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The Clash: London Calling

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Columbia Records
Released: 1979.12.14
Time:
 65:09
Category: Punk
Producer(s): Guy Stevens
Rating: *********. (9/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.theclashonline.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2007.11.01
Price in €: 9,99





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] London Calling (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:20
[2] Brand New Cadillac (V.Taylor) - 2:08
[3] Jimmy Jazz (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:54
[4] Hateful (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 2:44
[5] Rudie Can't Fail (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:29
[6] Spanish Bombs (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:18
[7] The Right Profile (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:54
[8] Lost in the Supermarket (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:47
[9] Clampdown (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:49
[10] The Guns of Brixton (P.Simonon) - 3:09
[11] Wrong 'Em Boyo (C.Alphanso) - 3:10
[12] Death or Glory (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:55
[13] Koka Kola (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 1:47
[14] The Card Cheat (The Clash) - 3:49
[15] Lover's Rock (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 4:03
[16] Four Horsemen (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 2:55
[17] I'm Not Down (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:06
[18] Revolution Rock (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 5:33
[19] Train in Vain (M.Jones/J.Strummer) - 3:09

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l

Mick Jones - Guitar, Piano, Vocals
Joe Strummer - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
Paul Simonon - Bass, Vocals
Topper Headon - Percussion, Drums

Mick Gallagher - Organ
Irish Horns - Brass

Guy Stevens - Producer
Bill Price - Chief Engineer
Jerry Green - Second Engineer
Pennie Smith - Photography
Ray Lowry - Design
Baker Glare - Pre-Production
Rob Lowry - Cover Design
Varren Steadman - Lighting

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1979 LP Epic 36328
1988 CD Epic CASHCD2
1990 CD Epic 36328
1990 CD Epic EGK-36328
1990 CS Epic EGT-36328
1999 CD Columbia 10
1999 CD Columbia 495347 2
1989 CD Sony Mid-Price 4601142
2000 CD Epic 63885
2000 CS Epic 63885
2004 LP Epic 63885
2004 CD Sony Mid-Price 4953472

Recorded at Wessex Studios.

Digitally remastered from the original production master tapes, this a reissue of the 1979 & third album by 'the only band that matters'. Features the original artwork and all 19 of the original tracks, including the hidden hit 'Train In Vain (Stand By Me)', their first U.S. single to chart (it reached #23 at the time). Also contains reproductions of the original LP sleeves, including the lyrics. 1999 release.

If punk rejected pop history, LONDON CALLING reclaimed it, albeit with a knowing perspective. The scope of this double set is breaktaking, encompassing reggae, rockabilly and the group's own furious mettle. Where such a combination might have proved over-ambitious, the Clash accomplish it with swaggering panache. Guy Stevens, who produced the group's first demos, returns to the helm to provide a confident, cohesive sound equal to the set's brilliant array of material. Boldlyassertive and superbly focused, London Calling contains many of the quartet's finest songs and is, by extension, virtually faultless.



Bursting at the seams with creative energy, the Clash's stunning 1979 double album more than made up for the artistic and commercial disappointment of its predecessor, 1978's tried-too-hard Give 'Em Enough Rope. With ex-Mott the Hoople producer Guy Stevens harnessing their sound as never before, the band yielded what proved to be the best work of their career. Bouncing from hard rock (the apocalyptic vision of the title track) to rockabilly ("Brand New Cadillac") to reggae ("Rudy Can't Fail") to pop (the Top 40 hit "Train in Vain"), the Clash knocked down all musical walls and, in the process, ended the argument over punk's viability in the U.S.

Billy Altman - Amazon.com essential recording



Dieses phänomenale Clash Doppelalbum, das vor lauter kreativer Energie aus allen Nähten platzt ist schon mehr als nur die Wiedergutmachung für die künstlerische und kommerzielle Enttäuschung des verkrampften und bemühten 78er Albums Give 'Em Enough Rope. Mit dem ehemaligen Mott-the-Hoople-Produzenten Guy Stevens, der ihren Sound mal so richtig in die Hand nahm, brachte die Band hier etwas zustande, was sich als die beste Arbeit ihrer gesamten Karriere herausstellen würde. Sämtliche musikalischen Barrieren ignorierend schlagen The Clash auf London Calling den Bogen von Hard-Rock (die Apokalypse-Vision des Titelsongs) zu Rockabilly ("Brand New Cadillac") und über Reggae ("Rudy Can`t Fail") bis hin zu Pop (der Top 40-Hit "Train In Vain"). Und ganz nebenbei beendeten sie hiermit die Diskussionen über die Lebensfähigkeit von Punk in Amerika.

