Straight to Hell (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Straight to Hell


Artist = The Clash
from Album = Combat Rock
B-side = "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"
Released = Start date|1982|9|17
Format = 7" & 12" single, cassette tape
Genre = Post-punk
Length = 5:30
6:56 (Unedited Version)
3:57 (Edited Version)
Label = CBS CBS A 13-2646
Writer = Joe Strummer and Mick Jones
Producer = The Clash
Reviews =
Last single = "Rock the Casbah"
(1982)
This single = "Straight to Hell" / "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
(1982)
Next single = "This Is England"
(1985)
Misc = "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 September 17, 1982 in 12" and 7" vinyl format (the 7" vinyl is a picture disc).

The song is a typical Clash condemnation of the wrongs that they saw in the world as they wrote the song. 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.

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" being a Japanese rather than Vietnamese honorific the reference must be either an error or meant ironically.

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 last line of the song, "King Solomon never lived 'round here," condenses at least three attributes associated with the biblical figure of King Solomon: his love of dance (thus referring back to the singing and dancing of immigrants throughout the song), his purported wisdom and justice, and finally the promise of a return from exile to a land or, as Strummer would suggest, a world of peace and prosperity.

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.

"Straight to Hell" was covered by Heather Nova and Moby for the Clash tribute album "" (1999). The track was also covered by young Punk act The Menzingers on their 2007 release "A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology."

The music for the song has also been sampled by M.I.A. for "Paper Planes", the eleventh track on her 2007 album "Kala."

The recently appeared on an exclusive bonus CD on the album "Live At Dead Lake" by Hot Club de Paris. It appeared on the bonus CD "Live at Dead lake - the Dead Lounge". This name is a parody of the Radio 1 live lounge

Charts

See also

* Bui doi