

I've been beat up, I've been thrown
Out but I'm not down, I'm not down
I've been shown up, but I've grown up
ANd I'm not down, I'm not down

On my own I faced a gang of jeering in strange streets
When my nerves were pumping and I
Fought my fear in, I did not run
I was not done

ANd I have lived that kind of day
When one of your sorrows will go away
It goes down and down and hit the floor
Down and down and down some more
Depression
But K now there'll be some way
When I can swing everything back my way
Like skyscrapers rising up
Floor by floor, I'm not giving up

So you rock around and think that
You're the ferfest
In the world, the whole wide world
But you're streets away from where
It gets the roughest
You ain't been there
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: JOE STRUMMER, MICK JONES, PAUL SIMONON, TOPPER HEADON
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Revolution Rock

Revolution rock, it is a brand new rock
A bad, bad rock, this here revolution rock

Careful how you move, Mac, you dig me in me back
An' I'm so pilled up that I rattle
I have got the sharpest knife, so I cut the biggest slice
I got no time to do battle, hey

Everybody smash up your seats and rock to this
Brand new beat
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your ma, tell your pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Gonna be alright

Revolution rock, I am in a state of shock
So bad, bad rock, this here revolution rock

Careful how you slide, Clyde, all you did was glide
You poured your beer in me hat
Keep my good eye on the beat, living on fixation street
I ain't got no time for that, hey

Everybody smash up your seats and rock to this
Brand new beat
This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your mama, tell your pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Gonna be alright

Revolution rock
Get that cheese-grater going, against the grain
Wearing me down
Pressure increaase

(Everybody!) Everybody smash up your seats and rock to this
Brand new beat
This here music mash up nations
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your mama, forgive your papa, everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Gonna be alright

Revolution rock

To the cruelest mobsters in Kingstown
With the hardest eyes and the cruelest tongue
Is your heart so made of rock
That the blood must run 'round the block?
Are you listening mobsters? Hey!
All people grow old, gotta die
While those kinda fools go rolling by
It's food for thought, mobsters
Young people shoot their days away
I've seen talent thrown away
All you loan sharks!

The organ plays
And they're dancing to the brand new beat
This here music mash up nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your ma-ma-ma-ma, tell your pa-pa-pa-pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don't ignore it
Everything's gonna be alright
I say, revolution rocks

There's that old cheese grater
Rubbing me down
This must be the way out

Here's the cheap bit
Ooh la ooh la ooh la

Any song you want
Playing requests now on the bandstand
El Clash Combo
Paid fifteen dollars a day
Weddings, parties, anything
And Bongo Jazz a speciality
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: D. Ray, J. Edwards
Copyright: Lyrics © Red Brick Music Publishing, O/B/O CAPASSO




Train In Vain

You say you stand by your man
Tell me something I don't understand
You said you love me and that's a fact
And then you left me, said you felt trapped

Well, some things you can explain away
But the heartache's in me 'til this day

You didn't stand by me
No, not at all
You didn't stand by me
No way

All the times
When we were close
I'll remember these things the most
I see all my dreams come tumbling down
I can't be happy without you around

So alone I keep the wolves at bay
And there's only one thing I can say

You didn't stand by me
No, not at all
You didn't stand by me
No way

You must explain why this must be
Did you lie when you spoke to me?

Did you stand by me?
No, not at all

Now I got a job
But it don't pay
I need new clothes
I need somewhere to stay
But without all of these things I can do
But without your love I won't make it through

But you don't understand my point of view
I suppose there's nothing I can do

You didn't stand by me
No, not at all
You didn't stand by me
No way

You didn't stand by me
No, not at all
You didn't stand by me
No way

You must explain why this must be
Did you lie when you spoke to me?

Did you stand by me?

Did you stand by me?
No, not at all
Did you stand by me?
No way
Did you stand by me?
No, not at all
Did you stand by me?
No way
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon
Copyright: Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group




Back to: The Clash


London Calling is the third studio album by the English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records.

The Clash recorded the album with producer Guy Stevens at Wessex Sound Studios in London over a five- to six-week period starting in August 1979, following a change in management and a period of writer's block for songwriters Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. Bridging a traditional punk rock sound and a new wave aesthetic, London Calling reflects the band's growing interest in styles beyond their punk roots, including reggae, rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock. Lyrical themes include social displacement, unemployment, racial conflict, drug use, and the responsibilities of adulthood.

The album was a top ten chart success in the UK, and its lead single "London Calling" was a top 20 single. The album has sold over five million copies worldwide, and was certified platinum in the US for sales of one million.

It was also met with widespread critical acclaim and has retrospectively been named one of the greatest albums of all time. On Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, London Calling was ranked number 8 in the 2003 and 2012 editions, and number 16 in the 2020 edition. In 2010, it was one of ten classic album covers from British artists commemorated on a UK postage stamp issued by the Royal Mail.
Performed By: The Clash
Genre(s): Punk rock, new wave, post-punk
Producer(s): Guy Stevens
Released: December 14th, 1979
Year: 1979

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