Artist: The Clash Album: London Calling {1979}

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
Accept for the ring of the truncheon thing

The ice age is coming, the sun zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running but I have no fear
Cos London is drowning and 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 wanna shout
But while we were talking I saw you nodding out
London calling, see we ain't got no highs
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes

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

The ice age is coming, the sun zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cos London is drowning and 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 a like

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
Yeah, come on sugar just come on back to me
She said, "Balls to ya, 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 did ya get that cadillac?"
She said, "Balls to you, Daddy."
She ain't never coming back
She ain't, she ain't coming back
She ain't never coming back
She ain't never coming back
She ain't never coming back

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

Yeah, they say, "Sattamassagana for Jimmy Dread
Cut off his ears and chop off his head."
Police came looking for Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Jazz

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

Sad tale to tell
Police came in, they said now, "Where's Jimmy Jazz?"
I said, "He was here, but, uh, he said he went out."
He's here lookin' for Jimmy Jazz, Jazz, Jazz, Jazz

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

What a relief
I feel like a soldier, look like a thief
Police came looking for the Jimmy Jazz
He came here, then he went out
There's no use lookin' here for the 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

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 that it ain't your day, your day
It ain't your day
Chop, chop

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 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 get out again
Again - my friend
I gotta see the mainman

Yeah, 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, yeah

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

I killed all my nerves
My nerves - what swerves
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
It's hateful
Anything I want

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

We reply
I know that my life make you nervous
But I tell you I can't live in service
Like a doctor who is born for a purpose
Rudie can't fail, okay

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 till I hurt
We say Rudie can't fail

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

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

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

Okay, so where you wanna go today
Hey, boss man
So you think you're pretty smart
With your chicken skin suit
You think you're pretty hot
In your pork pie hat
Sky juice, 10 cents a bottle
Look out, look out

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

Spanish songs in Andalucia
The shooting sites in the days of '39
Oh, please leave the vendanna open
Fredrico 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 on a DC 10 tonight

Spanish bombs, yo tequierro y finito
Yo te querda, oh ma corazon
Spanish bombs, yo te quierro y finito
Yo te querda, oh ma corazon

Spanish weeks in my disco casino
The freedom fighters died upon the hill
They sang the red flag
They wore the black one
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 tequierro y finito
Yo te querda, oh ma corazon
Spanish bombs, yo te quierro y finito
Yo te querda, oh ma corazon

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 Costa Brava
I'm flying in on a DC 10 tonight

Spanish bombs, yo tequierro y finito
Yo te querda, oh ma corazon
Spanish bombs, yo te quierro y finito
Yo te querda, oh ma corazon
Oh ma corazon, oh ma corazon

Spanish songs in Andalucia, Mandolina, oh ma corazon
Spanish songs in Granada, oh ma corazon
Oh ma corazon, oh ma corazon
Oh ma corazon

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's 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."
And everybody say, "It's not funny."
That's Montgomery Clift, honey

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

Nembutol numbs it all
But I prefer alcohol

And everybody say, "What's he like?"
And everybody say, "Is he all right?"
Everybody say, "He sure look funny."
That's 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 shaking, but I ain't got the chills."

And everybody say, "What's he like?"
Everybody say, "Is he all right?"
Everybody say, "He sure looks funny."
I was right, Montgomery Clift, honey

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for the special offer
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

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for a special offer
A guaranteed personality

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

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for the special offer
A guaranteed personality

And it's not hear
It disappear

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for the special offer
Guaranteed personality
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for a special offer
Guaranteed personality

I'm all lost, I'm all lost, I'm all lost
I'm all lost, I'm all lost, I'm all lost

I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for a special offer
Guaranteed personality

All lost, I'm all lost, I'm all lost
I'm all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for a special offer
Guaranteed personality

One, two, three

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 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 cos 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 you're working for the clampdown
You start wearing blue and brown
And working for the clampdown
So you got someone to boss around
It makes you feel big now
You drift until you brutalize
You make your first kill now

In these days of evil presidents
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, work, work, work
And I've give away no secrets, work
Work, more work, more work

Who's barmy now

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 in 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
And even shoot us
But oh, the guns of Brixton

Shot down on the pavement waiting in death row
His game was 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
Oh, the guns of Brixton
Oh, the guns of Brixton
Oh, the guns of Brixton

