"It ain't my fault
It's 6 'o'clock in the morning"
He said
As he came up out of the night
When he found I had no coins to bum,
He began to testify
Born in a depression
Born out of good luck
Born into misery
- In the back of a truck..
I'm telling you this mister
Don't be put off by looks
I been in the ring and I took those right hooks
Oh the loneliness
Used to knock me out - harder than the rest
And I've worked for breakfast
'N I ain't had no lunch
I been on delivery and received every punch
Suddenly I noticed that it weren't quite the same
Feel different one morning maybe it was the rain
But everywhere I looked all over the city
They're runnin' in an out of the bars
Someone stopped for a pick-up driving one of those cars
Y'see I allways wanted one of those cars
Long black 'n shiny an' pull up to the bars
Honk your horn, put down your windows, push yer button,
Hear it coming in
You can say I can see the light... roll!
Forward! Drive! Green lights! Green lights!
Intersection city coming a running comeback home I run back
Not that strong now
Yes who's there now, can I help you? Calling Intel station light
Did you put your money in? Yes I put it in
It say go, I say go, she say go, so we say go
Cos I can see the light all night tonight this night right now
Coming on forward motion across the ocean
An' up the hills yeh boys let's strike for the hills
While that petrol tank is full
Gimme a push gimme a pull
Gimme a llama gimme a mule
Gimme a donkey or gimme a horse
Down the avenue
So fine
In style
It's 6 'o'clock in the morning"
He said
As he came up out of the night
He began to testify
Born in a depression
Born out of good luck
Born into misery
- In the back of a truck..
Don't be put off by looks
I been in the ring and I took those right hooks
Used to knock me out - harder than the rest
'N I ain't had no lunch
I been on delivery and received every punch
Feel different one morning maybe it was the rain
They're runnin' in an out of the bars
Someone stopped for a pick-up driving one of those cars
Y'see I allways wanted one of those cars
Long black 'n shiny an' pull up to the bars
Honk your horn, put down your windows, push yer button,
Hear it coming in
You can say I can see the light... roll!
Forward! Drive! Green lights! Green lights!
Intersection city coming a running comeback home I run back
Not that strong now
Yes who's there now, can I help you? Calling Intel station light
It say go, I say go, she say go, so we say go
Cos I can see the light all night tonight this night right now
Coming on forward motion across the ocean
An' up the hills yeh boys let's strike for the hills
While that petrol tank is full
Gimme a push gimme a pull
Gimme a llama gimme a mule
Gimme a donkey or gimme a horse
So fine
In style
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One of the prettiest Clash songs, about life on the back side, on the downhill slide. Old boxers, watching missed limos, just about how sometimes life bears no fruit other than the life you get. Moving. Beautiful.
Another Clash song about general misery brought on by poverty which is brought on by society's flaws.
Great song for driving down a country road at night with the windows down.
Joe really can sing.
two comments?? two??
Joe's voice guts me from within. Don't you feel it?
Man, this is probably Joe's best vocal performance. This song has Great Depression feel about it. When I saw the film Cinderella Man I kept thinking to myself - "this song should be in this movie!"
RIP Joe.
Totally agree with arfarf and leGraw; pretty much Joe's best ever vocal, he's so in that character, you can feel every punch, physical and mental, and the pain that remains. I'm sure I read somewhere that this was written during a time in the US, possibly NY I'm not sure. During a hotel stay of several nights, Joe would often be seen outside, watching a homeless guy across the road. Whoever had written this thing reasoned that the song was centred around this poor guy. Makes a lot of sense and shows just how much empathy Joe felt with the guy.
No argument about the meaning, but country road?
Even better to be in Manhattan at an ungodly hour and see these guys...
Yes, I agree that it is a good song, but my favorite part has to be the next "act", with the little kid singing The Guns of Brixton. More powerful stuff I think, about how the youth should be educated, unlike how the current generation was, how they left to fight for themselves. Especially one of tne last lines, "That's enough now, I'm tired of signing," how everybody is growing tired of these self same issues.
what are you talking about?
what are you talking about?