Posted by Jonathan Adler:
Sunday Song Lyric:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_02_04-2007_02_10.shtml#1170601928
The Clash's [1]London Calling is among the greatest rock albums of all
time. (Rolling Stone [2]ranked it number eight.) The album is chock
full of great songs, but this morning I'm thinking about "The Guns of
Brixton."
When they kick out your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun
When the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement
Or waiting in death row.
Written in 1979, the song foreshadowed Brixton's later racial unrest,
largely brought about by police brutality and poor economic
conditions. Re-reading the lyrics today, the song makes me think of
folks like [3]Cory Maye (about whom Orin blogged [4]here).
Windypundit's Mark Draughn, who suggested this lyric, has more
thoughts on the song [5]here.
Back to the music, this isone of the few Clash classics written by
Clash bassist Paul Simonon. It became a staple of their live
performances (like [6]this one). Snippets of this song, and virtually
everthing ever recorded by the Clash, are available [7]here.
References
1. http://www.amazon.com/London-Calling-Clash/dp/B00004BZ0N
2. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6595657/8_london_calling
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Maye
4. http://volokh.com/posts/1134497241.shtml
5. http://www.windypundit.com/archives/2006/04/guns_of_brixton.html
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfslSpsBJUU
7. http://www.theclashonline.com/
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