Back in the garage with my bullshit detector
Carbon monoxide making sure it's effective
People ringing up making offers for my life
But I just wanna stay in the garage all night
We're a garage band
We come from garageland
Meanwhile things are hotting up in the West End
alright
Contracts in the offices, groups in the night
My bummin' slummin' friends have all got new boots
An' someone just asked me if the group would wear suits
I don't wanna hear about what the rich are doing
I don't wanna go to where the rich are going
They think they're so clever, they think they're so right
But the truth is only known by guttersnipes
There's twenty-two singers! But one microphone
Back in the garage
There's five guitar players! But one guitar
Back in the garage
Complaints! Complaints! Wot an old bag
Back in the garage
All night
Gates of the West
(Strummer/Jones)
I would love to be the lucky one on chill avenue
Who could keep your heart warm when ice has turned it blue
But with the beggin' sleeping losers as they turn in for the night
I'm looking back for home and I can see the lights
I should be jumpin' shoutin' that I made it all this
way
From Camden town station to 44th and 8th
Not many make it this far and many say we're great
But just like them we walk on an' we can't escape our fate
Can't you hear the sighing
Eastside Jimmy and Southside Sue
Both say they needed something new
So I'm standing at the gates of the west
I burn money at the lights of the sign
The city casts a shadow of the perfect crime
I'm standing at the gates of the east
I take my pulse and the pulse of my friend
The city casts a shadow, will I see you again?
The immigrants an' remnants of all the glory
years
Are clustered around the bar again for another round of beers
Little Richard's in the kitchen playing spoons and plates
He's telling the waitress he's great
Ah say i know somewhere back'n'forth in time
Out on the dustbowls, deep in the roulette mine
Or in a ghetto cellar only yesterday
There's a move into the future for the USA
I hear them crying
Eastside Jimmy and Southside Sue
Both said they needed something new
Standing at the gates of the west
In the shadow again
I'm standing at the gates of the west
In the shadow again
CLASH LYRICS
/ ALLEN GINSBERG LYRICS
/ DO THE WORM ON THE ACCROPOLIS
/ SLAMDANCE THE COSMOPOLIS
/ ENLIGHTEN THE POPULACE
HUNGRY DARKNESS OF LIVING
WHO WILL THIRST IN THE PIT?
/ HOOKED IN METROPOLIS
SHE SPENT A LIFETIME DECIDING
HOW TO RUN FROM IT
/ ADDICTS OF METROPOLIS
ONCE FATE HAD A WITNESS
AND THE YEARS SEEMED LIKE FRIENDS
/ GIRLFRIENDS
HER BABIES CAN DREAM
BUT DREAMS BEGIN LIKE THE END
/ SHOT INTO ETERNITY
/ METHADONE KITTY
/ IRON SERENITY
GHETTO DEFENDANT
IT IS HEROIN PITY
NOT TEAR GAS NOR BATON CHARGE
THAT STOPS YOU TAKING THE CITY
/ STRUNG OUT COMMITTEE
WALLED OUT OF THE CITY
CLUBBED DOWN FROM UPTOWN
SPRAYED PEST FROM THE NEST
RUN OUT TO BARRIO TOWN
/THE GUARDS ARE ITCHY
FORCED TO WATCH AT THE FEAST
THEN SWEEP UP THE NIGHT
FLIPPED PIECES OF COIN
/ BROKEN BOTTLES
EXCHANGED FOR BIRTHRIGHT
/ GRAFTED IN A JIFFY
/ STRUNG OUT COMMITTEE
/ SITTING PRETTY
/ GRAPHED IN A JIFFY
/ NO PITY, PRETTY
THE GHETTO PRINCE OF GUTTER POETS
WAS BOUNCED OUT OF THE ROOM
/ JEAN ARTHUR RIMBAUD
BY THE BODYGUARDS OF GREED
FOR DISTURBING THE TOMB
/ 1873
HIS WORDS LIKE FLAMETHROWERS
/ PARIS COMMUNE
BURNT THE GHETTOS IN THEIR CHESTS
HIS FACE WAS PAINTED WHITER
AND HE WAS LAID TO REST
/ DIED IN MARSEILLE
/ BURIED IN CHARLEVILLE
/ SHUT UP
