- Source: The Guns of Brixton
"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash, originally released on their 1979 album London Calling. It was written and sung by bassist Paul Simonon, who grew up in Brixton, South London. The song has a strong reggae influence, reflecting the culture of the area and the reggae gangster film The Harder They Come.
Origins and recording
"The Guns of Brixton" was the Clash's first song to be composed and sung by Paul Simonon. By the time of London Calling, Simonon had learned to play guitar and started contributing more to the songwriting.
"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, had to leave their rehearsal studio in Camden Town and find another location. They began work on London Calling during the summer of 1979 at the Vanilla Studios in Pimlico. 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, it was recorded within a matter of weeks, with many songs, including "The Guns of Brixton", recorded in one or two takes. 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!.
Personnel
Paul Simonon – lead vocals, bass guitar (studio), rhythm guitar (live)
Mick Jones – lead guitars, backing vocals
Joe Strummer – rhythm guitar (studio), bass guitar (live)
Topper Headon – drums
Mickey Gallagher – organ
Lyrics and music
"The Guns of Brixton" predates the riots that took place in the 1980s in Brixton but the lyrics depict the feelings of discontent in the area because of the heavy-handedness of the police, the recession and other problems at the time. The lyrics refer to a Brixton-born son of Jamaican immigrants who "feel[s] like Ivan...at the end of The Harder they Come", referring to Ivanhoe Martin's death in the 1972 film The Harder They Come. 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 Joe Strummer.
Although the Clash had written and performed previous songs that combined reggae 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 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."
"The Guns of Brixton" was not initially released as a single, but a version of the song, taken from the remastered version of London Calling and remixed by Jeremy Healy, was released by CBS as a CD single, 7-inch vinyl and 12-inch vinyl entitled "Return to Brixton" in July 1990 (catalog number 656072-2). It reached #57 on the UK Singles Chart.
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 (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 [Cook] and 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."
Cypress Hill 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.
Jimmy Cliff covered the song on his 2011 Sacred Fire EP, and 2012 album Rebirth, produced by Armstrong. 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.
Other legacy
Reverend and the Makers frontman Jon McClure stated that his band's song "Nostalgia" from the album ThirtyTwo was "my attempt at a modern 'Guns of Brixton'".
Brix Smith Start (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 referenced the song in the Season 2 episode E19, "Teach Me Tonight."
Sources
References
Further reading
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