London Calling

by

The Clash

Album: London Calling     Released: 1979

UK Chart: 11

Get the Ringtone  Get Song @ Amazon
Get the Sheet Music

Send "London Calling" Ringtone to your Cell

Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

This is an apocalyptic song, detailing the many ways the world could end, including the coming of the ice age, starvation, and war. It was the song that best defined The Clash, who were known for lashing out against injustice and rebelling against the establishment, which is pretty much what Punk Rock was all about.

Clash singer Joe Strummer was a news junkie, and many of the images of doom in the lyrics came from news reports he read.

The title came from the BBC World Service's radio station identification: "This is London calling..." The BBC used it during World War II. (thanks, Stefan - Houston, TX)

The line, "London is drowning and I live by the river" came from a saying in England that if the Thames river ever flooded, all of London would be under water. Joe Strummer was living in a high-rise apartment, so he would have been OK.

The line about the "Nuclear Error" was inspired by the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor meltdown in March, 1979.

The Clash recorded this album after returning to England from a short US tour. The band was intrigued by American music as well as its rock'n'roll mythology, so much so that the album cover was a tribute to Elvis Presley's first album.

This was recorded at Wessex Studios, located in a former church in the Highbury district of North London. Many hit recordings had already come out of this studio, including singles and albums by the Sex Pistols, The Pretenders and the Tom Robinson Band. Chief engineer and studio manager Bill Price had developed a slew of unique recording techniques suited to the room.

London Calling was a double album, but it wasn't supposed to be. The record company wanted it finished so they could release it, but the band had other ideas and insisted on making it a double album. By this time, The Clash were doing constant battle with their record label, but their producer, Guy Stevens, was on their side and helped them get their way. It ended up being the last album The Clash worked on with Stevens, who died in 1980 after falling down a flight of stairs.

Rolling Stone magazine named this the best album of the '80s, even though It was actually released in December, 1979.

According to NME magazine (3/16/91), we know that Paul Simonon smashed his bass guitar - as photographed on the cover of the album - at exactly 10:50 pm. This is because he broke his watch in the process and handed the busted bits to photographer Pennie Smith. (thanks, rainyhouse - Spanish Fork, UT)

As a tribute to Clash singer/guitarist Joe Strummer, who died in 2002, Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello and Little Steven Van Zant played this at the close of the 2003 Grammys as a tribute to the band. All 4 played guitar and took turns on vocals. The Grammys is the type of commercialized event The Clash probably would have avoided, although they did win their first Grammy that night when "Westway To The World" won for Best Long Form Music Video.

In 2002, The Clash were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and it was rumored that Bruce Springsteen would join them to perform at the ceremony. The remaining members declined, as they felt playing a $1500-a-plate dinner for music executives would go against everything they stood for. Said bass player Paul Simonon: "I think it's better for The Clash to play in front of their public, rather than a seated and booted audience."

Send "London Calling" Ringtone to your Cell

Comments:

musically wise, punk is a rip off. its only repeating 3 chords over and over really fast with no direction and no solos. but punk lyrics are bad ass thoughj so it all evens out.
- Marcus , Fresno, CA

Joe himself once explained that the song was about the fact that (as he saw it) punk had died and he wanted to see something new happening - "the faraway towns" is most likely just the rest of the UK outside London. As for "phoney Beatlemania" the line before is "don't look to us" so I would say it is saying don't put the Clash on a pedestal in the way that the Beatles had been(the Clash were obviously not as big as the Beatles but were being treated as some kind of "spokesmen for a generation"). The chorus lists a series of disasters being warned of in the media - and Joe pointing out that the risk of Thames flooding was a bit more immediate for him(again this was his own explanation in a 1983 rado interview. As with many Clash songs a lot of different ideas have been thrown together in one song which was typical of Joe's lyrical style.
- ross , Leicester, United Kingdom

brilliant song..........absolutely genius....n the lyrics are breathtaking....the perfect punk rock song....
- rahul , chennai, India

Help me out gogo from NY, what the heck r u saying? If your point is that there is no apocolypse coming, I think you have stumbled upon Strummer's intent. He was satirizing the constant bombardment of negative images in the news, if anything, he was agreeing with you in a lot of ways. By the way, while Strummer and the band were obviously anti govt and establishment and all that, Joe often said that he never claimed he had all the answers to the problems of the day
- Brad , Long Island, NY

When they said "phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust", they may have been talking about the broadway show "Beatlemania" which ran for a time in the seventies.
- Mairi , Cantsay, Canada

This song is an awesome song, with VERY easy chords on guitar.
- Noah , Madison, WI

Hey people..... The clash is by the way the most ambitious band along w/the sex pistol. They pretend not to like the beatles and make a fool out of it to attract critics and listeners. A typical style of a new comer to have a vast audience. They make a fool to a popular band to show what are their style. but hey wheres the punk right now? London calling is a mass hypocrite lyrics theres no apocalyptic on it its just a copy cut of what they call unti-government movement. Theres no magic on it.
- gogo , new yrk, NY

