Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sun, 03/28/2010 - 10:36.
Growing up on punk, in the 1970s and 1980s, I like a direct, open, honest approach to decry injustice... and the Clash offer some of the best expressions of that ever. Enjoy.
Like those of many songs by the Clash, the lyrics of "Straight to Hell" decry injustice. The first verse refers to the shutting down of steel mills in Northern England and the alienation and racism suffered by immigrants despite their attempts to integrate into British society. The second verse concerns the abandonment of children in Vietnam who were fathered by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The third verse contrasts the American Dream as seen through the eyes of an Amerasian child with a dystopian vision of American reality. The final verse considers the plight of immigrants throughout the world. Due to this difficult subject material, as well as the slow, aching beat, the song is one of the most downbeat tracks in the Clash's history.
Straight to Hell Lyrics Artist(Band):The Clash
If you can play on the fiddle How's about a British jig and reel? Speaking King's English in quotation As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust water froze In the generation Clear as winter ice This is your paradise
There ain't no need for ya There ain't no need for ya Go straight to Hell boys Go straight to Hell boys
Y'wanna join in a chorus Of the Amerasian blues? When it's Christmas out in Ho Chi Minh City Kiddie say papa papa papa papa papa-san take me home See me got photo photo Photograph of you and Mamma Mamma Mamma-san Of you and Mamma Mamma Mamma-san Lemme tell ya 'bout your blood bamboo kid. It ain't Coca-Cola it's rice.
Straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys Oh Papa-san Please take me home Oh Papa-san Everybody they wanna go home So Mamma-san said
You wanna play mind-crazed banjo On the druggy-drag ragtime U.S.A.? In Parkland International Hey! Junkiedom U.S.A. Where procaine proves the purest rock man groove and rat poison The volatile Molotov says-
PSSST... HEY CHICO WE GOT A MESSAGE FOR YA... SI... VAMOS VAMOS MUCHACHO FROM ALPHABET CITY ALL THE WAY A TO Z, DEAD, HEAD
Go straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys Straight to Hell
Oh Papa-San Please take me home There ain't no need for ya, There ain't no need for ya
Go straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys
Can you cough it up loud and strong The immigrants They wanna sing all night long It could be anywhere Most likely could be any frontier Any hemisphere No man's land Ain't no asylum here King Solomon he never lived round here
Straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys Go straight to Hell, boys
Oh Papa-San Please take me home Oh Papa-San Everybody, they wanna go home now