London Calling (song)
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“London Calling”
Single by The Clash from the album London Calling
B-side	"Armagideon Time"
Released	December 7, 1979 (1979-12-07) (U.K.)
Format	7" single/12" single
Recorded	August-September 1979, November 1979 at Wessex Studios
Genre	Punk rock
Length	3:19
Label	CBS 8087
Writer(s)	Joe Strummer and Mick Jones
Producer	Guy Stevens
The Clash singles chronology
"Groovy Times" (1979) "London Calling" (1979) "Clampdown" (1980)
Music sample
"London Calling" Problems? See media help.

"London Calling" is a song from the double album London Calling by the U.K. punk rock band The Clash; it is also the album's first track. This apocalyptic, politically charged rant features the band's famous combination of reggae basslines and punk electric guitar and vocals.^[1][2][3]

Writing and recording

The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The title alludes to the BBC World Service's station identification: "This is London calling ...", that was used during World War II, often in broadcasts to occupied countries.^[1][4]

The lyrics reflect the concern felt by Strummer about world events with the reference to "a nuclear error" to the incident at Three Mile Island, which occurred earlier in 1979. Joe Strummer has said: "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."^[4][3]

The line "London is drowning / And I live by the river" comes from concerns that if the River Thames flooded, most of central London would drown, something that led to the construction of the Thames Barrier.^[4][3] Strummer's concern for social violence is evident through the lines "we ain't got no swing/ except for the ring of that truncheon thing". This is perhaps a reference to the London riots at the time. Social criticism also features through references to the effects of casual drug taking: "we ain't got no high / except for that one with the yellowy eyes".

The lyrics also reflect desperation of the band's situation in 1979 struggling with high debt, without management and arguing with their record label over whether the London Calling album should be a single or double album. The lines referring to "now don't look to us / All that phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust" reflects the concerns of the band over its situation after the punk rock boom in England in 1977 had ended. While many took the line as a slam against the Beatles, another interpretation, offered at the time the song was released, suggested that this line referred not to the Beatles, but to the Broadway production, "Beatlemania," which advertised itself as "Not the Beatles, But an Incredible Simulation." Hence, the line castigated late 1970s culture for its lack of substance, such as consuming "phoney Beatlemania," essentially a simulated, rather than actual, experience.

Musically, the song is far removed from their earlier style of frenzied punk rock I-IV-V-I chord progressions, as best exemplified on songs like "Career Opportunities" and "I'm So Bored with the USA". The song is in a minor key — something The Clash had rarely used before — and the inherent dirge-like, apocalyptic feel is intensified by Topper Headon's martial drumming without backbeat, in perfect synchrony with staccato guitar chords; Paul Simonon's haunting and pulsating bass line; the group's deliberate, mid-tempo pace; and Strummer's icy lyrics and baleful delivery. Strummer's wolf-like howls or perhaps Rooster-like crows, during the instrumental break, further fuel the atmosphere of desolation and paranoia implied throughout the song.^{original research?} Like many of the tracks on London Calling — including "The Card Cheat", "Revolution Rock", and "Jimmy Jazz" — the song doesn't end by resolving strongly to the tonic or fading out, as most rock and roll songs do. Instead, it breaks down eerily, with Joe Strummer's cryptic last words "I never felt so much a-like..." echoing over Pete Townshend-inspired Morse code feedback (the characters spelling out S-O-S).^[3]

"London Calling" was recorded at Wessex Studios located in a former church in Highbury in North London. This studio had already proved to be a popular location with The Sex Pistols, The Pretenders and the Tom Robinson band. The single was produced by Guy Stevens and engineered by Bill Price.^[1][4]

Reissues

The single has several issues, all with different covers. Four are from 1979 (catalog number: 8087; S CBS 8087; 128087; S CBS 8087). In 1988 was released a special limited edition box set containing three tracks, "London Calling" in the side one, "Brand New Cadillac" and "Rudie Can't Fail" in the side two, a poster and two badges (catalog number: CLASH B2). Two were released by CBS Records in 1991 (catalog number: 656946; 31-656946-22) both with "Brand New Cadillac" in the B-side, the second one has an additional track in the side two "Return to Brixton (Jeremy Healy 7" Remix)(see the table below).^[5]

Chart success and critical response

"London Calling" was released as the only single in the UK from the album and reached #11 in the charts in December 1979.^[2] The song did not make the US charts as "Train in Vain" was released in a single and broke the band in the US reaching #23 on the pop charts.