I love the simple guitar riffs, the backup singing sounds a little haunting
- Allie , Clarkston, MI

I love this song... CLASH is one of my favorite bands! I love listening to em..
- vicky , larissa, Greece

I was on holiday in Russia in January 1978 (then the Soviet Union) and there was this punk rocker with his girl friend in our party. I saw him a couple of weeks later on TV: it was Paul Simonon from the Clash. My mates at work were lived that I never got his autograph
- ANDREW , LONDON, England

Heh, 28 Days Later... that took place in England, didn't it?
- Matthew , Milford, MA

Whenever I watch "28 Days Later" it reminds me of the "zombies of death" line. I guess it's cuz it's about the end of the world and zombies and London.
- Mike , Hillsboro, NJ

Pascal Joe Strummer died can't long live a dead guy
- pat , reading, MA

My two cents on the "Phony Beatlemania" line: I believe that the Clash were too hardcore not for the Beatles, who were rebelling in their own right, but the earlier Beatles whom they believed sold out to the Government and General Institutions ("Beatlemania was prior to the "Hippie Beatles"). Strummer is saying "That's over. As punk rockers, we hate the government. Screw you guys"
- Johnny , Los Angeles, CA

Though it was listed at #7 on Rolling Stones list of best rock albums of all time, this album is #1 to me. From the first guitar licks of London Calling to the last drumbeat of Train In Vain, you will not find a better album.
- Theresa , Pittsburgh, PA

What Joe Strummer meant by the line "London is drowing and I live by the River", is that if the Thames river, which flows through London rose, the whole city of London would be underwater. However, Strummer would survive since he lived in a high rise apartment near the river.
- Dee , Northfield, IL

Im love the line "London is drowning, but I live by the river." My cousin Nd I were listening to her I-pod, and when she heard that line, she asked me what it meant. I wasn't sure how to explain it. It's definitely a metaphor though.
- Stefanie , Rock Hill, SC

This song appears in the 2002 James Bond movie Die Another Day during a montage of Bond on his return flight from Havana to London, while his flamboyant nemesis Gustav Graves also lands in the city on a parachute.
- Joshua , Twin Cities, MN

Danny, New City, NY: what the clash means (or better yet, what Joe Strummer means) by "phony beatlemania has bitten the dust" means that the clash as we all known was a punk band, along with the sex pistols and the ramones, they were REAL punk rock, they were rebellious and tough, most of the memebers from the clash came from london but one of them came from Turkey. basicaly yes, they were not exactly fans of peace and love and all aspects having to do with the beatles, they were trying to start a revolution hence, "revolution rock", 'it is a brand new rock' (one of their songs on london calling.) They didnt like mainstream rock like The Beatles, they wanted "new rock," Jonny Rotten (from the Sex Pistols) also was nopt exactly a big fan of The Beatles, there is a picture of him sticking gum on Ringo's face with his middle finger on a poster of the Beatles. The Ramones then came along a little later and as Joey Ramone once said, "we were anti-glam." Which, in my opinon is an awesome, I also think that punk rock is dead, along with grunge, none of the bands today have not exactly quite grasped the meaning of "punk rock," and sadly i do not think they ever will, :(
- deep thinka , aberden, WA

I agree with Nick-Greatest Album Ever!!! Let me add-Greatest Band Ever. And I agree with Nathan-It's not even close to the best song on the album. Maybe it's just cuz I've heard it too many times but I'd say it's among my 2 or 3 least favorite on the album. Having Springsteen sing this as a tribute is the ultimate insult to punk rock. I even read some typical nitwit in Rolling Stone who wrote that Springsteen showed what punk was all about!!!!! WTF!!!! As I heard Pete Hamill say once, the people who write there think Springsteen goes to the factory every morning and puts in a full day then does his music at night.
- Ralph , Newton, MA

In his 2005 tour, Bob Dylan suprised his audience, randomly singing the first first verse and chorus of this song at his London shows.
- Micah , Mansfield, IL

What do they mean by Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust. I guess they weren't fans of the peace/love thing because it was too unrealistic. I'm just guessing so if that's it, I didn't know for sure.
- Danny , New City, NY

The video for this song is great. It really captures the mood.
- Don , Newmarket, Canada

I think what you have all said is right and Im sure that the song has the meaning of these things. However, I think alot of you have overlooked the fact that this song describes the battle of britain fought in WW2 against Nazi Germany. When it says "London Calling to the far away towns" it is talkin about how Germany constantly bombed London and since Germany occupied most of Europe, Britain had to call on "far away towns" for help. When the song says "Now war is declared, and battle come down" This is refering to how Germany constantly bombed Britain (London) at night the battle was coming down on them. Also it says "London Calling to the underworld come out of the cupboard u boys and girls" this is talking about the citizins of London would hide undergroud in the subway to get away from the bombings in London and often people would put their little "boys and girls" in the subway. When the songs says "Now dont look to us" this is reference to how most of the world at this point looked to Britain to be the muscle in a war and win it for the allies, many European countries (including France the 2nd powerhouse) had fallen to Nazi Germany and Britain had constant bombing and was trappped on the island so the world coulnt look to them to save them. I am not saying the whole song is about this but thats what the start of it is .. If u read this thanks
- Ace , Kingston , Canada