Billy Altman - Amazon.de



Sänger Joe Strummer und seine wilde Meute machten Front gegen den Rassismus und den sozialen Scherbenhaufen in Großbritannien: Die Gruppe Clash schuf mit der Doppel-CD London Calling einen Klassiker der Punkmusik und damit auch ein wichtiges, zeitgeschichtliches Rock-Dokument.

© Audio



Punk's death knell had already been called, but London Calling found The Clash fighting a heroic rear guard battle. Having shelved the no-frills heads-down thunder of The Clash and Give 'Em Enough Rope, London Calling was an extravagant benchmark. Ostensibly about the ideological and real struggles that rent British society asunder at the end of the 1970s, London Calling was couched in the language of revolutionary desperadoes. Influenced by reggae and ska, and augmented by the Irish Horns, the result was one of the most heady, celebratory rock & roll records to have come out of the punk movement. For every traditional rabble-rouser like "Rudie Can't Fail" or "Revolution Rock", though, there was a starker truth to London Calling found in "Guns Of Brixton", or a shred of poignancy in "Lost In The Supermarket" that confirmed The Clash's ideological importance to a generation. Seldom, if ever, had punk sounded so gloriously righteous, but so damn right.

Louis Pattison - Amazon.co.uk



Give 'Em Enough Rope, for all of its many attributes, was essentially a holding pattern for the Clash, but the double-album London Calling is a remarkable leap forward, incorporating the punk aesthetic into rock & roll mythology and roots music. Before, the Clash had experimented with reggae, but that was no preparation for the dizzying array of styles on London Calling. There's punk and reggae, but there's also rockabilly, ska, New Orleans R&B, pop, lounge jazz, and hard rock; and while the record isn't tied together by a specific theme, its eclecticism and anthemic punk function as a rallying call. While many of the songs -- particularly "London Calling," "Spanish Bombs," and "The Guns of Brixton" -- are explicitly political, by acknowledging no boundaries the music itself is political and revolutionary. But it is also invigorating, rocking harder and with more purpose than most albums, let alone double albums. Over the course of the record, Joe Strummer and Mick Jones (and Paul Simonon, who wrote "The Guns of Brixton") explore their familiar themes of working-class rebellion and antiestablishment rants, but they also tie them in to old rock & roll traditions and myths, whether it's rockabilly greasers or "Stagger Lee," as well as mavericks like doomed actor Montgomery Clift. The result is a stunning statement of purpose and one of the greatest rock & roll albums ever recorded. [In 2000 Columbia/Legacy reissued and remastered London Calling.]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



By 1979, the Clash had established themselves as one of the premier avatars of the punk movement, but the release of London Calling made a strong case for their consideration among rock's all-time greats. The two-record set is a sprawling epic that captures the raw intensity of their earlier work on some tracks, opens new vistas on others, and in general reveals a considerably more mature and adventurous band of punks. "Train in Vain" even made it to the American pop charts, while the title track captures all the anger and dismay of Thatcherite England. "Spanish Bombs" refines the blueprint for heroic anthems, and "Lost in the Supermarket" takes the contempt of their earlier "I'm So Bored with the U.S.A." and morphs it into a scathing critique of consumerism. Elsewhere, their facility with reggae and rockabilly influences enhanced their role as low-fi aesthetes. Rolling Stone proclaimed London Calling the No.1 record of the '80s despite its British release date of 1979, but such a distinction only underscores the album's value as one of the best recordings of any decade.

Martin Johnson - Barnes & Nobel



Rolling Stone (11/89) - Ranked #1 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey.

Rolling Stone (p.100) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[The album] sounds crucial right now because of righteous blasts such as the title track."

Q (5/02 SE, p.136) - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums".

Q (6/00, p.90) - Ranked #4 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums"

Q (12/99, pp.152-3) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...19-track, filler-free double album....the best Clash album and therefore among the very best albums ever recorded..."

Mojo (3/03, p.76) - Ranked #22 in Mojo's "Top 50 Punk Albums" - "...The iconic sleeve shot of a bass-shredding Paul Simonon is well matched by the music..."

