"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by the English punk rock band

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

. It was written and sung by bassist

Paul Simonon Paul Gustave Simonon (; born 15 December 1955) is an English musician and artist best known as the bassist for the Clash. More recent work includes his involvement in the supergroup the Good, the Bad & the Queen and playing on the Gorillaz a ...

, who grew up in

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th cent ...

, South London. The song has a strong

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

influence, reflecting the culture of the area and the reggae gangster film ''

The Harder They Come ''The Harder They Come'' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world". ...

''.

Origins and recording

"The Guns of Brixton" was the Clash's first song to be composed and sung by Paul Simonon.Sweeting, Adam. (October 2004). "Death or Glory". '' Uncut''. p. 67. By the time of ''London Calling'', Simonon had learned to play guitar and started contributing more to the songwriting.Rowley, Scott. (October 1999), ''Interview with Paul Simonon''. Bassist Magazine. :"You don't get paid for designing posters or doing the clothes", he said in an interview published by Bassist Magazine in October 1990, "you get paid for doing the songs." The band, separated from manager Bernard Rhodes,Gilbert 2005, pp. 212-213. had to leave their rehearsal studio in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

and find another location. They began work on ''

London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. Th ...

'' during the summer of 1979 at the Vanilla Studios in

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...

.Sweeting, Adam. "Death or Glory". (October 2004). '' Uncut''. p. 58. The band quickly wrote and recorded demos, and in August 1979 entered Wessex Studios to begin recording the album. Produced by Guy Stevens, who at the time had alcohol and drug problems and whose production methods were unconventional,Gilbert 2005, p. 235. it was recorded within a matter of weeks, with many songs, including "The Guns of Brixton", recorded in one or two takes.Sinclair, Tom. (24 September 2004)
"The Best Album of All Time"
''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

''. Retrieved 23 August 2009. It was also revealed that while recording the lead vocals for the song, Simonon sang while staring directly at a CBS executive who had visited the studio during the sessions, giving Simonon the desired amount of emotion in his voice. A section of the song is sung by a very young Maria Gallagher, accompanied by her father Mick Gallagher on the keyboards, as a reprise at the end of the song "Broadway" on the 1980 Clash album ''

Sandinista! ''Sandinista!'' is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. It crosses various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, ...

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(studio),

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(live) * Mick Jones –

lead guitars Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, f ...

– rhythm guitar (studio), bass guitar (live) * Topper Headon –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Mickey Gallagher Michael William Gallagher (born 29 October 1945) is an English Hammond organ player best known as a member of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and for his contributions to albums by the Clash. He has also written music for films such as ''Extrem ...

–

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

Lyrics and music

"The Guns of Brixton" predates the

riots A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targeted ...

that took place in the 1980s in

but the lyrics depict the feelings of discontent in the area because of the heavy-handedness of the police, the

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

and other problems at the time. The lyrics refer to a Brixton-born son of Jamaican immigrants who "feel like Ivan...at the end of ''The Harder they Come''", referring to

Ivanhoe Martin Vincent "Ivanhoe" Martin (19249 September 1948), known as "Rhyging", was a Jamaican criminal who became a legendary outlaw and folk hero, often regarded as the "original rude boy". He became notorious in 1948 after escaping from prison, going on ...

's death in the 1972 film ''

''. Simonon was originally doubtful about the song's lyrics, which discuss an individual's paranoid outlook on life, but was encouraged to continue working on it by

. Although the Clash had written and performed previous songs that combined

with punk rock, "The Guns of Brixton" was the first Clash song that was created purely as a reggae song. The rhythm guitar line has a Jamaican

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

sound. According to Allmusic critic Rick Anderson, "No song on ''London Calling'' (or on any previous album) demonstrated their mastery of reggae as effectively as 'Guns of Brixton' did."

Return to Brixton

"The Guns of Brixton" was not initially released as a single, but a version of the song, taken from the remastered version of ''

'' and remixed by Jeremy Healy, was released by CBS as a

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any s ...

