The Sound of the Sinners

Album: Sandinista! (1980)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "The Sound of the Sinners" is a song that tackles a subject The Clash barely ever touched in their back catalogue: religion. "That's not a piss-take. I was thinking of LA and the great earthquake," lead singer Joe Strummer said in an interview with Bill Flanegan. "I had, 'After all those years to believe in Jesus,' he continued. "Topper (Headon, drummer) said 'How about drugs?' I thought about all those people who take too much LSD and end up in sanatoriums. Lots of them think they're Jesus."

    This conversation is quoted directly in the lyrics, "After all this time to believe in Jesus, after all those drugs I thought I was Him." The song takes a sideways look at organized religion and belief systems, pointing out inequalities such as the church's need to raise it's own funds ("Holy rollers roll, give generously now") as well as biblical allusions such as the destruction of Jericho (Joshua 2-3, "That destroyed the walls of Jericho").
  • Around the time of the song's conception, many journalists were speculating as to whether the song's writer Joe Strummer had actually found religion properly. Several contemporary interviews hinted at this: "I believe in good and evil and that what you do will be returned to you" he told Mark Cooper in 1982. In another interview with Melody Maker he said, "I think a spiritual solution is just as important as a social one. Just solely talking about economics, I don't think it's enough."
  • Oddly, it took the song a good three years after its release on the Sandinista! album to find a place in The Clash's live repertoire, being played live all the way through 1983 with new drummer Pete Howard, including at their controversial US Festival appearance, which ended up being Mick Jones' last performance with the band.
  • Joe Strummer had noted that this is Elvis Costello's favorite Clash song.
  • Den Hegarty, the singer of rock-and-roll covers group Darts and a Ladbroke Grove neighbor of Strummer, Jones and Paul Simonon, was invited to Wessex Studios to add doo-wop baritone and a churchman's pulpit address to this gospelly track.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Dar Williams

Dar WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

A popular contemporary folk singer, Williams still remembers the sticky note that changed her life in college.

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

Weezer

WeezerFact or Fiction

Did Rivers Cuomo grow up on a commune? Why did they name their albums after colors? See how well you know your Weezer in this Fact or Fiction.

Matt Sorum

Matt SorumSongwriter Interviews

When he joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, Matt helped them craft an orchestral sound; his mezzo fortes and pianissimos are all over "November Rain."

Intentionally Atrocious

Intentionally AtrociousSong Writing

A selection of songs made to be terrible - some clearly achieved that goal.