Mojo (p.123) - 5 stars out of 5 - "The Clash demonstrated beyond any doubt that they had grown beyond their apocalyptic but parochial West London horizons to become a world-class band with a world-wide vision."

Uncut (p.122) - 5 stars out of 5 - "LONDON CALLING engages soul riffs, reggae beats and vintage rock'n'roll as a band of true blood brothers define their battle-scarred universe. As remarkable now as it was 25 years ago."

Alternative Press (8/01, p.112) - Included in AP's "10 Essential '80s Albums".

Alternative Press (3/00, pp.74-5) - 4 out of 5 - "...This is a definitive album in rock's pantheon, and surely a WHITE ALBUM for the sub-generation lost between hippie idealism and MTV digitalism..."

Magnet (p.112) - "Big, arena-friendly anthems, infectious blue-beat winners and punch-drunk, New Orleans-style R&B workouts....[S]imply one of the era's landmark records."

CMJ (1/5/04, p.6) - Ranked #3 in CMJ's "Top 20 Most-Played Albums of 1980".

Vibe (12/99, p.160) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century

NME (9/11/93, p.18) - Ranked #6 in NME's list of The Greatest Albums Of The '70s - "...To hear a group blam away so fluently is a joy..."



In 1979, London Calling was sold with a sticker declaring that the Clash were the only band that matters, and they acted as if they believed their own hype. Broadcasting from the middle of the wild-eyed mess that was English punk rock, a milieu that often dismissed idealism as a liability, the band was criticized as being too serious, even too nice, while its peers, the Sex Pistols, were uniformly regarded as the real thing. Twenty-five years later, Sony has expanded this reissue of the group's third album with some raw demo recordings and a DVD of documentary films, even as the basic political nightmares the Clash ripped into on the album have expanded exponentially. Then as now, it would seem that idealism was underrated. London Calling is indeed a serious, ridiculously ambitious punk album that resonates within a largely American history of rebellion -- the lyrics invoke anti-heroes from tough-guy actor Robert Mitchum to gangsta legend Stagga Lee. It was originally underestimated as simply a bridge to reggae, classic rock & roll and pop radio. True, "Lover's Rock" is a jubilant rush of electric guitar and piano that breathlessly evokes the tenderness of reggae without becoming reggae. And the shuddering, unforgettable "Train in Vain," which broke the band commercially in the States, is that rarest of hits: The hand claps and harmonica sound vaguely prefabricated, but Mick Jones' wounded vocal feels utterly genuine, and the tune stays with you like a black eye. The "lost" Clash songs unearthed for this release were lost for a reason: "Heart and Mind" is an anthemic throwaway, and "Lonesome Me," had it been released, would have killed cow-punk before it was invented. But London Calling proper sounds crucial right now because of righteous blasts such as the title track, which wails like a hundred car alarms. "The Guns of Brixton" is a dread-sick skank, a reggae song that evinces punk's political violence. The most astonishing number is "Clampdown," which burns through the middle of the album with kneecap-cracking beats and a heroic three-note guitar solo. It may be the most defiant rock song ever committed to plastic. (An early version, "Working and Waiting," is also here.) Feeling resigned to another four years of the Bush administration? Listen to London Calling and flame on, brothers and sisters.

PAT BLASHILL (Sep 22, 2004)
Rolling Stone
 

 L y r i c s


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
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain't got no swing
'Cept for the reign of that truncheon thing

CHORUS
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 and I, live by the river

London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go at it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out - and draw another breath
London calling - and I don't wanna 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 eyes

CHORUS x2
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, I live by the river

Now get this
London calling, yes, I was there, too
An' 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, like-a, like-a...


Brand New Cadillac

Drive!!!
Drive!!!

My baby rolled 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 coming back!"

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

Baby, baby, won't you hear my plea?
Oh a-c'mon, just hear my plea
She said, "Balls to you, Daddy."
She ain't coming back to me

All-right!

Baby, baby drove up in a Cadillac
I said, "Jesus Christ! Where'd you get that Cadillac?"
She said, "Balls to you, Daddy."
She ain't never coming back!
Yeah she ain’t never coming back
She ain’t a-never coming back
She ain’t a-never coming back
She ain’t never coming back


Jimmy Jazz

The police walked in for Jimmy Jazz
I said, he ain't here, but he sure went past
Oh, you're look for Jimmy Jazz

Sattamassagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and chop off his head
Police came 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 (See)

So tell me now
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 looking for?
Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Jazz eh

Sattamassagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and they'll chop off his head
Oh you're looking for
Jimmy Jazz, Jazz...

