‘Four Horseman’: The song The Clash used to make fun of themselves
What are the most essential qualities a musician needs to succeed? A creative mind? Yes. An excellent understanding of music? Sure. Artistic integrity? You bet. However, without a doubt, one of the most vital aspects that artists of any calibre need if they are going to try and make it as a professional is best represented by The Clash. That quality is a good sense of humour.
When The Clash released London Calling, there was no doubt that it would be a success. The political themes they could touch upon while complementing social narrative with their chaotic and heavy sound were infectious. The result was that the album immediately charted, and since then, it has withstood the test of time, as many people today still call it one of the best pieces of music ever recorded.
The Clash’s issue was that while their music was praised for its social commentary and the band’s ability to reflect the themes discussed in their sound so effortlessly, it was incredibly serious. You can’t go your entire life watching documentaries about the meaningless of life without chucking in a comedy now and then, and in the same vein, all the music you listen to can’t be heavy and profound; otherwise, the burden of the world and the art that stands to reflect it would become too much.
The Clash were well aware of this. When writing London Calling, they had a clear image of what they wanted to create, what they wanted to write about and how it should sound. However, in the creative process, it became apparent that they were making a very heavy-sounding album that can be upsetting if looked at for too long (and sometimes even came across as pretentious). As such, using their innate ability to poke fun at themselves, they injected some much-needed light-heartedness into the album. This came in the form of the track ‘Four Horsemen’.
‘Four Horseman’ is a song that shows the group’s awareness of the dark sound they were making on London Calling. The track makes fun of that sound and the doom and gloom surrounding it by featuring deliberately funny lyrics that present the band as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
While there is still a dark theme surrounding the idea that they are the bringers of the end of the world, their lyricism throughout the song laughs at the idea rather than breathing a serious light into it. As they say, “One was over the edge, one was over the cliff, one was licking em dry with a bloody great spliff, when they picked up the hiker he didn’t want the lift, from the horsemen,” It brings humour to an album that, despite being excellent, desperately needs it.
The ability to poke fun at yourself isn’t just crucial in art so that you can shed some light on a dark album from time to time but also because the minute you’re in the public eye, you subject yourself to critique and ridicule. As such, you should be able to subject yourself to such a thing before you allow others to do so. The Clash were a divisive band, but they continued to make excellent music, and an ability to either not be personally affected by criticism or to laugh along with it will have been a massive contributing factor towards that.
