In Other Words: "London Calling" by The Clash Quiz

Answer: Brand New Cadillac

The album "London Calling" was ranked eighth on the "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. That magazine described it as "celebrat[ing] the romance of rock & roll rebellion in grand, epic terms." "Brand New Cadillac" was one of the few cover songs on the album. It's actually a 1958 blues song written by Vince Taylor.

Answer: Lost in the Supermarket

"Lost in the Supermarket" was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The lyrics were done by Stummer and are partly autobiographical in content. Primarily it is a song of protest and confusion over increasing consumerism and commercialization in the world.

Answer: London Calling

"London Calling," the album's opening song, was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. The song deals with typical protest themes - unemployment, racial strife, violence, and drug use. It was influenced by the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor scare in the U.S. "London Calling" was number 15 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

Answer: Four Horsemen

As with much of the album, this song's lyrics are by Joe Strummer and the music is by Mick Jones. It's hard to imagine that the use of the term "Four Horseman" does not refer to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but the song itself is not about the end of the world, and the "horsemen" are not referred to as individuals representing specific evils. Instead it uses the Four Horsemen concept as a symbol of hard-living on the edge, independent of consequences, and likely Strummer is using the song as reference to the band itself.

Answer: Spanish Bombs

Another Strummer/Jones composition, "Spanish Bombs" emerges directly from Joe Strummer's interest in political causes. It's about the 1930s Spanish Civil War, and takes the side of, and praises, the anarchist/socialist factions, which eventually lost the war to the fascists.

Answer: The Guns of Brixton

"The Guns of Brixton" is unusual in that it was written by Paul Simonon, rather than Strummer and Jones. Further, he also sang the song. Simonon, the Clash bassist, grew up in Brixton. The song reflects the area's discontent and fear of the police; it has reggae influences and even includes the phrase "the harder they come" in reference to the Jimmy Cliff song and the movie by that name.

Answer: Train in Vain

Slower and "softer" than many Clash songs, "Train in Vain" is close to being a love song. Surprisingly, it was the band's first song to do really well in the United States. Incidentally, in the U.S. the song's title was "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)." The song is ranked number 292 of the "Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time."

Answer: Death or Glory

I haven't been able to find anything definitive specifically on this song, even in my Clash books (I don't have the Pat Gilbert book "Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash") but it's a Strummer/Jones song, with the lyrics by Strummer. Supposedly it's Joe writing about the great passions and invincibility of youth giving way to the troubles and responsibilities of growing older.

Answer: Hateful

"Hateful" is catchy, grabby, and easy-to-sing. It's also about drug addiction (probably heroin is its main focus). It's another Strummer/Jones effort. The lyrics talk about the pleasures of the drug, its cost, the price the user is paying in terms of friends' dying, loss of memory and mental ability, money, and so forth. But its upbeat, call-and-response style works in reverse to the lyrics. The cover version by the group No Doubt on the Clash tribute album, "Burning London," creates the same contradictory atmosphere.

Answer: Koka kola

There is much speculation about which of many possible messages is the primary one with this song. It certainly lambastes the corporate world, with its advertising, creation of artificial consumer demand, and tendency to suck the life out of its executives, who turn to cocaine and suicide. Or it could be that plus a send-up about the origins of Coca Cola, when it may have had a cocaine-like additive.

They also blast the role of money in society and the places it controls, like the White House. The song has an absolutely wonderful snatch of lyric: "Your snakeskin suit and your alligator boot; You won't need a launderette, you can send them to the vet!"