The Clash

[nattydread]

Something About England

They say immigrants steal the hubcaps
Of the respected gentlemen
They say it would be wine an' roses
If England were for Englishmen again

Well I saw a dirty overcoat
At the foot of the pillar of the road
Propped inside was an old man
Whom time would not erode
When the night was snapped by sirens
Those blue lights circled fast
The dancehall called for an' ambulance
The bars all closed up fast

My silence gazing at the ceiling
While roaming the single room
I thought the old man could help me
If he could explain the gloom
You really think it's all new
You really think about it too
The old man scoffed as he spoke to me
I'll tell you a thing or two

I missed the fourteen-eighteen war
But not the sorrow afterwards
With my father dead and my mother ran off
My brothers took the pay of hoods
The twenties turned the north was dead
The hunger strike came marching south
At the garden party not a word was said
The ladies lifted cake to their mouths

The next war began and my ship sailed
With battle orders writ in bed
In five long years of bullets and shells
We left ten million dead
The few returned to old Piccadily
We limped around Leicester Square
The world was busy rebuilding itself
The architects could not care

But how could we know when I was young
All the canges that were to come?
All the photos in the wallets on the battlefield
And now the terror of the scientific sun
There was masters an' servants an' servants an' dogs
They taught you how to touch your cap
But through strikes an' famine an' war an' peace
England never closed this gap

So leave me now the moon is up
But remember all the tales I tell
The memories that you have dredged up
Are on letters forwarded from hell

The streets were by now deserted
The gangs had trudged off home
The lights clicked off in the bedsits
An' old England was all alone

[nattydread]

The Crooked Beat

Start the car lets make a midnight run
Across the river to South London
To dance to the latest hi-fi sound
Of bass, guitar and drum
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the pressure off
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

Take a piece of cloth, a coin for thirst
For the sweat will start to run
With a cymbal splash, a word of truth
And a rocking bass and drum
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the pressure on
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

So one by one they come on down
From the tower blocks of my home town
Stepping with the rhythm of the rockers beat
Drowning out the pressure of the crooked beat
Seeking out a rhythm that can take the tension on
Stepping in and out of that crooked crooked beat

It has crooked past this crooked street
Where cars patrol this crooked beat
Badges flsh and sirens wail
They'll be taking one and all to jail

Prance! Prance! You want a law to dance?

[nattydread]

Somebody Got Murdered

Someone lights a cigarette
While riding in a car
Some ol' guy takes a swig
And passes back the jar
But where they were last night
No-one can remember
Somebody got murdered
Goodbye, for keeps, forever

Somebody got murdered
Somebody's dead forever

And you're minding your own business
Carrying spare change
You wouldn't cosh a barber
You're hungry all the same
I been very tempted
To grab it from the till
I been very hungry
But not enough to kill

Somebody got murdered
His name cannot be found
A small stain on the pavement
They'll scrub it off the ground
As the daily crown disperses
No-one says that much
Somebody got murdered
And it' left me with a touch

Somebody got murdered
Somebody's dead forever
Sounds like murder!
Those shouts!
Are they drunk down below?

It's late, and my watch stopped
Some time ago
Sounds like murder!
Those screams!
Are they drunk down below?

[nattydread]

One More Time

Must I get a witness? for all this misery
There's no need to, brothers everybody can see
That its one more time in the ghetto you know
One more time if you please now
One more time to the dying man
They say one more time if you please

The old lady kicks karate
For just a little walk down the street
The little baby he knows kung fu
He tries it on those he meets
Cos its a one more time!

You don't need no silicone to calculate poverty
Watch when Watts town burns again
The bus goes to Montgomery

Cos it's a one more time in the ghetto
One more time if you please
One more time for the dying man
One more time to be free

[nattydread]

Lightning Strikes (Not Once But Twice)

Now lightning strikes in old New York
It may be dark but I wanna talk
It might rain, it might snow
Too many things I got to know
If this is spring than it's time to sing
Never mind the l'il birdies wing
Look out, look out, old New York
New York's coming an' New York talks
Hey! Strike! Not once...
Strike! But twice!

