The Clash

First Night Back in London

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First Night Back in London Lyrics

The mini cab
The driver is black
This time of night
You better sit in the back

Got a few smokes
Under your hat
The cops are lookin' out
For the petrol on the black

This time I think
So what the hell
There's that female
I know too well

Why should I lean
Get out my mind again
I ridin' in the back alone
The stranger rides again

To see my lovely town
That always brings you down
Where every drifter drifts
For many miles around

We take a casual drive
For two miles up the road
The cops pull us over
And search right through our clothes

They give him hell
They check him on the air
I sit there with the drugs in my hair

As soon as I get home
I call Heathrow
Want a standby fare to Borneo

Submitted by

aebassist On Jan 03, 2002

London Calling

Rock the Casbah

Lost in the Supermarket

Spanish Bombs

Clampdown

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Mellow_Harsher

2012-12-18 06:44:12

aebassist

Submitter

2002-01-03 00:04:54

2 Meanings

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Cover art for First Night Back in London lyrics by Clash, The

by Cpt-Sensible

20y ago

This song is so crazy. I think it is just about being back in London and the boredom abuse and such like but then I'm not sure anyone got any ideas.

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by pittsburghgirl92

16y ago

Well I think it's like, this guy is just getting back to London (duh) and he's immediately reminded of why he left in the first place. He's in a cab which gets pulled over by the cops and searched. I always thought it was sort of implying that the cops were a little racist, too. The driver (who is black, as mentioned in the first stanza) gets the brunt of the cops' aggression, when really the passenger is the one who has drugs ("They give him hell/ They check him on the air/ I sit there with the drugs in my hair"). In the last stanza, he calls up Heathrow (London airport) to buy a plane ticket and get the hell out of there. First and last night in London.

Also, I think it's "There's that feeling that I know too well." Seems to make more sense.

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