Did The Clash reference the death of Sid Vicious in ‘Hateful’?
When Sid Vicious died in 1979, many immediately remembered his best qualities, like being “one of the funniest guys”, as Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees put it. The realities of Vicious’ death is one of music history’s most insidious, but, as with many late figures of contemporary culture, they’re more often remembered for the good they did rather than the darkness of their drug-fuelled escapades. The Clash frontman Joe Strummer operated alongside Sid Vicious for a number of years: not only did they find mutual inspiration in one another, but they also formed a joint solid camaraderie.
Taking the stage for the first time in Sheffield on July 4th, 1976, as the opening act for the Sex Pistols, The Clash swiftly ascended to become pivotal figures within the punk movement. Their impact surpassed that of the Sex Pistols over time, as they skillfully melded an assorted array of genres into their musical palette, including funk and reggae.
In 1979, the year Vicious died, The Clash released their third studio album, London Calling. This was an exploration that bridged the gap between traditional punk and a new wave aesthetic, reflecting the band’s interests beyond their roots. It has since been called one of the greatest albums of all time, with the lead single ‘London Calling’ reigning supreme. One of the lesser-known tracks on the album, ‘Hateful’, was written during the band’s rehearsals in 1979. During these sessions, the band aimed to record directly from their rehearsal space in Vanilla Studios in Pimlico.
However, their producer, Guy Stevens, persuaded the band to move into an actual recording studio, and so they instead chose Wessex Studios, a place that best replicated the intimacy of Vanilla Studios but within an actual studio set-up. ‘Hateful’ was then recorded, existing as a song that’s heavily anti-drugs, following themes from earlier songs on Give ‘Em Enough Rope like ‘Drug-Stabbing Time’.
During the London Calling sessions, the band adamantly shied away from any sort of hard drug use, and so the incorporation of lyrics against the use of heroin naturally held more weight than any drug-related songs they had written before. For example, when Strummer sings: “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” – there’s more credence to the sentiment given their comparative sobriety at the time.
In 1979, Vicious had just gotten out of an extensive detoxification programme when he met his friend “by chance”. He asked him if he could get him some heroin, and later that night, he, along with Jerry Only of The Misfits, The Blessed bassist Howie Pyro, along with a number of other names in music, met at an apartment in New York City. Vicious then suffered an overdose and was found dead the next morning. This came just a few months after he was arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen and charged with second-degree murder.
The words to Clash’s song ‘Hateful’ contain an emotionally-charged reference to Vicious both with its inherent message as well as the line “this year I’ve lost some friends”. With the song existing on the one hand to represent anti-drugs rhetoric, it’s clear that this is The Clash at a time when frustration with drug use in rock and roll became clear, a sentiment shared by many revered rock stars in the industry at the time.
The song’s lyrics express a deep struggle with inner turmoil; without knowing its context in relation to Vicious, the song can be easily interpreted as a commentary on the personal struggles and self-destructive tendencies often linked with drug addiction. The word “hateful”, for example, is used to convey internal anger and frustration towards self-sabotage and the inability to maintain healthy relationships. Lines like, “I’m so grateful to be nowhere”, hint towards the more detached and isolated existence that often comes with drug dependency.
The song can also be seen as a powerful representation of the fickleness of feeling emotion at any given time, much like the nature of addiction itself. The lyrics go back and forth with questioning or lamenting certain things, only to be met with a different notion entirely by the next line. It’s ultimately a powerful type of frustration that conveys the problematic essence of rock and roll central to stories like Vicious’.
In a broader sense, ‘Hateful’ can be seen as a reflection on the inner conflicts and contradictions that people grapple with in their lives. However, by the end, the song concludes, “I can’t see so clearly”, which ultimately captures the heightened confusion and hurt that comes with losing yourself, or close friends, to drugs.
