My Blue Jeans Baby's Driving Me Crazy

The Clash - London Calling 1979

"London Calling" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released as a single from the band's 1979 double album of the same name. This apocalyptic, politically charged rant features the band's post-punk sound, electric guitar and vocals. It was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The title alludes to the BBC World Service's station identification: "This is London calling…" which was used during World War II, often in broadcasts to occupied countries. The lyrics reflect the concern felt by Strummer about world events with the reference to "a nuclear error" – 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." 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 which came into operation three years after the song. "London Calling" fades out with a Morse code signal spelling S-O-S, reiterating the earlier urgent sense of emergency, and further alluding to drowning in the river.

"London Calling" was released as the only single from the album in the UK and reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1980, becoming at once the band's highest-charting single until "Should I Stay or Should I Go" hit number 1 ten years later. It was the first Clash song to chart elsewhere in the world, reaching the top 40 in Australia. Over the years, "London Calling" has become regarded by various critics as the band's finest song. It is one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2007, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

"London Calling" received a total of 84,6% yes votes!

if it's a skill, there's rules you can learn

if it's an art, rules are not your concern

make it fucked up or you won't make it

if it's already broken, you can't break it

anything can be fixed with gorilla glue

Narrator moodboard with Sunflower inspo!

✰ self indulgent! ✰