Get out your money - peel a slab
Roll some notes an' hail a cab
Drive in church drive in back
Drive down Seventh in a tank
Take in the sights, feel the breeze
See New York's one and only tree
It can be found in Garbage park
But don't inspect it after dark
Strike! New York! Lightning!
Not once but twice.

Accidental hike in the transit strike
Roller skate or ride a bike
Three to a car, Brooklyn Bridge
You won't get far if you're privileged
Graffiti Jack sprays in black
An Englishman can he read it back?
Deli Joe he ought to know
He runs the gang on Pastrami Row
Strike! Lightning strike!

Because glass to glass, street to street
Buildings touch St. Peter's feet
From car to bar, prez to shah
Everything is in the jar
The 4 winds blow cos the 4 winds know
Takes a special hustle to make a roll
Honey girl on her feet
I wish everything to make her sweet
Strike! Twice! OK so roll!
From Harlem! Strike one!

Harlem slum to penthouse block
On every door I already knocked
There wasn't anybody that I didn't leave alone
Somebody lying under every stone
Everything that a man could need
In a bag down by my knee
That looks good, this ain't got seeds
Cheaper than booze down in the bowery
Lightning strike! Old New York!
Everything's light! Strike!

Hey ho such a night
I'll see y'all when the lightning strike
A polaroid caught in the act
You're married too and that's a fact
But I won't peek and I won't squeek
Down by the trucks on Christopher Street
It's Cuban Day - Oi Vey
Chinese New Year let's call it a day
Tootsie! Hey Chi man!
That melody is Puerto Rican
Hey Chi man is what he's speaking
An' there's the road down into London Town
Where many cars get broken down
It's the Westway from Ladbroke Grove
Runs down to Old Hounslow
Just thought I'd mention the new extention
That run's down the 59th street intersection
Did you hear the news y'all?
London Town on the Broadway!

[nattydread]

Up In Heaven (Not Only Here)

The towers of London, these crumbling rocks
Reality estates that the hero's got
And every hour's maked by the chime of a clock
And whatcha gonna do when the darkness surrounds?
You can piss in the lifts which have broken down
You can watch from the debris the last bedroom light
We're invisible here just past midnight

The wives hate their husbands and their husbands don't care
Their children daub slogans to prove they lived there
A giant pipe organ up in the air
You can't live in a home which should not have been built
By the bourgeoise clerks who bear no guilt
When the wind hits this building this building it tilts
One day it will surely fall to the ground...

Fear is just another commodity here
They sell us peeping holes to peek when we hear
A bang on the door resoundingly clear
Who would really want to move in here?
The children play faraway, the corridors are bare
This room is a cage its like captivity
How can anyone exist in such misery?

It has been said not only here

"Allianza dollars are spent
To raise the towering buildings
For the weary bones of the workers
To go back in the morning
To be strong in the morning"

[nattydread]

The Sound of the Sinners

As the floods of God
Wash away sin city
They say it was written
In the page of the Lord
But I was looking
For that great jazz note
That destroyed
The walls of Jericho

The winds of fear
Whip away the sickness
The messages on the tablet
Was valium
As the planets form
That golden cross Lord
I'll see you on
The holy cross roads

After all this time
To believe in Jesus
After all those drugs
I thought I was Him
After all my lying
And a-crying
And my suffering
I ain't good enough
I ain't clean enough
To be Him

The tribal wars
Burning up the homeland
The fuel of evil
Is raining from the sky
The sea of lava
Flowing down the mountain
The time will sleep
Us sinners by

Holy rollers roll
Give generously now
Pass the hubcap please
Thank you Lord

[nattydread]

Police On My Back

Well I'm running police on my back
I've been hiding police on my back
There was a shooting police on my back
And the victim well he wont come back

What have I done?

I been running monday tuesday wednesday
Thursday friday saturday sunday runnin
monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday
Saturday sunday

Yes, I'm running down the railway track
Could you help me? Police on my back
They will catch me if I dare drop back
Wont you give me all the speed I lack

[nattydread]

The Equaliser

No! Gangboss no!
We don't want the whip!

