The Guns of Brixton (unplugged)
| "The Guns of Brixton" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Clash | |
| from the album London Calling | |
| Released | 14 December 1979 |
| Recorded | August–September, November 1979 |
| Studio | Wessex, London |
| Length | 3:47 |
| Label | CBS |
| Songwriter(s) | Paul Simonon |
| Producer(s) | |
| Audio sample | |
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| "Return to Brixton" | ||||
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| Single by The Clash | ||||
| Released | July 1990 | |||
| Genre | Dub | |||
| Length | 3:07 | |||
| Label | CBS | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Paul Simonon | |||
| Producer(s) | Guy Stevens | |||
| The Clash singles chronology | ||||
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"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash. 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, with a knowing nod to the classic reggae gangster film The Harder They Come.
"The Guns of Brixton" was the first song recorded by the band to be composed by Paul Simonon and to feature him as lead vocalist. By London Calling, Paul Simonon had learned to play guitar, and started contributing more to the songwriting.
The band, separated from their manager Bernard Rhodes, had to leave their rehearsal studio in Camden Town and find another location. The band began work on London Calling during the summer of 1979 at the so-called 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 the song while staring directly at a CBS executive who dropped by the studio during the sessions, giving Simonon the desired amount of emotion in his voice.
"The Guns of Brixton" pre-dates the riots that took place in the 1980s in Brixton but the lyrics depict the feelings of discontent that were building due to heavy-handedness of the police that led to the riots, the recession and other problems at that 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 as depicted in the 1972 film The Harder They Come. Paul 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 Strummer.
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