‘Hate and War’: The song The Clash used to destroy the hippie dream
Of all the groups to come out of the first wave of punk rock, one of the most legendary is undoubtedly The Clash.
Formed in 1976 by guitarist Mick Jones and bassist Paul Simonon, the pair soon recruited frontman Joe Strummer, who was playing with The 101ers at the time. Due to the group’s changing sound and incorporation of different musical styles – from dub reggae to rockabilly – The Clash perhaps claim one of the most enduring legacies of any group to come from the early punk scene.
The group’s debut album, 1977’s self-titled The Clash, is often hailed as one of the greatest punk records of all time. It is easy to see why, with songs discussing topics ranging from prostitutes to riots and socio-economic issues. The album really captured the spirit of punk rock; the anger, the humour, and the politics are all laid bare on The Clash. Ex-Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins has previously credited that record for teaching him that “authority was to be questioned“, which explains the legacy of the album.
A common topic of discussion in the early punk scene was that of rebellion against the long-haired hippies that, although started as a counter-cultural movement in the 1960s, had come to represent the mainstream of society in the 1970s. The Clash were on board with this message, and it is perhaps best exemplified in their song ‘Hate and War’, which, Strummer revealed in a 2002 Uncut interview, was a rebellion against the hippie phrase ‘Love and Peace’.
The fifth track on their debut album, ‘Hate and War’ was written by Strummer in a disused ice cream factory he had broken into. He said in a 1991 interview: “It was just behind the Harrow Road in Foscote Mews. I wrote it in the dark by candlelight and the next day took it to Rehearsals and Mick put a tune to it.”.
The song itself is an account of the grim reality of life in 1970s London and how the optimism and prosperity of the 1960s had well and truly died out. The lyrics “hate and war, the only things we got today” directly call out the hippie movement of the previous decade for achieving little in the way of actual social change, or at least none that was felt by young punks living in squats in London and living without much in the way of future prospects. Although the track is perhaps not the greatest example of Strummer’s powerful lyricism, it certainly captured the zeitgeist of the time.
As well as acting as a kind of social commentary, the song also acts as a rallying cry for defiance and rebellion, keeping with many of the themes explored on the rest of the album. Although the track itself was designed as a teardown of hippie ideals and values, the lyric “I have the will to survive” appears to be the lasting legacy of the song. Survival and defiance in the face of society certainly became a common theme for the band itself.
