My Top Ten Clash Songs: Clampdown (#1)

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I bring my series of discussions on my ten favorite Clash songs to a crashing end today. This has been a lot of fun looking back at the career of my favorite punk band, a punk band that mixed R&B, hip-hop, ska, reggae, and even pop into their music...which made their "angry young man" lyrics stand out even more. But for the number one song, it's just straight-ahead. #1: Clampdown In an earlier discussion I highlighted "Death or Glory," which was about rebellious youth growing up to be conformists. This song is about that, too, but so, so much better. They begin by bemoaning the evils of "the clampdown," which can be whatever you want it to be: rich people ("they put up a poster saying 'we earn more than you'"), politics ("in these days of evil presidentes"), political correctness ("we will teach our twisted speech to the young believers"), or the job ("the men at the factory are old and cunning...the best years of your life they want to steal"). It's for you to decide what "the clampdown" is to you. The problem, as the Clash saw it, is that "you grow up and you calm down," and "you start wearing blue and brown and working for the clampdown" you rebelled against as a youngster. In interviews Joe Strummer said it was about the failures of capitalism...but capitalism served him pretty well. However, one of the sadly funny things about that is that you can go to You Tube and find mainstream superstars like the Strokes and Bruce Springsteen covering this song. They don't get it. Thanks for reading. Clampdown Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones From London Calling, 1979 Ha! Get along, get along: