Spanish Bombs
| "Spanish Bombs" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Clash | |
| from the album London Calling | |
| Released | 14 December 1979 |
| Recorded | August–September 1979, November 1979 at Wessex Studios |
| Genre | Pop rock |
| Length | 3:18 |
| Label | CBS |
| Songwriter(s) | Joe Strummer, Mick Jones |
| Producer(s) | Guy Stevens |
"Spanish Bombs" is a song by English punk rock band the Clash, with principal vocals by Joe Strummer and additional vocals by Mick Jones. It was written by Strummer and recorded for the band's 1979 album London Calling.
The song also appears on the Clash compilation albums The Story of the Clash, Volume 1 (1988) and Clash on Broadway (1991). Allmusic's Donald A. Guarisco said that the song's "combination of thoughtful lyrics and an energetic performance" made it a "highlight of London Calling".
Strummer wrote the song during the recording sessions for London Calling. He developed the idea for the song while travelling home from Wessex studios in London and listening to a radio news report of ETA terror bombings of tour hotels on the Costa Brava. It reminded him of the ongoing Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign in the United Kingdom.
According to Continente Multicultural magazine, "Spanish Bombs" is a pop rock song.AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco described it as a "rousing rocker" with a combination of power chords, quickly-strummed acoustic riffs, and "simple but catchy verses and chorus".
"Spanish Bombs" compares the modern day tourist experience of Spain with the circumstances of the Spanish Civil War, and contrasts the "trenches full of poets" to the planeloads of British tourists visiting the country's beaches in the post-Franco era. Praising the heroism of the civil war republicans, the song alludes to the death of anti-fascist poet Federico García Lorca. Adrien Begrand of PopMatters remarked that Strummer's references to bomb attacks by Basque separatists in the late 1970s "echoes" Lorca and the Spanish Civil War, citing the line "Spanish bombs rock the province / I'm hearing music from another time".
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