Should I Stay or Should I Go
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"Should I Stay or Should I Go" is a song by 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 wa ...
, from their album '' Combat Rock'', written in 1981 and featuring Mick Jones on lead vocals. It was released in 1982 as a double A-sided single alongside " Straight to Hell", performing modestly on global music charts. In the United States, "Should I Stay or Should I Go" charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 without reaching the top 40. The song received greater attention nearly a decade later as the result of an early-1990s Levi's jeans commercial, leading to the song's 1991 re-release, which topped 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 ...
and reached the top ten in New Zealand and many European charts. The song was listed in ''Rolling Stone''s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.


Background and production

Many rumours have arisen about the song's content, such as Jones' impending dismissal from the Clash or the tempestuous personal relationship between Jones and American singer
Ellen Foley Ellen Foley (born 1951) is an American singer and actress who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the sitcom '' Night Court'' for one season. In music, she has released five solo albums but is best known for her colla ...
. "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was thought to be written by Jones about Foley, who sang the backing vocals on
Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
's ''
Bat Out of Hell ''Bat Out of Hell'' is the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman. It is one of the best-selling albums in history. The album was developed from a musical, ''Neverland'', a futuristic rock version of '' ...
'' LP. However, Jones himself said:
It wasn't about anybody specific and it wasn't pre-empting my leaving The Clash. It was just a good rockin' song, our attempt at writing a classic... When we were just playing, that was the kind of thing we used to like to play. – Mick Jones, 1991
The Spanish backing vocals were sung by
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, ...
and Joe Ely:
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 Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are colle ...
, so it's
Ecuadorian Spanish Spanish is the most-widely spoken language in Ecuador, though great variations are present depending on several factors, the most important one being the geographical region where it is spoken. The three main regional variants are: * Equatoria ...
that me and Joe Ely are singing on the backing vocals. – Joe Strummer, 1991


Releases

The song had various single releases. In North America, the American record label
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
released one edition with "Inoculated City" as its B-side in May 1982. Another edition by Epic with "First Night Back in London" as its B-side, released in July 1982, peaked at number 45 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on the week ending 18 September 1982, the edition's tenth week on the chart. Another edition by Epic with "Cool Confusion" as its B-side, released in February 1983, peaked at number 50 in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Elsewhere, the international record label
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...
released the song in September 1982 as a double A-side with " Straight to Hell". The double A-side release peaked at number 17 in the
UK Single 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 ...
on the week ending 17 October 1982, the release's fifth week on the chart. Historically, the band rejected companies' requests to use their songs to advertise products, like
Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...
and British Telecom. Then in the early 1990s the company Levi's asked the band members' permission to use the song for a jeans commercial for the British audience. Despite the band often prioritising "creativity and idealism over commercial exploitation", the band members left the decision to the main songwriter Mick Jones, who approved the permission, rationalising that Levi's jeans had been part of the
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
culture rather than something to "object on moral grounds". The song was played for the Levi's commercial and then reissued on 18 February 1991 as a single, a decade after its original release, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart. It became the band's only number-one single on the UK Chart. In that same year, Jones told ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' journalist James Brown that he included BAD II's " Rush" in the single re-release to promote his newer band. A live recording of the song was included on the album '' Live at Shea Stadium'', which featured a concert performed on 13 October 1982 in New York. The song's music video from that performance was included on the DVD '' The Clash Live: Revolution Rock''. Both discs were released on 6 October 2008.


Reception

''NME'' journalist Adrian Thrills in 1982 gave the double A-side single release "Straight to Hell"/"Should I Stay or Should I Go" four-and-a-half stars out of five. Despite "Should I Stay or Should I Go" having received more radio airplay, Thrills stated that the single's other A-side track " Straight to Hell" was "the reaffirmation that there is still life in The Clash." In November 2004, the song was ranked number 228 on " Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In 2009 it was ranked 42nd on VH1's program ''100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs''. Scholar Theodore Gracyk wrote in 2007 that the song "is not sovertly political" as most of the band's other songs, especially from the album ''Combat Rock'', which carries the song. Gracyk further wrote that new listeners familiar with and praising the song and then wanting to buy ''Combat Rock'' or one of compilation albums containing the song would be surprised by the band's "strong critique of dominant Western values." ''
Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...
'' writer Bill Wyman in 2017 ranked the song number 19 of all the band's 139 songs.


Charts


Original release


Reissue


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Download


Certifications


Opening riff similarity

Twitter users accused
One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...
's 2012 hit single, "
Live While We're Young "Live While We're Young" is a song by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Take Me Home'' (2012). Written by Savan Kotecha and its producers, Rami Yacoub and Carl Falk, the number ...
", of copying the song's opening guitar riff, which caused controversy. According to Alexis Petridis of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', the guitar is played thrice between the riff with the plectrum stroking the strings, while it is pressed. One note in the chord is changed, which Petridis surmised was probably to avoid paying any royalty to the Clash.


Video

The video for the song was made by Don Letts and featured Joe Strummer in sunglasses and a
Davy Crockett David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is often referred to in popular culture as the "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Re ...
hat and Mick Jones in a red jumpsuit and beret. The band were filmed driving to a gig in an open-topped Cadillac.


In other popular culture

The song is heard in '' 28 Days'' (2000), ''
Rugrats Go Wild ''Rugrats Go Wild'' is a 2003 American animated crossover adventure film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''Rugrats'' and ''The Wild Thornberrys''. It is the third and final installment in the ''Rugrats'' film series and the se ...
'' (2003), and ''
Iron Man 2 ''Iron Man 2'' is a 2010 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Iron Man. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the sequel to '' Iron Man'' (2008) and the third film in the Marvel ...
'' (2010). It is also featured in the first season (2016) of the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series '' Stranger Things'', being a significant part of the storyline. It makes an appearance in the video game ''
Far Cry 4 ''Far Cry 4'' is a 2014 first-person shooter game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the successor to the 2012 video game ''Far Cry 3'', and the fourth main installment in the ''Far Cry'' series. Set in the fictional ...
'' as well. The song is featured in the film ''Cruella'' (2021).


See also

*
List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 1990s The UK Singles Chart is a record chart compiled on behalf of the British record industry. Until 1 February 1994, the chart was compiled each week by Gallup – after this date, it was managed by Millward Brown, who expanded the number of s ...


References

{{Authority control Songs about parting 1982 songs 1982 singles 1991 singles Epic Records singles The Clash songs Macaronic songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs written by Mick Jones (The Clash) Songs written by Topper Headon Songs written by Paul Simonon Songs written by Joe Strummer Music videos directed by Don Letts