SOAP FLOODS OIL IN WATER
ALL CHURN IN THE WAKE
ON THE GREAT SHIP OF PROGRESS
THE CREW CAN'T FIND THE BRAKE
KLAXONS ARE BLARING
THE ADMIRAL SNORES COMMAND
SUBMARINES BOIL IN OCEANS
WHILE THE ARMIES FIGHT WITH SUNS
THE HIGH STREET SHOPS ARE BOARDED UP
AN' THE TERRACE IT IS FENCED IN
SEE-THROUGH SHIELDS ARE WALLED ACROSS
THE WAY THAT YOU CAME IN
BUT THERE'S NO NEED TO GET EXCITED
AS THE LORRIES BRING THE BACON IN
'COS THE HOUSEWIVES ARE ALL SINGING
GROOVY TIMES ARE HERE AGAIN
THEY DISCOVERED ONE BLACK SATURDAY
THAT MOBS DON'T MARCH THEY RUN
SO YOU CAN EXCUSE THE NERVOUS TRIGGERMAN
JUST THIS ONCE FOR JUMPING THE GUN
AS THEY WERE PICKING UP THE DEAD
OUT OF THE BROKEN GLASS
YES IT'S NUMBER ONE, THE RADIO SAID
GROOVY TIMES HAVE COME TO PASS!
GROOVY TIMES GROOVY TIMES GROOVY TIMES
THE INTAKE IS ON THE UPTAKE
THE ACCELERATION'S PRETTY GRIM
I CAN REMEMBER HIS FIRST APPEARANCE
NOW LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENED TO HIM
SO THEY PUT HIM IN A DOG SUIT
LIKE FROM 1964
THE KING OF EARLY EVENING TV
GROOVY TIMES FOREVER MORE
GROOVY TIMES
Guns of
Brixton, The
(Paul Simonon)
When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun
When the law break in
How you gonna go?
Shot down on the pavement
Or waiting on death row
You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton
The money feels good
And your life you like it well
But surely your time will come
As in heaven, as in hell
You see, he feels like Ivan
Born under the Brixton sun
His game is called survivin'
At the end of the harder they come
You know it means no mercy
They caught him with a gun
No need for the Black Maria
Goodbye to the Brixton sun
You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton
When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun
You can crush us
You can bruise us
Yes, even shoot us
But oh-the guns of Brixton
Shot down on the pavement
Waiting in death row
His game is called survivin'
As in heaven as in hell
You can crush us
You can bruise us
But you'll have to answer to
Oh, the guns of Brixton
I swear by Almighty God
To tell the whole truth
And nothing but the truth
Guns guns
They torture all the women and children
Then they've put the men to the gun
'Cos across the human frontier
Freedom's always on the run
Guns guns a-shaking in terror
Guns guns killing in error
Guns guns guilty hands
Guns guns shatter the lands
A system built by the sweat of the many
Creates assassins to kill off the few
Take any place and call it a court house
This is a place where no judge can stand
Sue the lawyers and burn all the papers
Unlock the key of the legal papers
A jury of a billion faces
Shouted out condemned out of hand
Guns guns, and nobody's kidding
Guns guns, or foolin' around
Guns guns, the violence is singing
Guns guns, a silence the sound
'N I Iike to be in Aferica
A-beatin' on the final drum
'N I like to be in U.S.S.R.
Makin' sure these things will come
'N I like to be in U.S.A.
Pretending that the wars are done
'N I like to be in Europa
Saying goodbye to everyone
Guns guns there's guns on the roof
Guns guns they're made to shoot
Hate and war - the only things we got today
An' if I close my eyes
They will not go away
You have to deal with it
It is the currency
Hate...hate...hate...
The hate of a nation
A million miles from home
An' get war from the junkies
Who don't like my form
I'm gonna stay in the city
Even when the house fall down
I don't dream of a holiday
When hate an' war come around
Hate and war...
