The Guns of Brixton
| "The Guns of Brixton" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by The Clash on their third album, London Calling, released in 1979. It was written and sung by bassist Paul Simonon, who grew up in Brixton, south London. It has a strong reggae influence, reflecting the culture of the area, with a knowing nod to the classic reggae gangster film, The Harder They Come.
The song pre-dates the race riots that took place in the 1980s in Brixton but the lyrics depict the feelings of discontent that were building due to alleged "heavy-handedness" of the police that lead to the riots, the recession and other problems at that time.
Not originally released as a single in 1979 when London Calling was released, The Guns of Brixton was released as a single from the remastered version of the album in July 1990, to reach #57 in the UK Charts. It was the only track written by Simonon to be released on any original Clash album.
When playing the song live Paul used to switch instruments with Strummer because he felt uncomfortable playing bassline and singing lead vocals.
A section of "Guns of Brixton" appears as a reprise at the end of the song "Broadway" on the Clash's album Sandinista!, sung by a very young Maria Gallagher, with a simple keyboard accompaniment.
Cover versions
The song has been covered by numerous bands over the years, including Arcade Fire, Dropkick Murphys, Jeff Klein, The Bandits, Nouvelle Vague, Calexico, Optimus Rhyme, My Red Hot Nightmare, German punk band Die Toten Hosen, Polish street punk band The Analogs, the German hardcore punk band The Deadstock, and Argentinean band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. The bassline was also sampled for Beats International's 1990 hit "Dub Be Good to Me" and Cypress Hill's 2004 hit "What's Your Number?".
The Libertines played an acoustic version of song at a guerilla gig in their early days. While singing the song, the police broke into their flat and arrested Pete Doherty and Carl Barât.[citation needed]
In 1981 a German punk band named Soilent Grün used the melody of "Guns Of Brixton" for their song "Spitz Wie Lumpi".
In January 2007, NME reported that The Good, the Bad and the Queen, which features Simonon on bass, ended the first set of their UK tour (Trinity Hall, Bristol) in promotion of their debut album with this song (and Simonon on vocals).[1]
References
- ^ "The Good The Bad And The Queen cover The Clash". 2007-01-28. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)