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Length: 3:17
Plays (last 30 days): 2
Now war is declared and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
London calling, now don't look to us
Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see, we ain't got no swing
Except for the ring of that truncheon thing
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning and I live by the river
London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out and draw another breath
London calling, and I don't wanna shout
But while we were talking, I saw you nodding out
London calling, see, we ain't got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning and I, I live by the river
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning and I, I live by the river
Now get this
London calling, yes, I was there, too
And you know what they said, well, some of it was true
London calling at the top of the dial
And after all this, won't you give me a smile?
London calling
I never felt so much a-like...
Were you lost, by any chance?
Well, mine is being heavily remodeled and it makes it hard to find anything. I can no longer shop happily. (No special offers, either.)
Take things easy up there friend.
Iconic! ...I love the sound of the bass guitar!
I was briefly in a band that had this on their setlist loved playing that bass line
Too funny!! GREAT TUNE! Thanx RP!
wow, this is very cool.
… Listen closely to the bass riff, it is most excellent. Considering Simenon was not a musician before he joined the band, indeed!!! ☮️
Totally Cool!!
LOL!!
… Listen closely to the bass riff, it is most excellent. Considering Simenon was not a musician before he joined the band, indeed!!! ☮️
I Agree completely! Very well stated!
Great climate change song! Classic riffs. Listen closely to the bass riff, it is most excellent.
If this is the type of music climate change inspires then go climate change!!!
c.
I heard this in the supermarket coming out of the muzak system the other day... I thought, "how old does one have to be to hear the Clash in Safeway?" smh.....
Were you lost, by any chance?
The Clash. Another band which in hindsight is still not really anything more dangerous than a pretty good pop/rock band. In the US, radio treated them as RADICALS. Barely got FM radio play in most places. (well, with the exception of rock the cashbox). Re-listening to some of my old vinyl there are many tracks better than this one. Too bad this is the one that got encoded onto our cultural DNA. Still. thanks to the Clash and for that matter Brit pop in the 80's for saving us from more Olivia Newton John.
Airplay-depends on where you were. The alt stations in the NY tri-state area were playing this when it came out. Rock the cashbox (lol) got played to death though. I saw them on that tour when they opened for the Who. Have to wonder if their presence lit a fire under the Who's collective asses. Maybe not as the Who was adjusting to playing w/o Moon. But a run -in with Paul Simonon and Topper Headon at a London bar inspired Townsend to write "Who Are You?" a few years earlier.
'Beatlemania' is a long-running Beatles tribute band. I think the group is technically 'The Cast of Beatlemania'. The original members performed in the Broadway play 'Beatlemania'. The Cast has changed but the group is still performing. The Broadway play closed in, uh, 1979. Same year this song came out.
That's what Joe was talking about: 'phony Beatlemania'. Not the actual Beatles or the mania around them.
c.
I saw Beatlemania on Broadway in '78. It was a multimedia show as much as it was 4 actors/musicians playing the Beatles (and doing a top notch job of it). Really good show.
Loool... So from the bottom of my heart: Thx for making me lol!!! Rare these days.
Not again. What are they trying to sell this time?
I heard this in the supermarket coming out of the muzak system the other day... I thought, "how old does one have to be to hear the Clash in Safeway?" smh.....
Better than Michael Bouble' or disco! ...eh?
I wore this vinyl out when it was released... My HS classmates only listened to disco (uggghhh).
One of my great failings in life was not being able to see The Clash...
COOL! ...it's a shame about your classmates! ...LOL!
I wore this vinyl out when it was released... My HS classmates only listened to disco (uggghhh).
One of my great failings in life was not being able to see The Clash...
Tornado Jam, Lubbock, Texas. May 11, 1980.
One of my great failings in life was not being able to see The Clash...
Engines stop running, the Wheaties grow thin
The then Ford owned JagUar had a TV commercial with this
Clash song in the background...Luckily it didn't include that
line...
Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
2016 not so much
That's what Joe was talking about: 'phony Beatlemania'. Not the actual Beatles or the mania around them.
c.
I agree completely!
"Who are your influences?"
"Barry Manilow"
"Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell"
"Wings ... Bachman Turner Overdrive?"
"Spandau Ballet, Soft Cell"
"I t'ought you were selling drugs."
The Commitments - such a fun, quotable movie.
<click>
Adele: Hello.
Leonard Cohen: And who shall I say is calling?
Paul Simon: Al.
Joe Strummer: London.
Carly Rae Jepson: Maybe.