God they are a great band, but this has got to be the most overrated songs ever.
- Nathan , Defiance, OH

I liked the Clash while they lasted, they were great for those 6 or so years they were around with songs that could make you dance, and think all at once. To bad they didn't last.
- Zachary , Charlotte, NC

Joe probably wrote these lyrics so we would have this exact dicussion about its implications Such a clever man he was. Long Live Joe strummer
- Pascale , Perth, Australia

Well as far as what LONDO CALLING really means you're all wrong.:) "London Calling" 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.
- Eiger , Washington DC, MD

Jumping on the tube today, after the London Bombing, this came on random on my walkman. Great taunting anti-terrorist statement in the first verse! "London calling to the faraway towns Now war is declared, and battle come down London calling to the underworld Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls"
- Sarah , London, England

This is #15 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs.
- Ross , Independence, MO

This song is just one of the many by The Clash that was so in touch with what was happening in the world, during there illustrious career.Clampdown & Radio Clash to name just two others.Not to mention Rock The Casbah,which in hindsight would have been an appropriate song.Only this song came out roughly 10 years before the first Gulf War.The Clash were absolutely essential to the world of music!!Nuf said.
- Andy , Glasgow, Scotland

it sounds like they're talking about The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells, if you want to know about it i suggest reading a summary about it, the actual book is horrid boring but i had to read it for school, and everything but the nuclear error makes sense.:)
- Chicken , lala land, CA

I see a lot of cynical references to sensationalism in television news in the lyrics. The lines "London Calling, at the top of the dial, and after all this, won't you give me a smile?" means to me that doomsday is all over the news, that you can't escape it, and Strummer seems to be ironically asking people to keep smiling after the apocalypse. As stated above, he seems to be calling people to the battle "come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls," but the entire thing smacks of irony, possibly from the fact that he makes references to London's "swing" as the "ring of the truncheon thing." A truncheon is an old-fashioned term for a billy club, a weapon carried by police officers in London. The song can be interpreted on several levels, as being against authority, or possibly just mocking the fact that the world's end is constantly hypothesized in the news. Interesting social commentary for a song which is followed up by a man's lament to his woman's Brand New Cadillac.
- Stephen , Calgary, Canada

"This is such a great song. But does anyone now what the lyric london calling actually means?" (Jason Lee) London is calling for help from the rest of the world, because of aforesaid apocalypse.
- Nessie , Sapporo, Japan

This song appears in Billy Elliot, only it's butchered in it, the lyrics are all cut and jumbled up.
- Rose Marie , Valencia, Spain

Joe once did a radio documentary on the BBC where he explained what this song was about. At the time, there were many 'doom prophecies' being put forward by the intellectuals and scientists, many of them contradictory (eg the sun is zooming in, yet the ice age is coming?!). Joe was making fun of these people, while also urging the punks to drop the cliches and expand their horizons a bit. At the time he was living at his gfs flat in a tower block on the worlds end estate, which is right by the thames river, and they had just built the thames flood barrier so he was theoretically safe, hence "london is drowning but i live by the river".
- Mudassir , Bolton, England

The Clash is awesome, and this song is just wicked
- Shana , Pembroke, Canada

when paul simmon smashed his bass at the concert a chunk of the bass flew almost and about hit one of the roadies johnny green the clash rock
- kai , pleasent view, UT

Tony Kanal was the one playing bass at the Grammy tribute, but he was standing in the back and he was not acknowledged in some of the promotional clips the tv network aired when they talked about "an all star tribute to the clash". This is a bit of a shame considering Tony Kanal is abviously a big fan of the clash (he wore a clash t shirt in the no doubt video for "running", and the entire song is based on one of the most iconic bass lines of all time!!
- Jackie , Fairfield, CT

Unfortunately >_<
- Brian , Toronto, Canada

what better song to start off the greatest album ever recorded. You heard me.
- Nick , San Francisco, CA

Wasn't Tony Kanal from No Doubt one of the guys in the 2003 tribute @ the Grammys for The Clash?
- Vanessa , Barstow, CA

Brilliant. I always thought it was a call to arms. (im quoting this from memory) London calling, now battle comes down, get out of the cupboard you girls and boys. not sure though
- Andy , Halifax, England

The cover of this album is an iconic picture of bass player Paul Simonon smashing his bass live on stage. The photographer said on live TV in england, when asked about the photo, " I went over to that side of the stage because Paul was lookin bit P*ssed off"
- Andy , Halifax, England

This is such a great song. But does anyone now what the lyric london calling actually means?
- Jason Lee , New York, NY

An awesome cover of this song was recorded by Canadian group Captain Tractor; it appears on their 1995 album "East of Edson"
- Dave , Edmonton, Canada

Gotta love The Clash
- Melissa , Lansing, MI

Send "London Calling" Ringtone to your Cell