I have the will to survive
I cheat if I can't win
If someone locks me out
I kick my back in
An' if I get aggression
I give it to them two time back
Every day it's just the same
With hate an' war on my back
Hate and war - I hate all the English
Hate and war - they're just as bad as wops
Hate and war - I hate all the politeness
Hate and war - I hate all the cops
I wanna walk down any street
Looking like a creep
I don't care if I get beat up
By any Kebab Greek
Well, I got a friend who's a man
What man?
The man who keeps me from the lovely
He gives me what I need
What you need? What you got?
I need it all so badly
CHORUS
Oh, anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he gives it, but not for free
It's hateful
And it's paid for and I'm so grateful to be nowhere
This year I've lost some friends
Some friends? What friends?
I dunno, I ain't even noticed
You see, I gotta go out again
Again? My friend
I gotta see that mainman
I killed all my nerves
My nerves? What swerves?
And I can't drive so steady
I've lost my memory
My mind? Behind!
I can't see so clearly
CHORUS
They cried the tears, they shed the fears
Up and down the land
They stole guitars or used guitars
So the tape would understand
Without even the slightest hope of a 1000 sales
Just as if, as if there was, a hitsville in U.K.
I know the boy was all alone, til the hitsville hit U.K.
They say true talent will allways emerge in time
When lightening hits small wonder
Its fast rough factory trade
No expense accounts, or lunch discounts
Or hypeing up the charts
The band went in, 'n knocked 'em dead, in 2 min. 59
No slimy deals, with smarmy eels - in hitsville U.K.
Lets shake'n say, we'll operate - in hitsville U.K.
The mutants, creeps and musclemen
Are shaking like a leaf
It blows a hole in the radio
When it hasnt sounded good all week
A mike'n boom, in your living room - in hitsville U.K.
No consumer trials, or A.O.R., in hitsville U.K.
Now the boys and girls are not alone
Now the hitsville's hit U.K.
I Fought the Law
(Sonny Curtis)
Breakin' rocks in the hot sun
I fought the law and the law won (twice)
I needed money 'cause I had none
I fought the law and the law won (twice)
I left my baby and it feels so bad
Guess my race is run
She's the best girl that I ever had
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the
Robbin' people with a six-gun
I fought the law and the law won (twice)
I lost my girl and I lost my fun
I fought the law and the law won (twice)
I left my baby and it feels so bad
Guess my race is run
She's the best girl that I ever had
I fought the law and the law won
I fought the law and the
I fought the law and the law won (7 times)
I fought the law and the
If it's true that a rich man leads a sad life
N' that's what they from day to day
Then what do all the poor do with their lives?
Have nothing to say on judgment day?
I've been beat up, I've been thrown
Out but I'm not down, I'm not down
I've been shown up, but I've grown up
And I'm not down, I'm not down
On my own I faced a gang of jeering in strange
streets
When my nerves were pumping and I
Fought my fear in, I did not run
I was not done
And I have lived that kind of day
When one of your sorrows will go away
It goes down and down and hit the floor
Down and down and down some more
Depression
But I now there'll be some way
When I can swing everything back my way
Like skyscrapers rising up
Floor by floor, I'm not giving up
So you rock around and think that
You're the toughest
In the world, the whole wide world
But you're streets away from where
It gets the roughest
You ain't been there
I'm So
Bored With the U.S.A.
(Strummer/Jones)
Yankee soldier
He wanna shoot some skag
He met it in Cambodia
But now he can't afford a bag
Yankee dollar talk
To the dictators of the world
In fact it's giving orders
An' they can't afford to miss a word
I'm so bored with the U...S...A...
But what can I do?
Yankee detectives
Are always on the TV
'Cos killers in America
Work seven days a week
Never mind the stars and stripes
Let's print the Watergate Tapes
I'll salute the New Wave
And I hope nobody escapes
I'm so bored with the U...S...A...
But what can I do?
Move up Starsky
For the C.I.A.
Suck on Kojak
For the USA
If Music Could
Talk
(The Clash/Dread)
*Left Channel*
Make sure!
