Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Well, I just got back and I wish I'd never leave now (where'd ya go?)
Who dat Martian arrival at the airport, yeah? (where'd ya go?)
How many local dollars for a local anesthetic? (where'd ya go?)
The Johnny on the corner wasn't very sympathetic (where'd ya go?)
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
And sitting here in my safe European home
Don't want to go back there again
Wasn't I lucky, wouldn't it be loverly? (where'd ya go?)
Send us all cards, have a laying-in on Sunday (where'd ya go?)
I was there for two weeks, so how come I never tell, now? (where'd ya go?)
That natty dread drink at the Sheraton hotel, yeah (where'd ya go?)
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
And sitting here in my safe European home
Don't want to go back there again
They got the sun, and they got the palm trees (where'd ya go?)
They got the weed, and they got the taxis (where'd ya go?)
Whoa, the harder they come, the home of ol' bluebeat (where'd ya go?)
I'd stay and be a tourist but I can't take the gunplay (where'd ya go?)
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
And sitting here in my safe European home
Don't want to go back there again
What?
Rudie come from Jamaica, Rudie can't fail
Rudie come from Jamaica, Rudie can't fail
Rudie come from Jamaica, 'cause Rudie can't fail
Rudie come From Jamaica, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie come From Jamaica, Rudie can't fail (explosive European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (twenty-four track European home)
Elder come and a-Rudie go, no one knows where the policeman's go
Who dat Martian arrival at the airport, yeah? (where'd ya go?)
How many local dollars for a local anesthetic? (where'd ya go?)
The Johnny on the corner wasn't very sympathetic (where'd ya go?)
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
And sitting here in my safe European home
Don't want to go back there again
Wasn't I lucky, wouldn't it be loverly? (where'd ya go?)
Send us all cards, have a laying-in on Sunday (where'd ya go?)
I was there for two weeks, so how come I never tell, now? (where'd ya go?)
That natty dread drink at the Sheraton hotel, yeah (where'd ya go?)
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
And sitting here in my safe European home
Don't want to go back there again
They got the sun, and they got the palm trees (where'd ya go?)
They got the weed, and they got the taxis (where'd ya go?)
Whoa, the harder they come, the home of ol' bluebeat (where'd ya go?)
I'd stay and be a tourist but I can't take the gunplay (where'd ya go?)
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
And sitting here in my safe European home
Don't want to go back there again
What?
Rudie come from Jamaica, Rudie can't fail
Rudie come from Jamaica, Rudie can't fail
Rudie come from Jamaica, 'cause Rudie can't fail
Rudie come From Jamaica, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (European home)
Rudie come From Jamaica, Rudie can't fail (explosive European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail (twenty-four track European home)
Elder come and a-Rudie go, no one knows where the policeman's go
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This is a great song — besides the fact that I can't hear the first ten seconds and not wish for a mosh pit, I love it because it's sarcastic and cynical and enraging and inspiring . Yes, it's definitely about racism and boorish closed-minded tourism — an "insular" mindset, if you want to call it that, like @philtheanarchist did. I think he and @boozm are the only ones who got it right, and the comments saying it's about how [they had a bad time because everyone wanted to take their money] not only miss the point, but reflect a blind-by-choice attitude at best, or flat-out racism at worst. I was reminded of this song when I was thinking about donald trump's fucking Muslim ban — another move to enforce his racist rhetoric, calculated to capitalize on the fury he's been selling to the half of a country who was already scared, and now he's got them whipped into a frenzy of finger-pointing and bullshit that pretty much translates to "keep 'em down where they belong!" And anyone who says he's just "trying to keep us safe" is just covering their ears and stabbing their own fingers into their eyes and refusing to see that this is the road to fascism.
And the only way to fight the man who would be king is to keep your eyes open so you can SEE injustice and DO something against it — not just walk by and say it's ok, or snap your fingers and say it's "a good song" about a bad trip.
The whole point of The Clash was political — they wrote songs about what made them angry — they called out injustice where they saw injustice — and to say that this song is about how "Joe an Mick dint have no fun in Jamaica" is just demonstrating ignorance as to what the whole movement was about and it misses the whole point of a powerful song from a band that inspired musicians and fans on every continent, changed rock & roll, blew up protest songs completely, and whose sounds and ideas formed a legacy that continues to influence generations of rockers in their time and to this day.