What a relief!
I feel like a soldier,
But I look like a thief!

The police walked in for Jimmy Jazz
I said, he ain't here, but he sure went past
Oh, you're look for Jimmy Jazz

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

J-a-zee zee J-a-zed zed
J-a-zed zed 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 time, it ain't your day

Chop! Chop!


Hateful

Well, I got a friend who's a man (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 oh so badly

Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
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 that main man

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

You know – ooh
Yeah
Ooh

Yeeeeeeah… Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
Hateful
Yep, 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, an 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
hateful
(Anything I want) he gives it to me
(Anything I want) me
(Anything I want) but not for free
(Anything I want) to me
Anything I want


udie Can't Fail

Sing, Michael, sing
On the route of the 19 Bus!

We hear them sayin'
How you get a rude and a-reckless?
Don't you be so crude and a feckless
You been drinking brew for breakfast
Rudie can't fail, no, no

So we reply
I know that my life make you nervous
But I tell you that I can't live in service
Like the doctor who was born for a purpose***
Rudie can't fail

Okay, I went to the market to realise my soul
Cos what I need I just don’t have, oh no
First they cursed then they pressed me ‘till I hurt
We say Rudie can’t fail

Woah, first you must cure your temper
Then you find a job in a paper
You need someone for a saviour
Then Rudie can't fail, oh no

We reply
Now we get a rude and a reckless
We been seen lookin' cool an' a speckless
We been drinking brew for breakfast
Rudie can't fail oh, no, no

I went to the market to realise my soul
Cos what I need I just don’t have – ah!
First they cursed then they pressed me ‘till I hurt
Saying Rudie can’t fail

Okay! okay
So where you wanna go today?
Hey boss man! Hup-yeah
You're looking pretty smart
In your chicken skin suit
With your chicken

You think you're pretty hot
In the pork pie hard
In your pork pie hat
Look out, look out...
Sky juice!...10 cents a bottle!
But...Rudie can't fail
Oh yeah
Rudie can’t fail
Yeah, yeah
Rudie can’t fail
Bring it back, bring it back, bring it back
Yeah, Rudie can’t fail
Yeah Rudie can’t fail
Rudie can’t fail
Yeah-hey-hey-hey-hey
Rudie can’t fail
Yeah-hey-hey-hey-hey
Rudie can’t fail
Rudie can’t fail
Rudie can’t fail
Rudie can’t fail
Chicken skin shoes!

* DOCTOR ALIMANTADO


Spanish Bombs

Spanish songs in Andalucia,
the shooting sites in the days of ’39.
Oh, please leave, the VENTANA 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 señorita’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, fixing 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 Andalucia:
mandolina, oh mi corazón.
Spanish songs in Granada, oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón,
oh mi corazón.


The Right Profile

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?"
And everybody say, "He sure look funny."
That's...Montgomery Clift, honey!

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

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

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?

And everybody say, "Is he all right?"
And everybody say, "shine the light”
Everybody say, "It's not funny."
That's Montgomery Clift, honey!

Seen his right profile

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

Nembutal numbs it all
But I prefer… alcohol!

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

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!!!!

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


Lost in the Supermarket

CHORUS
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here 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

CHORUS 2x

I'm all lost 6x (CHORUS: Background 2x)

CHORUS

I'm all lost 3x

CHORUS (fade)


Clampdown

1-2-3-4!
Hey, hey!
Ooh!
the kingdom is ransacked
the jewels all taken back
and the chopper descends
they're hidden in the back
with a message on a half-baked tape
with the spool going round
saying im 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?
’Cos working for the clampdown
They put up a poster saying we earn more than you!
When 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
D'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, so boy get runnin'
It's the best years of your life they want to steal

But, you grow up and you calm down and
You're working for the clampdown
You start wearing the blue and brown and
You're working for the clampdown
So you got someone to boss around
It makes you feel big now
You drift until you brutalize
You made 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! Gitalong! Gitalong!
Working for the clampdown
Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong!
Working for the clampdown

