Straight to Hell (song)
Encyclopedia
"Straight to Hell" is a song by The Clash
, from their album Combat Rock
. It was released as a double A-side single with "Should I Stay or Should I Go
" on 17 September 1982 in 12" and 7" vinyl format (the 7" vinyl is also available in picture disc
) format. A slow, mournful ballad, it is one of the most popular songs in the Clash canon due to its contrast to much of their catalogue. It is also considered by the band members as being the best song they recorded.
The reference to "Amerasian
Blues" describes the abandonment of children fathered by American soldiers stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War
: an Amerasian child is portrayed as presenting an absent American father, "papa-san," with a photograph of his parents, pleading with his father to take him home to America. The child's plea is rejected. "-San" is a Japanese rather than Vietnamese honorific
, but it was used by US troops in Vietnam who referred to Vietnamese men and women, especially older men and women, as "mama-san" or "papa-san".
When Strummer sings of a "Volatile Molotov
" thrown at Puerto Rican immigrants in Alphabet City
as a message to encourage them to leave, he is referring to the arson that claimed buildings occupied by immigrant communities – notably Puerto Rican – before the neighborhood was subject to gentrification
. Hence, the ironic reference to "dead-head," the removal of dead flowers to encourage further blooming, at the end of the verse.
The song, whose full version lasted 7 minutes (which can be found on the Clash on Broadway
box set or Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg (bootleg) – the double album that Combat Rock
was going to be), had a lingering violin background that distinguished it from most other Clash songs. The band intended for the full version to be on Combat Rock, but the record company declined.
or sampled
by many artists. Heather Nova
and Moby
covered the song in 1999 for the Clash tribute album Burning London
. In 2007, British singer M.I.A.
sampled "Straight to Hell" in her song "Paper Planes
" (which like "Straight to Hell" deals with the topic of immigration), and Philadelphia punk rock
band The Menzingers
covered the song on their album A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology. Several folk
artists have covered the song, including Josh Rouse
, Emm Gryner
, and Will Kimbrough
.
The song has been refashioned by Mick Jones
, featuring Lily Allen
, for the War Child: Heroes album, released in the UK on 16 February 2009, and in the U.S. on 24 February 2009 by Astralwerks
. Joe Strummer
was Allen's godfather. Jakob Dylan
and Elvis Costello
performed a cover of the song on season 1, episode 12 of Costello's show Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...
, entitled "She & Him, Jenny Lewis and Jakob Dylan" and aired on Channel 4
in the UK, CTV
in Canada and the Sundance Channel in the United States in 2008–2009. The Argentinian band 2 Minutos
covered "Straight to Hell" on their 2010 album Vamos a la granja / Directo al infierno ("Come to the Farm / Straight to Hell").
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, from their album Combat Rock
Combat Rock
The album received positive reviews from critics, and reached the number two on the UK Albums Chart, the number seven on the Billboard Pop albums, and the top ten on many charts in other countries...
. It was released as a double A-side single with "Should I Stay or Should I Go
Should I Stay or Should I Go
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash, from their album Combat Rock. It was written in 1981 and featured Mick Jones on lead vocals. It became the band's only number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, a decade after it was originally released. In November...
" on 17 September 1982 in 12" and 7" vinyl format (the 7" vinyl is also available in picture disc
Picture disc
Picture discs are gramophone records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or coloured vinyl.-Development:...
) format. A slow, mournful ballad, it is one of the most popular songs in the Clash canon due to its contrast to much of their catalogue. It is also considered by the band members as being the best song they recorded.
Background
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.The reference to "Amerasian
Amerasian
In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....
Blues" describes the abandonment of children fathered by American soldiers stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
: an Amerasian child is portrayed as presenting an absent American father, "papa-san," with a photograph of his parents, pleading with his father to take him home to America. The child's plea is rejected. "-San" is a Japanese rather than Vietnamese honorific
Honorific
An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...
, but it was used by US troops in Vietnam who referred to Vietnamese men and women, especially older men and women, as "mama-san" or "papa-san".
When Strummer sings of a "Volatile Molotov
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
" thrown at Puerto Rican immigrants in Alphabet City
Alphabet City, Manhattan
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the Lower East Side and East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is also known as Loisaida, a Spanglish adaptation of 'Lower East Side'. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter...
as a message to encourage them to leave, he is referring to the arson that claimed buildings occupied by immigrant communities – notably Puerto Rican – before the neighborhood was subject to gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
. Hence, the ironic reference to "dead-head," the removal of dead flowers to encourage further blooming, at the end of the verse.