As you get weaker - it will get harder
So don't be like him
Keep your bones of effort and strngth
Don't sell them to him

We don't want no gangboss
We want to equalize
To my fathers fathers fathers father
Work was no joy
When his son had grown of age
You got to work now boy
Never ceasing for many years
Want to follow that boy?

Till half and half is equalized
Put down the tools
See the car see the house
See the fabulous jewels
See the world you have built it with shoulders of iron
See the world but it is not yours say the stealers of Zion

Geneva
Wall Street
Who makes them so fat?
Well well me an' you better think about that
In overdrive whooo

Till humanize is equalize
Put down the tools
Every face on every side
Throw down the tools
Stay at home
Don't check with Rome paint strike on the door
It's one to one the fight is on so don't go to war

We don't need no gangboss
We have to equalize

[nattydread]

Washington Bullets

Oh! Mama, Mama look there!
Your children are playing in that street again
Don't you know what happened down there?
A youth of fourteen got shot down there
The Kokane guns of Jamdown Town
The killing clowns, the blood money men
Are shooting those Washington bullets again

As every cell in Chile will tell
The cries of the tortured men
Remember Allende, and the days before,
Before the army came
Please remember Victor Jara,
In the Santiago Stadium,
Es verdad - those Washington Bullets again

And in the Bay of Pigs in 1961,
Havana fought the playboy in the Cuban sun,
For Castro is a colour,
Is a redder than red,
Those Washington bullets want Castro dead
For Castro is the colour...
...That will earn you a spray of lead

For the very first time ever,
When they had a revolution in Nicaragua,
There was no interference from America
Human rights in America

Well the people fought the leader,
And up he flew...
With no Washington bullets what else could he do?

'N' if you can find a Afghan rebel
That the Moscow bullets missed
Ask him what he thinks of voting Communist...
...Ask the Dalai Lama in the hills of Tibet,
How many monks did the Chinese get?
In a war-torn swamp stop any mercenary,
'N' check the British bullets in his armoury
Que?
Sandinista!

[nattydread]

Kingston Advice

In these days you can get no rice
No razor blades but you can get knife
In these days see the people run
They have no food but the boy have gun
In these days they don't throw the stone
Nor use the voice they use the gun alone
In these days to be an oddity
Be hunted down like a scarcity

In these days don't beg for life
Wanna take Kingston advice?
Oh please don't beg for your life

In these days the beat is militant
Must be a clash there's no alternative
In these days nations are militant
We have slavery under government
In these days in the firmament
I look for signs that are permanent

In these days with no love to give
The world will turn with no one left to live

In these days I don't know what to do
The more I see the more I'm destitute
In these days I don't know what to sing
The more I know the less my tune can swing

In these days you can get no rice
No razor blades but you can get knife
In these days see the people run
They have no food but the boy have gun

[nattydread]

Living In Fame

So you've got to live up to your name
Or else I'll put you to shame... Listen!

If you say you a selector
You a fe have good selection
A-and I say if you say you a de special
Man I say I want to know your potential

You a say you a madness
You a say you a de best
But when I put you 'pon you feet
A-some a-some a say you can't play de beat

And I hear you say a Clash a you ruler
Say a Clash sound cooler, eh!
Say a Clash sound sweeter
And now-a-days man a measure mile in a metre, eh!

Live up to your name
Or else you die in shame
A-and a so me say fe live up to your name
A so me tell you say you die in shame

Some a dem a bodysnatcher
Some a dem a barracuda, eh!
But who a know fe me Jah Jah
Fe me Jah a me creator, eh!

Flying saucers, rock-and-roll
Natty Dread a fe be in control
It's all in the whirlwind
I say you've gone with the blockhead

A-and I say me say dat some a dem a Sex Pistol
Nipple erectors
A so me tell you set dem sp...(?) man a gone
An...(?) farm(?)
And I'll tell you 'bout the X-generation...
Me know dem a victimed
'Cause dem no know fe me sweet Jah Jah, eh!

