| "Should I Stay or Should I Go" | |||||||||||
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| Single by The Clash | |||||||||||
| from the album Combat Rock | |||||||||||
| B-side | "Inoculated City" | ||||||||||
| Released | 10 June 1982 | ||||||||||
| Format | 7" single, cassette tape | ||||||||||
| Genre | Punk rock | ||||||||||
| Length | 3:06 | ||||||||||
| Label | Epic 14-03006 | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Mick Jones | ||||||||||
| Producer | The Clash | ||||||||||
| The Clash singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Should I Stay or Should I Go" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash, from their album Combat Rock. It was written in 1981 and featured Mick Jones on lead vocals. It became the band's only number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, a decade after it was originally released. In November 2004, it was ranked at 228 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[1] In 2009 it was ranked 42nd on VH1's program 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.[2]
The tune leans towards more of a retro punk rock sound than most of the other tracks on the album. Though many legends have arisen about what the song is about (one of which is Jones' impending dismissal from The Clash in 1983), it is actually about a rocky personal relationship between Jones and singer Ellen Foley that would soon implode. The lyrics seem to reflect ups and downs concerning the relationship and the dilemma of sticking with or ending it.[3]
The Spanish backing vocals are courtesy of Joe Strummer:[4][5]
| “ | On the spur of the moment I said 'I'm going to do the backing vocals in Spanish,'...We needed a translator so Eddie Garcia, the tape operator, called his mother in Brooklyn Heights and read her the lyrics over the phone and she translated them. But Eddie and his mum are Ecuadorian, so it's Ecuadorian Spanish that me and Joe Ely are singing on the backing vocals. | ” |
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—Joe Strummer, 1991 |
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The single was reissued several times. It was first reissued in 1982, with a different cover as a double A-side with "Straight to Hell" and with "Cool Confusion" as its B-side. It was reissued again in 1983,which is a cool song, with "First Night Back in London" on the side two, and then for a third time in 1991, with "Rush" by Mick Jones' group Big Audio Dynamite II as its B-side (see the table below).[6]
| Year | B-side | Format | Label | Country | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | CBS logo etched into vinyl | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic ENR-03571 | USA | One Sided Single - Epic's Get the Hit - Special Low Price. |
| 1982 | "Cool Confusion" | 45 rpm 12" vinyl | Epic 07 5P-223 | JP | — |
| 1982 | "Straight to Hell" (Edit) | 45 rpm 12" vinyl | CBS CBS A13 2646 | UK | — |
| 1982 | "Straight to Hell" (Edit) | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | CBS CBS AII 2646 | UK | Picture disc. |
| 1982 | "Inoculated City" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 14-03006 | USA | 10 June 1982. |
| 1982 | "First Night Back in London" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 34-03061 | USA | Released on 20 July 1982 |
| 1982 | "Straight to Hell" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | CBS CBS A 2646 | UK | Released on 17 September 1982. |
| 1983 | "Cool Confusion" | 45 rpm 7" vinyl | Epic 34-03547 | USA | Released on 27 January 1983. |
| 1991 |
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45 rpm 12" vinyl | CBS / Sony | UK | A-side
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"Should I Stay or Should I Go" has been covered by many artists including Skin, Ice Cube and Mack 10, Living Colour, Maroon 5, Weezer, Guitar Wolf, Die Toten Hosen, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, and Kylie Minogue. A version by former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair was created by digital editing of his speeches to make it appear he was performing the song.[7]
Post punk band The Libertines performed a live version of the song, with Mick Jones featured on guitar. Jones also sampled the track for his Big Audio Dynamite II song "The Globe". American punk band MxPx frequently covers the song during live sets, and it appears on their album On the Cover II. ZZ Top also covered it in the early 1980s. "Weird Al" Yankovic performs this in his "Polkas on 45" medley on his album "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D, released in 1984.
The main riff was parodized by the Brazilian rock band Mamonas Assassinas, in the song "Chopis Centis", released in 1995 on their album of same name.
In 2001, Paul Shanklin recorded a version called "Will I Stay or Will I Go?" In it, Shanklin imitates John McCain debating whether or not to leave the Republican Party.[8] Christian parody band ApologetiX recorded "Should I Pray or Should I Go?" on their Adam Up album (2003).[9] On 22 December 2007, Love and Rockets played "Should I Stay or Should I Go" at the Strummerville benefit show at the Key Club in Los Angeles. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers also included it in their sets in the past.
Argentine band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs included a Spanish-language version of the song on their album La Luz del Ritmo. Punk band Anti-Flag performed the song, along with other Clash songs as part of a U.S. festival. It has appeared in setlists multiple times since then.
Cover band Camp Freddy have performed an acoustic version of the song. The rock band Šank Rock from Slovenia made a cover of the song in Slovene with the title "Al' Naj Ostanem Al' Naj Grem" which is simply the translation of "Should I Stay or Should I Go". The rock band Bajaga i Instruktori from Serbia made a cover of the song in Serbian with the title "Da li da odem ili ne", the title also being the translation of "Should I Stay or Should I Go".
Filipino band Parokya ni Edgar did a parody of this song (The Crush) in their debut album.
On 29 October 2011, Frankie Cocozza covered the song on The X Factor.
As sign of popularity, the song was used in many television commercials, including for Levi Strauss & Co. (1991), for Zoey 101 while saying, "Should she stay, or should she go?", for Pontiac (2004/05), for Benylin (Canada, 2008/09) and for mobile phone network Claro (Brazil, 2009).
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" has been used in several TV programs, such as BBC One's Ashes to Ashes (in its second series), Blackpool (episode five), and Bravo Two Zero (miniseries). Both CTV teen drama series Instant Star and Degrassi: The Next Generation had episodes named after the song. It was used and inspired a segment on the Frosty, Heidi and Frank radio show.
A live version of the song was used for the opening sequence of the film 28 Days in 2000. In 2003, Jones had a cameo appearance in the film Code 46, singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" in a karaoke club. It was sung by Angelica Pickles' character in the children's film Rugrats Go Wild, also released in 2003. It is also featured as a playable track in the video game Rock Band.[10]
The song's opening riff was used by Brazilian comedy rock band Mamonas Assassinas on their song "Chopis Centis". It is also referenced in the lyrics of Kelly Clarkson's hit "Walk Away", in the lines "Should you stay or should you go?"
A part of the song is played in the films "Iron Man 2" and "Divorcing Jack".
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| Preceded by "Do the Bartman" by The Simpsons |
UK number-one single 9 - 16 March 1991 (2 weeks) |
Succeeded by "The Stonk" by Hale and Pace |