Songfacts®:

• "Three Card Trick" was, along with "This Is England" generally cited as one of the better songs on the Cut the Crap debacle, mainly because both songs actually sound like The Clash, using a reggae rhythm and revisiting classic Clash themes of oppression, breakdown of society ("Patriots of the wasteland torching two hundred years, dragging my spirit back into the dungeon again") and protest ("You won't fall for that law and order is a baton in the rib, you won't fall for that just like your mummy and your daddy did"). In this case, singer Joe Strummer's lyrics relate to two core actions occurring at the time: many of the steel mills closing due to foreign imports ("Using steel nails manufactured by the slaves in Asia") and the Miners Strikes of 1984.
• This is the only post-Mick Jones Clash song to remain in their live set right until their final festival performances in summer 1985, having been introduced on the Out of Control tour in early 1984.