‘London Calling’ by The Clash concerns Joe Strummer’s anxieties over world events. Strummer 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”.
A contemporary concern that if the River Thames flooded, central London would flood, led to the line “London is drowning / And I live by the river”. This concern, shared by many Londoners, resulted in the construction of the Thames Barrier.
At the time the song was written, the Metropolitan Police used a truncheon as standard issued equipment which led to a pervasive concern over police brutality. This concern is reflected in the lines, “We ain’t got no swing / Except for the ring of that truncheon thing”. Other lines reflect The Clash’s uneasiness regarding casual drug taking: “we ain’t got no high / except for that one with the yellowy eyes”. Another line highlights the band’s worries about their situation as the English punk rock boom ended: “now don’t look to us / phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust”. Have a litsen to the song with your shure headphones!
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