Career Opportunities
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See Career Opportunities (film) for the movie of this same title.
| "Career Opportunities" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by The Clash | ||
| Released | April 8, 1977 | |
| Recorded | Unknown | |
| Genre | Punk rock | |
| Length | 1:53 | |
| Label | Epic | |
| Producer(s) | Mickey Foote | |
| The Clash singles chronology | ||
| London's Burning (?) |
Career Opportunities (1977) |
Cheat (?) |
"Career Opportunities" is a song by The Clash, recorded for their first album, The Clash. The song attacks the political and economic situation in England at the time, citing the lack of jobs available, particularly to youth, and the dreariness and lack of appeal of those that were available. They specifically mention service in the military and police forces, in addition to jobs that are often perceived as being 'menial' such as a bus driver or ticket inspector, as well as mak[ing] tea at the BBC.
The line "I won't open letter bombs for you" is a reference to a former job of Clash guitarist Mick Jones, opening letters for a British government department to make sure they weren't rigged with bombs. The song was named by bassist Paul Simonon.
The song was re-recorded as one of the last songs on the experimental album Sandinista!, though instead of their voices they have the voices of young boys sung over a simple keyboard melody.
The song appears as a live cover track on the Dropkick Murphys' "Singles Collection". Mike McColgan, frontman for the band at the time, often performs the song live with his new band, the Street Dogs.