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

Start all over again

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
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 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 the 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
Play it, Billy, play
Don't you know it is wrong
You 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

It is the wrong 'em boyo
It is the wrong 'em boyo
It is the wrong 'em boyo
It is the wrong 'em boyo
Wrong 'em boyo

Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the world
Ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl
Love and hate tattooed across the knuckles of his hands
Hands that slap his kids around cos 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 fucks nuns will later join the church

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

Fear on the down side, they said, "Hello."
And you say, "Okay, I wanna play a show."
And all your thinkin' was death or glory now
Playin' the blues is pain, surely better now

Death or glory - just another story
Death or glory - just another story

In 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 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
Got to travel over mountains, got to travel over seas
We gonna fight your brother, we gonna fight till you lose
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

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 party girl
Coke 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 don't need a launderette, you can take it to the vet

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

Coka Cola advertising and cocaine
Strolling down the Broadway in the rain
Neon light sign says it
I read it in the paper - they're crazy

Yes, 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
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, "Don't give me none of this."

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

There's a solitary man crying, "Hold me."
It's only because he's a-lonely
And 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

To the opium dens and the barroom gin
In the Belmont chair playing violin
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
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 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

There's a solitary man crying, "Hold me."
It's only because he's a-lonely
And if the keeper of time runs slowly
He won't be alive for long

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

You Western man, you're free with your seed
When you make lover's rock
But woops, there goes the strength that you need
To make real cool lover's rock
A genuine lover takes off his clothes
And he can make a lover in a thousand go's
And she don't need that thing that she had, oh, to swallow
Know what I mean, oh

Yeah, you must treat your lover girl right
To make lover's rock
You must know a place you can kiss
To make lover's rock
Everybody knows it's a crying shame
But nobody knows the poor baby's name
When she forgot that thing that she had, oh, to swallow

Yeah, you can throw away all your He-Man theories
Once you lost that grubby feeling, yeah
Ridiculous, isn't it
But that's why they call it
So, follow me down

They call it lover's rock
They call it lover's rock
Call it lover's rock

Well they were given the grapes that go ripe in the sun
That loosen the screws at the back of the tongue
They told no one, but they had begun - four horsemen

They were given all the foods of vanity
And all the instant promises of immortality
But 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
Anf 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 horsemen and they're 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 us everything 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

If it's true a rich man leads a sad life
That's what they say from day to day
Then what do all 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, well I'm not down
I've been shown up but I've grown up
And I'm not down, no, 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

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

Cos I have lived that kind of day
When none of your sorrows will go away
It goes down and down and hit the floor
Down and down and down some more - depression
But I now there'll be some way
When I can swing everything back my way
Like skyscrapers rising up
Floor by floor, 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

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

I'm not down, no, I'm not down
No, I'm not down, no, I'm not down
I'm not down, no, I'm not down
No, I'm not down, I'm not down

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
And I'm so pilled up that I rattle
I have got the sharpeest 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 gonna be all right
Can't you feel it - don't ignore it
Gonna be all 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
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 gonna be all right
Can't you feel it - don't ignore it
Gonna be all right

Revolution rock
Yes, oh, get that cheese grater going against the grain
Wearin' you down

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, tell your father everything gonna be all right
Can't you feel it - don't ignore it
Gonna be all right

Revolution rock
To the coolest mobsters in Keytown
With the hardest thighs and the coolest tones
If you're hearts are made of rock
Let the blood run round the clock
Are you listenin' mobsters

Hey, all people crawl, gotta die
Watch all those who go rollin' by
It's food for thought mobsters

Young people shoot their days away
I've seen talent thrown away
All you loan sharks
You're all gonna pay and their dancin' to the brand new beat

This here music mash up nations, this here music cause a sensation
Tell your mama-mama, tell your papa-papa everything gonna be all right
Can't you feel it - don't ignore it
Everything's gonna be all right
I said revolution rock

Let that old cheese grater, runnin' it out
This must be the way out

Playing request now in the bandstand
Just ask for more, make fifteen dollars a day
Weddings, parties, anything
And bongo-jazz especiality

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 my heartache's with me till 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 all alone I keep the wolves at bay
And there's only one thing that 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