Album: Greetings From California (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • This was penned by Benji Madden in Brixton, London, hence the title. He told The Official Charts website: "I wrote a handful of songs in London that I hated, but when I sent them to Joel he said he really liked it and we turned it into something great."
  • Brixton is a district of South London with a multiethnic community. It was the site of race riots in 1981, after which the Government commissioned a public inquiry. Other references to Brixton in songs include:

    "Barbados" by Typically Tropical (tells the story of a Brixton bus-driver who goes to the tropical island Barbados with 'Coconut Airways' to escape the rain of London).

    "The Guns Of Brixton" by The Clash (written by the group's bass player Paul Simonon, who grew up in Brixton, this deals with law enforcement violence in his hometown).

    "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant (titled after the Electric Avenue shopping area in Brixton, which was one of the first streets in the UK to get electric lights).

    "Brixton Briefcase" by Chase & Status (The title is the nickname for a ghetto blaster in the 1980s that people carried on their shoulders, walking around the street listening to music. It was synonymous with London).

    "Uptight Downtown" by La Roux (About the grim reality of the 2011 London riots, which singer Elly Jackson observed in Brixton).

    And we couldn't leave out the fact that David Bowie was born at 40 Stansfield Road, Brixton.

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