The Guns of Brixton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The Guns Of Brixton"

Song by The Clash
from the album London Calling
Released	14 December 1979
Recorded	June-July, 1979
Genre	Reggae, Rock
Length	3:09
Label	CBS
Writer(s)	Paul Simonon
Producer(s)	Guy Stevens
London Calling track listing
Clampdown (9)	"The Guns Of Brixton" (10)	Wrong 'em Boyo (11)

The Guns of Brixton is a song by The Clash on their third album, London Calling released in 1979. 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.

[edit] Cover Versions

The song has been covered by numerous bands over the years, including the Dropkick Murphys, Jeff Klein, Nouvelle Vague, Calexico, My Red Hot Nightmare and the German punk band Die Toten Hosen. 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?". In 1981 a German punk band named Soilent Grün used the melody of "Guns Of Brixton" for their song "Spitz Wie Lumpi".