Yeah I’m working hard in Harrisburg
Working hard in Petersburg
Working for the clampdown
Working for the clampdown
Ha! Gitalong! Gitalong
Begging to be melted down
Gitalong, gitalong
Work
Work
And I give away no secrets – ha!
Work
More work
Work
Work


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

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
But you'll have to answer to
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


Wrong 'Em Boyo

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
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
To cheat the trying man
Don't you know it is wrong
To cheat the trying man
You'd better stop, it is the Wrong 'Em Boyo

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
Don't you know it is wrong
To cheat Stagger man
You'd better stop
It is the Wrong 'Em Boyo

you must start all over again-all over again
don't you know it is wrong
You got to play it, Billy, play,
don't you know it is wrong
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
To cheat the trying man
Don't you know it is wrong
To cheat the trying man
You better stop.
It is the wrong 'em boyo(x6)


Death or Glory

Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the
world
And 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

'N' 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 fucks nuns will later join the church

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

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Fear in the down sex
they say lie low
You say ok
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

From every dingy basement on every dingy street
every dragging handclap over every dragging beat
That's just the beat of time-the 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

Gonna march a long way
Fight a long time
Get 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
We gonna 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


Koka Kola

Elevator! Going up!
In the gleaming corridor of the 51st 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 says the 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 send them 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 kokaine
Strolling down the Broadway in the rain
Neon light sign says it
I read it in the paper-they're crazy!
Suit your life, maybe so
In the White House-I know
All Over Berlin (they've been doing it for years)
And in Manhattan!

Coming through the door is a snub-nose 44
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 leaping from the windows-saying
Ayaiiiiirrrghhh! *@!!*@!!*!
Don't give me none of this!

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


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

From the opium den and the barroom gin
And 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 the lance and the musket and the 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

(Slower)
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
 

Lover's Rock

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


Four Horsemen

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


I'm Not Down

If it's true a rich man leads a sad life
That's what they say, from day to day
Then what do the poor do with their lives?
On judgment day, with nothin' to say?

I've been beat up, I've been thrown Out
But I'm not down, Oh I'm not down
I've been shown up, but I've grown up
And I'm not down, Oh I'm not down

On my own I faced a gang of jeering
In strange streets
When my nerves were pumping out
I Fought my fear in, I didn't run
I was not done

I've been beat up, I've been thrown Out
But I'm not down, No I'm not down
I've been shown up, but I've grown up
And I'm not down, No I'm not down

So I have lived, that kind of day
When none of your sorrows will go away
Go down and down and hit the floor
Down and down and down some more
Depression
But I know, 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 toughest
In the world, the whole wide world
But you're streets away from where
It gets the roughest
You ain't been there


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
But I have 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 All-ri-right

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
And you poured your beer in me hat
With my good eye on the beat, living on fixation street
And 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 ma-ma, tell your pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don’t ignore it
Gonna be All-ri-right

Revolution rock
Hey so get that cheese greater going against the grain
Wearing new the gown
Presses into his…
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 ma-ma, yes tell your pa-pa yes everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don’t ignore it
Gonna be All-ri-right

Revolution rock
To the coolest Mobsters in Kingtown
With the hardest eyes
And the coolest tongue

Is your heart made to rough?
That the blood must flow ‘round the clock

Are you listening mobsters
Yay! All people crawl are gonna die
While carnival goes rolling by
Ti’s food for thought mobsters
Young people shoot their days away
I feel kind of thrown away
Are you loan shark?
The organ plays!
And they’re dancing ot the brand new beet

This here music mash up the nation
This here music cause a sensation
Tell your ma-ma-ma, tell your pa-pa-pa everything's gonna be all right
Can't you feel it? Don’t ignore it
everything’s gonna be All-ri-right

I say revolution rock

There’s that old cheese greater
Rubbing me down
This must be the way out
Here’s the cheap bit
Oola-oola-oola
Any song you want
(oola-oola-oola)
Playing requests now on the bandstand
(oola-oola-oola)
El Clash combo
(oola-oola-oola)
Pays fifteen dollars a day
Weddings, parties, anything
With Bongo Jazz a speciality


Train in Vain

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

Well some things you can't explain away
But the heartache's in me till this day

CHORUS
You didn't you 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 round

So alone I keep the wolves at bay
and there is only one thing that I can say

CHORUS

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

CHORUS X 2

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
 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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