Clash a you ruler
Say a Clash sound cooler
A-and I tell you say a Clash sound sweeter
And now-a-days man measure mile in a metre
A none a dem deh measure gallon in a litre
And I tell you say me know dem a cheat ya

'Cause when you living inna fame
You got to live up to your name
Or else a suffer and you die inna shame
And I tell you say it's all in the game, eh!

Some a say dem a selector
Dem a fe have good selection
Or else deh moving in the wrong direction
And deh no know dis a reggae vibration
A-and a so me say a Clash a you ruler
And dis ya one a say it a musically cooler, eh!

Me say fe live up to your name
Or else you suffer and you die inna shame
'Cause when you living inna fame
A so me tell you say it's all in the game

And so me talkin' about
Specials and Madness beats,
Big body snatcher, (?), eh!

Flying saucers, rock-and-roll
See you gone in the whirlwind
A-and I tell you say, a you a de blockhead
And some will tell you dat you dreader than dread

And a-some a say a Clash a you ruler
See a Clash sound cooler, aaaye!
Clash sound sweeter
Man a measure mile in a metre, eh!

When you living inna fame
You got to live up to your name
Or else you suffer and you die inna shame
It's all in the game, eh!

This is the game of life
We no wa' no strife

[nattydread]

Dictator

Yes I am the dictator the more guns I got the better
Yes I am the liquidator I carry the old Beretta
You know there once was freedom
You know how dangerous that can be
The people used to dance & sing
& they used to run wild in the streets
But now I am the voice
Howling from your radio
From my armour plated Cadillac
You'll hear what I say goes

Yes I am the dictator I satisfy the U.S. team
I always do my killing in the woods & keep the city gutters clean
Cos I need a few more dollars
For my fighter pilot to be free
To dive bomb on the population
If they go running wild in the streets
Yes I am that voice...etc

Yes I am the crusador I spent twenty years in exile
But now I am the invader & I'm never never gonna die
Yes I am the dictator my name is on your ballot sheet
But until my box has your cross you know the form is incomplete
And you know........etc

[nattydread]

Dirty Punk

Gonna be a dirty punk
Gonna rock your neighborhood
Do the sound of rebel funk
Turn it up loud like it should

I could hear your momma scream
She's gonna waste herself away
When your daddy smashed that TV screen
I understand what he had to say

I'm going to get me a big, big, big
Big, Big car
Then I'm gonna drive, drive, drive
I'm gonna drive so far
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
So far up your boulevard

Gonna be a dirty punk
While my brother dresses clean
He used to be the local hunk
The girls all ride in my machine(?)

How bout the time I made him drunk
And he insult my brotherhood
I shout out I am a dirty punk
Gonna rock your neighbohood

I'm going to get a big, big, big
Big, Big car
Then I'm gonna drive, drive, drive
I'm gonna drive so far
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
So far up your boulevard

Gonna get a big, big, big
Go faster!
Then I'm gonna go! Big!
Let's go to (???)
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
Go so far up your boulevard

Gonna drive my big, big, big
Big, Big car
Then I'm gonna drive, drive, drive
I'm gonna drive so far
Up your boulevard
Up your boulevard
So far up your boulevard

[nattydread]

We Are The Clash

Punk rockers, hip-hoppers
Brit poppers, show stoppers
Beboppers, hair droppers
Are you ready to sing?

Right wing, left wing
I want something
Easy to say
Bout what do you think

We ain't gonna be treated like trash
We got one thing
We are the Clash
What?
We are the Clash
It's like a patch
You can strike that match

With my guitar now
The Cuban's last dance
I see them where they beatin' from
And the injuries stay

Beating on a drum
Did they tell them 'take it in'
Got the nervous sort of feelin'
Where the fat boy blew

We ain't gonna be treated like trash
We got one thing
We are the Clash
That's right
We are the Clash
It's like a patch
You can strike that match

Home fires burnin'
In motorcycle city
The rockin' gods will choose
If I'm worthy to live (rock rock clash city rockers)
The first to next engine
In jail at forty-six
And there's no more between ya..
To imitate respect

We ain't gonna be treated like trash
We got one thing
We are the Clash
Don't take no shit
We are the Clash
Do ya hear me?
It's like a patch
You can strike that match