Joe Strummer’s original lyrics for The Clash song ‘London Calling’
The Clash have no shortage of iconic tracks. Throughout their time together, the band managed to break out of the new wave punk scene, which produced them to incorporate dub reggae, ska, disco and even hip-hop. The talented lyricism of Joe Strummer and the staunch political principles that the band operated by made them one of the most beloved and enduring groups to come out of the mid-1970s London punk scene.
Undoubtedly one of their most recognisable tracks, ‘London Calling’ is the titular track from The Clash’s third studio album. The record came around at a pivotal time for the group; with punk rock’s 15 minutes of fame coming to an end, the band drew heavily upon influences of rockabilly, ska and R&B on London Calling. Released in 1979, the record was affected by the group’s first tour of the USA, during which they had performed with Bo Diddley. As an album, London Calling is hailed as the group’s finest work and one of the seminal records to come out of punk and post-punk music.
Despite the album calling upon influences from across the world, including drawing on their time spent in America, The Clash were keen to show that they had not forgotten their roots in London. ‘London Calling’ was released as a single from the album and quickly became the band’s most commercially successful track, until ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ became a number one single a decade later after being used in an advert for Levi’s. With lyrics creating an apocalyptic image of the capital, discussing worries of nuclear disaster and socio-economic problems faced by thousands of people in the city, the song retains that classic Clash feel of questioning authority.
The track was Strummer’s answer to the complacency of pop music at the time. In ‘London Calling’, he pleads with the audience to start paying attention to the world around them and the dangerous reality of Cold War-era England. The lyrics discuss “a nuclear error”, referring to Three Mile Island, a partial nuclear meltdown in the US that had happened earlier in 1979. The songwriter said of the track, “We felt that we were struggling about to slip down a slope or something, grasping with our fingernails. And there was no one there to help us.”
Often misunderstood, ‘London Calling’ was used heavily in advertising campaigns by the likes of British Airways during the London 2012 Olympics. Although it is unlikely British Airways paid much attention to the lyrics of the track, “Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin, a nuclear error”, does not seem like the best way of advertising air travel.
Looking at the original handwritten lyrics for the track, it appears as though the song came to Strummer fully formed. Whereas some groups spend months writing and rewriting tracks, The Clash frontman was famed for his ability to write out incredible lyrics all in one go, often as a stream of consciousness.
The original lyric sheet, now owned by Creation Records’ Alan McGee, shows how little the track changed from its original incarnation. Famously, McGee was once quoted as saying, “Some people have The Bible, we had The Clash”, and ‘London Calling’ is probably one of the best examples of this. The song acted as a rallying cry for people to take their heads out of the sand and question the authority around them, and the lyrics remain as powerful today as they were back in 1979.
