Punk Rock Countdown: No. 24 "London's Burning," by the Clash It's 85 degrees in the office right now. The A/C is broken. Everyone's griping about the heat. And it's close to quitting time.
The Clash released "London's Burning" during an extreme London heat wave. Bored teens roamed the streets in feral packs. As Joe Strummer's alarming shriek opens the tune, you'd think an air raid siren had just gone off.
"London's burning!" [punctuated by a hearty guitar strum]
Then Mick Jones and the boys join in with Strummer: "London's burning!"
The real burning threat, however, is that recurring punk theme: ennui. London's burning with boredom now... It's a theme as old as Ecclesiastes, and more current today than ever.
"London's Burning" is one of many great tunes from the Clash's debut 1977 album. I'm sure we'll see more from this album in our countdown.