Proclivities wrote:
Bill...you old clever dog you...
Redpoint wrote:
Solid 10 though.
Redpoint wrote:
Solid 10 though.
Solid 10 though.
Humble opinion alert!!
Is it a problem to overplay a song that you love?And what is the definition of "overplayed"?
2016 not so much
Yah... No. It's still a good line. Beatlemania was completely lame.
2016 not so much
Advertisers—Please stop using this song for anything tangentially-related to London! Honestly, I'm somewhat surprised that they allow the rights to be used so liberally. Sure, back in '67 The Who Sell Out, and Sex Pistols participated in The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle before they started Flogging a Dead Horse. And yes, The Clash were signed to a major label from the start. Oh well.
Archival footage surfacing all the time.
Joe Strummer ism's:
" What kind of group are we ? We are a "News" Group - too many songs are out there about Love - subjects' covered ."
SquiddlyDiddly wrote:
I wore a Mohican and other punkie stuff. . . and this t-shirt. . . I thought it was apt.
Lee:
I was, and it was great.
agreed!
Could actually be both "error" and "era", depending on interpretation.
Era isn't pronounced anything like error in English English.
Nowadays, I much prefer Joe and the Mescaleros
You best heed Joe's advice:
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls!
Judging by your favorites, it doesn't seem as if you "understand the attraction" of much music made after 1973 or so. The lyric is "error" though; this album was released several months after the Three Mile Island accident and that line is likely a reference to that..
Could actually be both "error" and "era", depending on interpretation.
Error. The cold war era was still in full swing at the time.
I wore a Mohican and other punkie stuff. . . and this t-shirt. . . I thought it was apt.
I hear it as "error". Never did understand the attraction to this group.
Could actually be both "error" and "era", depending on interpretation.
I hear it as "error". Never did understand the attraction to this group.
Lotta this album lately, not that there's anything wrong with that.
The album's front cover features a photograph of Simonon smashing his Fender Precision Bass (on display at the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as of May 2009) against the stage at The Palladium in New York City on 21 September 1979 during the Clash Take the Fifth US tour. Pennie Smith, who photographed the band for the album, originally did not want the photograph to be used. She thought that it was too out of focus, but Strummer and graphic designer Ray Lowry thought it would make a good album cover. In 2002, Smith's photograph was named the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine, commenting that "it captures the ultimate rock'n'roll moment - total loss of control".
The cover artwork was designed by Lowry and was a homage to the design of Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album. The cover was named the ninth best album cover of all time by Q magazine in 2001. In 1995, Big Audio Dynamite used the same scheme for their F-Punk album. The album cover for London Calling was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010
I remember reading the Simonon was pissed at himself for breaking that bass. It was his favorite at the time.
...we always hurt the ones we love...
powerianaaaaaaa
bravo..
lk
This.
The brilliant Elvis parody was clearly lost on you then!
Always loved the photo, but never made the Elvis connection. Thanks! Makes it even cooler.
The brilliant Elvis parody was clearly lost on you then!
I'm not sure that person even looked at the album cover very closely or knows what's going on in the picture if he considers it a "helpless wimp cover". It's considered to be one of the best album covers ever by numerous sources. I saw them in 1979, at The Palladium in NYC, where and when that picture was taken. The Cramps and Bo Diddley opened for them.
Don't think so.
One of the best songs ever,.
:-) wild days those days:-)
Don't think so.
The brilliant Elvis parody was clearly lost on you then!
thanks for that !
ps: "lost in a supermarket" 's too a great song in this album
Oh, just let the punks become famous and make real good money, and we'll see....
The album's front cover features a photograph of Simonon smashing his Fender Precision Bass (on display at the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as of May 2009) against the stage at The Palladium in New York City on 21 September 1979 during the Clash Take the Fifth US tour. Pennie Smith, who photographed the band for the album, originally did not want the photograph to be used. She thought that it was too out of focus, but Strummer and graphic designer Ray Lowry thought it would make a good album cover. In 2002, Smith's photograph was named the best rock and roll photograph of all time by Q magazine, commenting that "it captures the ultimate rock'n'roll moment - total loss of control".
The cover artwork was designed by Lowry and was a homage to the design of Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album. The cover was named the ninth best album cover of all time by Q magazine in 2001. In 1995, Big Audio Dynamite used the same scheme for their F-Punk album. The album cover for London Calling was among the ten chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps issued in January 2010
I remember reading the Simonon was pissed at himself for breaking that bass. It was his favorite at the time.