The song, whose full version lasted 7 minutes (which can be found on the Clash on Broadway
Clash on Broadway
-Track listing:All songs written by Mick Jones and Joe Strummer except where noted otherwise.-Disc one:# "Janie Jones" — 2:11# "Career Opportunities" — 1:58#* early demo versions produced by Guy Stevens# "White Riot" — 1:59# "1977" — 1:41...
box set or Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg (bootleg) – the double album that Combat Rock
Combat Rock
The album received positive reviews from critics, and reached the number two on the UK Albums Chart, the number seven on the Billboard Pop albums, and the top ten on many charts in other countries...
was going to be), had a lingering violin background that distinguished it from most other Clash songs. The band intended for the full version to be on Combat Rock, but the record company declined.
Covers and samples
"Straight to Hell" has been coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
or sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by many artists. Heather Nova
Heather Nova
Heather Nova, is a Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. She has released eight full-length albums and has found lasting success in Germany where two of her albums South and Storm have made their way into the Top-5 of German official album chart.-Biography:Heather Nova was born in Bermuda...
and Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
covered the song in 1999 for the Clash tribute album Burning London
Burning London: The Clash Tribute
- External links :* Neva Chonin, Aidin Vaziri, Colin Berry, Gary Graff, David Wiegand, Dan Ouellette, Amanda Nowinski . . Collection. SFGate.* Keith Phipps . . Review. The A.V. Club.* Scott Schinder . . Pulse....
. In 2007, British singer M.I.A.
M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
sampled "Straight to Hell" in her song "Paper Planes
Paper Planes
"Paper Planes" is a song recorded by musician M.I.A. for her second studio album Kala released in 2007. The song was written by Maya "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer and produced by Diplo with additional production by Switch...
" (which like "Straight to Hell" deals with the topic of immigration), and Philadelphia punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band The Menzingers
The Menzingers
- Biography :The Menzingers formed in the wake of Scranton ska-punk bands "Bob and the Sagets" and Kos Mos...
covered the song on their album A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology. Several folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
artists have covered the song, including Josh Rouse
Josh Rouse
Josh Rouse is an American folk/roots pop singer-songwriter.-Biography:Born in the small town of Paxton, Nebraska, he moved to various places in the Midwest during his childhood due to his father's military career...
, Emm Gryner
Emm Gryner
Emm Gryner is a Canadian singer-songwriter and occasional actress.-Biography:Gryner's childhood was spent in Forest, Lambton County, Ontario. Her father was of half Irish heritage and her mother was Filipina....
, and Will Kimbrough
Will Kimbrough
Will Kimbrough born in Mobile, Alabama in 1964 is an American Singer-Songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer currently based in Nashville, Tennessee.-Biography:...
.
The song has been refashioned by Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
, featuring Lily Allen
Lily Allen
Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...
, for the War Child: Heroes album, released in the UK on 16 February 2009, and in the U.S. on 24 February 2009 by Astralwerks
Astralwerks
Astralwerks is a New York-based record label that releases primarily electronic music. It is owned by Virgin Records/EMI and distributed by Caroline Distribution in the United States....
. Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
was Allen's godfather. Jakob Dylan
Jakob Dylan
Jakob Luke Dylan is the lead singer and songwriter of the rock band The Wallflowers and is a son of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and Sara Dylan. He has also recorded two solo albums.-Personal life:...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
performed a cover of the song on season 1, episode 12 of Costello's show Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...
Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... was a UK/Canadian television series, shown on Channel 4 in the UK, CTV in Canada and the Sundance Channel in the United States. The show features intimate interviews between the host, Elvis Costello, and various musical guests intertwined with performances by...
, entitled "She & Him, Jenny Lewis and Jakob Dylan" and aired on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the UK, CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
in Canada and the Sundance Channel in the United States in 2008–2009. The Argentinian band 2 Minutos
2 Minutos
2 Minutos or Dos Minutos are a punk rock band from Argentina. They are one of the most important bands of the genre to emerge in argentine rock in the 1990s, highly influential across the Spanish-speaking world, and also popular in the punk scene of the United States.-Biography:The band can trace...
covered "Straight to Hell" on their 2010 album Vamos a la granja / Directo al infierno ("Come to the Farm / Straight to Hell").