"London Calling" was the first Clash song to chart elsewhere in the world reaching the top 40 in Australia. The success of the single and album was greatly helped by the music video shot by Don Letts showing the band playing the song on a boat (Festival Pier), next to Albert Bridge on the south side of the Tames, Battersea Park in a cold and rainy night at the beginning of December 1979.^[6][7]

The single fell off the charts after 10 weeks, but later re-entered the chart twice, spending a total of fifteen non-consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart.

Over the years, "London Calling" has become regarded by many critics as the band's finest. In 2004, Rolling Stone rated the song as #15 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.^[8][9] In 1989, the magazine also rated the album of the same name as the best album of the 1980s—although it was released in late 1979 in Britain, it came out in January, 1980 in the USA.

"London Calling" was also ranked #42 on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '80s".^[10]

A supergroup consisting of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Dave Grohl, Steven Van Zandt, Pete Thomas, and Tony Kanal of No Doubt performed the song at the 2003 Grammy awards as a tribute after the death of Joe Strummer. Bruce Springsteen had earlier offered to join the band at the induction ceremony in 2002 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but the band had refused to play at the ceremony claiming that they did not want to play at a function where seats were upwards of $1,000, and would rather play for their fans.

Uses in advertising

• The Clash turned down a request from British Telecom to use the song for an advertising campaign in the early '90s. ^[11]

• In 2002, the band incurred criticism when they sold the rights to Jaguar for a car advertisement. In an interview posted on his website, Strummer explained the reasons for the deal. "Yeah. I agreed to that. We get hundreds of requests for that and turn 'em all down. But I just thought Jaguar... yeah. If you're in a group and you make it together, then everybody deserves something. Especially twenty-odd years after the fact."^[12][13]

• In 2008 the song appeared in trailers for The Bank Job.

Notable appearances

• Joe Strummer later became a DJ for the BBC World Service, broadcasting in programmes entitled "Joe Strummer's London Calling".^[14]
• An earlier version of the song from The Vanilla Tapes, with noticeably different lyrics, was released with the London Calling Legacy Edition in 2004.
• A live version of the song, recorded in Boston on September 7, 1982, was released on the 1999 album From Here to Eternity: Live.
• The song was shortly featured in the films Face (1997), Bravo Two Zero (1999), Billy Elliot (2000), Ma femme est une actrice (2001), Die Another Day (2002), What a Girl Wants (film) (2003) and 28 Days Later (2003) (the song is also on the movie's soundtrack), as well as in an episode of Friends, shot in London, in the fourth season of the show.
• On March 30, 2006, 23-year-old Harraj Mann, who is of Indian descent, was detained on terrorism suspicions at Durham Tees Valley Airport in Northern England as he tried to board a plane to London. The man had taken a cab to the airport and plugged his MP3 player into the cab's stereo, where he played "London Calling" ("London calling to the faraway towns, now war is declared and battle come down") and Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song". The lyrics aroused the driver's suspicions, and he alerted the authorities. The man was subsequently cleared, but he missed his flight.^[15][16]
• The last episode of the teen drama series Instant Star has been named with the name of the song.
• British UFC fighter Michael Bisping used it for his ring walk music at some UFC events.

Cover versions

• The song achieved the accolade of two live performances by Bob Dylan during his November 2005 residency at London's Brixton Academy - a venue also linked with many classic Clash and Joe Strummer concerts.^{[17][18][19][20]}
• Flogging Molly has played the song before they take the stage for a live show.
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers often use the intro to the song as an intro to "Right On Time", as heard on Live at Slane Castle and at Oxegen 2006.
• German band Beatsteaks uses the intro as an intro to "Hello Joe", a tribute to Joe Strummer.
• Canadian band the Rheostatics frequently covered this song live in concert.
• Ragga-metal band Skindred's song "The Fear" was strongly influenced by "London Calling". While the lyrics are different, the actual music is nearly identical.
• American band The Calling also covered the song on their sophomore album "Two".
• In the hit TV Show Gilmore Girls Lane's band sings the song during one of their performances
• The movie Die Another Day features the song while the main villan parachutes from an airplane.
• Scouting For Girls covered this song at the London Olympic 2012 welcome party.
• During the 2003 Grammy Awards, the song was covered by a super-group featuring Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven Van Zandt and Dave Grohl sharing vocals and guitar playing.

Charts

Notes

References