Taking cover in the bunker tonight
Waiting for Bo Diddley's headlights
I feel alright
Gotta Fender Stratosphere
I can do anything tonight
It's in neon lights an' global rights
Frank? He's on the phone
There ain't no German girl outside
But who cares when its warm inside?
With music
Special mystery of music tragically
Exchanging slaves for majesties
Modern waves of tragedy
Packing a to pience colt pair of shoots
A shiny grey mexican suit
The blue eyed traffic can sashay by
'Cos tonight the sailor boys have hit Shanghai
The kick-out traffic goes creaking by
I smash my glass and shout shanghi
My drummer friend comes shooting by
He said Errol Flynn will never die
Oh no! Who am I to question why?
And are you lonesome tonight
And do ya need a country cowboy
Who's just thin and tight in those
Brrrr bus depot jeans
With a squirt resistant stud stud
Hey stoner
Get over there in the spliffbunker one
Becos London Bridge was sold somehow
But it was too old anyhow
When Uncle Sam has broken down
We'll make him down in old Japan
Say yeee
Well there ain't no better blend
Than Joe Ely and his Texas Men
Where the wind blows
I ain't seen none like that scenery
You can see from a bus if you pay the price
Wave my arms around
Flag one of those taxi's maybe
I saw a girl somewhere somehow
Forever sticks in my mind somehow
I've just got three lines
And a pair of two's
Like a lucky roll of dice that you
You cast
*Right Channel*
If music could talk!
Which means
Whatever your mind can bring
Likethe apple fell off the tree
Pah! Fell right on his head
Yeah many years ago
There was a man who said
I am a shaman
A voodoo shaman
Got in trouble so he's going out
Mixing up and Haiti! Oh!
And the crickets
Buddy Holly said it was
Brrr Brrr yiii!
If music could talk you know
I feel kinda lonely
Standing out on the floor
Of Electric Ladyland...
Cos this is a good question Samson
Are you partly Arabic?
Chi man! Whatcho all about
I don't want to I can't hope to
Say it all in one go
Occasionally once or twice
A day I feel alive enough to say
Let's hear what the drummerman's
Got to say about
He said is it Errol Flynn's birthday or not?
Sept 12 until October
If they pack 2 piece
Colt pair of shoots
We got the shiny grey Mexican suits
I'm just wasting a great big
Corporation and the entire fund
The girders of Wall Street
And thetemples of money
And the high priests
Of the expense account
And Im wasting the whole thing
I come down in Yamaha-ha
They make the best pianos-time to step-up
The soldier boy for his soliders pay
Obeys theeargent at arms whatever he says
The seargent will for his seargent's pay
Obey the general order of the battle play
The generals bow to the government
Obey the charge you must not relent
What of the neighbors and the prophets in bars?
What are they saying in the publiz bazaar?
We are tired of the tune
You must not relent
At every stroke of the bell in the tower there goes
Another boy from another side
The bulletins that steady come in say those
Familiar words at the top of the hour
The jamming city increases its hum
And those terrible words continue to come
Through bras music of government hear those
Guns tattoo a roll on the drums
No-one mentions the neighboring war
No one knows what they're fighting for
We are tired of the tune
You must not relent
Ivan Meets G.I.
Joe
(The Clash)
So you're on the floor, at 54
Think you can last - at the Palace
Does your body go to the to and fro?
But tonight's the night - or didn't you know
That Ivan meets G.I. Joe
He tried his tricks- that Ruskie bear
The United Nations said it's all fair
He did the radiation - the chemical plague
But he could not win - with a cossack spin
The Vostok Bomb - the Stalin strike
He tried every move - he tried to hitch hike
He drilled a hole - like a Russian star
He made every move in his repertoire
When Ivan meet G.I. Joe
Now it was G.I. Joe's turn to blow
He turned it on - cool and slow
He tried a payphone call to the Pentagon
A radar scan - a leviathan
He wiped the Earth - clean as a plate
What does it take to make a Ruskie break?
But the crowd are bored and off they go
Over the road to watch China blow!
When Ivan meets G.I. Joe
