The Guns of Brixton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "The Guns Of Brixton" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| 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. 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. Despite a reggae beat and feel to the song, the bassline and lyrical content give the song an intriguingly menacing tone. A somewhat heavier, faster version than the one found on London Calling appeared on the live compilation From Here to Eternity: Live, released in 1999.
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.
- The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- An excerpt from The Guns Of Brixton
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[edit] 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 the song at a guerilla gig in their early days while the police were forcing their way into their flat to take their instruments.[citation needed]
Arcade Fire play an accoustic version at the end of some shows, possibly for the first time during the 5 day mini tour of London in the first week of Feb 2007, and definitely to close their 4 night stint at Brixton Academy 17th March 2007.
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]