, 7-inch vinyl and

12-inch vinyl The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfa ...

entitled "Return to Brixton" in July 1990 (catalog number 656072-2). It reached #57 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. CD single track listing #"Return to Brixton" — 3:47 #"Return to Brixton" — 6:55 #"Return to Brixton" (SW2 Dub) — 6:00 #"The Guns of Brixton" — 3:09

Live performances

"The Guns of Brixton" was a mainstay in the Clash's live set. When performing the song live, Simonon would switch instruments with Strummer because he was unable to play the bass line whilst singing lead vocals at the same time. A somewhat heavier, faster version than the one found on ''London Calling'' appeared on the 1999 live compilation '' From Here to Eternity: Live''.

Covers and samples

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...

(also known as Fatboy Slim) sampled the bass line for Beats International's 1990 song " Dub Be Good to Me", which became a #1 hit in the UK. Simonon, interviewed by Scott Rowley in October 1999 for ''Bassist Magazine'', said that he "was surprised that it became number one that was quite shocking. And the fact that it was my performance that they had lifted. The smart thing would've been to copy it and change it slightly, but they just lifted it straight off. So, really, I have done ''Top of the Pops'', but I met up with Norman ookand we came to an arrangement which was much needed at the time. But I thought it was a really good idea and it was quite reassuring for that to happen to my first song." The Blaggers ITA covered the song as a single released in 1995.

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

sampled the bassline on "What's Your Number?" from the 2004 album '' Till Death Do Us Part.'' The song also features Tim Armstrong on guitar. The French band Nouvelle Vague released a cover on their debut album, in 2004; a snippet is used in the "Cafe Polski" sketches of the TV series ''

Harry & Paul ''Harry & Paul'' (originally titled ''Ruddy Hell! It's Harry & Paul'') is a British sketch comedy show starring Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 13 April 2007. Prior to broadcast it was trailed as ''The ...

''.

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...

covered the song on his 2011 ''Sacred Fire EP'', and 2012 album '' Rebirth'', produced by Armstrong.Rachel, T. Cole. (11 August 2011)
"Progress Report: Jimmy Cliff"
''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

''. Retrieved 16 December 2016. Will Hermes has called the cover "the sound of history circling in wondrous ways" because the song references Cliff's character Ivan from ''The Harder They Come''.Hermes, Will (2012)
Jimmy Cliff Rebirth
, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', 13 July 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2016. Nouvelle Vague released a cover of the song in 2016 Punk band

Anti-Flag Anti-Flag is an American punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band is known for its left-wing political activism. Their current members include Justin Sane (vocals, guitar), Chris Head (guitar), Pat Thetic (drums), and Chris Bar ...

recorded a cover of "The Guns of Brixton" with a

segue A segue (; ) is a smooth transition from one topic or section to the next. The term is derived from Italian ''segue'', which literally means "follows". In music In music, ''segue'' is a direction to the performer. It means ''continue (the next ...

into " I Fought the Law" in 2011 for their Complete Control Recording Sessions.

Other legacy

* Reverend and the Makers frontman

Jon McClure Jon McClure (born 22 December 1981), known as The Reverend, is an English musician. He is the lead singer and frontman of Reverend and The Makers, and ex-vocalist of 1984 and Judan Suki. He says that the name "Reverend" became his moniker because ...

stated that his band's song "Nostalgia" from the album '' ThirtyTwo'' was "my attempt at a modern 'Guns of Brixton'". *

Brix Smith Start Brix Smith (born Laura Elisse Salenger) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and a major songwriter for the English post-punk band The Fall during two stints in the band (1983-1989, and 1994-1996). Acknowledgin ...

(born Laura Salenger), a former member of the Fall and the ex-wife of Mark E. Smith, derived her name from the title of the song. *

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel ( Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flag ...

referenced the song in the Season 2 episode E19, "Teach Me Tonight."

Sources

* *