Give ’Em Enough Rope
The Clash
1978 ReleasedUpvote Your Favorite Album Today!
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Digging into Give ’Em Enough Rope - what's your favorite track or standout moment? 🤘
1
Safe European Home
03 : 50
2
English Civil War
02 : 35
3
Tommy Gun
03 : 17
4
Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad
03 : 03
5
Last Gang in Town
05 : 14
6
Guns on the Roof
03 : 15
7
Drug‐Stabbing Time
03 : 43
8
Stay Free
03 : 40
9
Cheapskates
03 : 25
10
All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)
04 : 55
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Track Lyrics
Safe European Home Lyrics
[Verse 1: Joe Strummer, (Mick Jones)]
Well, I just got back an I wish I never leave now
(Where'd ya' go?)
Who that 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?)
[Chorus: Joe Strummer]
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
An' sitting here in my safe European home
Don't wanna go back there again
[Verse 2: Joe Strummer, (Mick Jones)]
Wasn't I lucky, wouldn't it be lovely?
(Where'd ya' go?)
Send us all cards and have a lay 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 drinks at the Sheraton Hotel, yeah?
(Where'd ya' go?)
[Chorus: Joe Strummer]
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
An' sitting here in my safe European home
Don't wanna go back there again
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3: Joe Strummer, (Mick Jones)]
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" and the home of ol' Bluebeat
(Where'd ya' go?)
I'd stay and be a tourist but I can't take the gun play
(Where'd ya'?)
[Chorus: Joe Strummer]
I went to the place where every white face
Is an invitation to robbery
An' sitting here in my safe European home
Don't wanna go back there again
[Outro: Joe Strummer, (Mick Jones)]
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
(Our European home)
Rudie come from Jamaica, Rudie can't fail
(Grey European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail
(Dull European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail
(Dutty European home)
Rudie loots and Rudie shoots and Rudie gun man don't back down
(Instant European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, guns are comin'
(Credits European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie can't fail
(The big lights European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie he can't fail
(You got the nice guy European home)
Rudie come up from Jamaica, 'cause Rudie can't fail
(Explosive European home)
Rudie come up from Jamaica, 'cause Rudie can't fail
(And twenty-four Track European home)
Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie, Rudie loots and Rudie shoots
Elder come and the Rudie go but no one knows where police must go
English Civil War Lyrics
[Verse 1]
When Johnny comes marchin' home again, hurrah, tala
He's comin' by bus or underground, hurrah, tala
A woman's eye will shed a tear
To see his face so beaten in fear
And it was just around the corner in the English Civil War
[Verse 2]
It was still at the stage of clubs and fists, hurrah, tala
When that well known face got beaten to bits, hurrah, tala
Your face was blue in the light of the screen
As watched the speech of an animal scream
New Party army was marchin' right over our heads
[Bridge]
All right!
[Pre-Chorus]
Ha, ha, I told you so, hurrah, tala
Says everybody that we know, hurrah, tala
But who hid a radio under the stairs?
Who got caught out unawares?
New Party army came marchin' right up the stairs
[Chorus]
When Johnny comes marchin' home again, hurrah, tala
Nobody understands it can happen again, hurrah, tala
The sun is shinin' and the kids are shoutin' loud
Ya' got to know it's shinin' through a crack in the cloud
And the shadows keep on fallin', when Johnny comes marchin' home
[Outro]
Hurrah, Johnny
Oh yeah, Johnny
All the girls go oh
Get his coffin ready
Cause Johnny is comin' home
Tommy Gun Lyrics
25 ContributorsTommy Gun LyricsReleased as a single in November 1978 “Tommy Gun” explores the appeal of extremist groups like the Red Brigade and Baader-Meinhof Gang.
Indeed, Joe had run ins with the terrorist organization Red Brigade… Read More Tommy gun
You ain't happy 'less you got one
Tommy gun
Ain't gonna shoot the place up just for fun
Maybe he want to die for the money
Maybe he wants to kill for his country
Whatever he wants, he's gonna get it
Tommy gun
You better strip it down for a customs run
Tommy gun
Waitin' at the airport 'til kingdom come
An' we can watch him make it on the nine o'clock news
Standin' there in Palestine lighting a fuse
Whatever you want, you're gonna get it
Tommy gun
Tommy gun
Tommy gun
A-you'll be dead when your war is won
Tommy gun
But did you have to gun down everyone?
I can see it's kill or be killed
A nation of destiny has gotta be fulfilled
Whatever you want, you're gonna get it
Tommy gun
A-you can be a hero in an age of none
Tommy gun
I'm cutting out your picture from page one
I'm gonna get a jacket just like yours
An' give my false support to your cause
Whatever you want, you're gonna get it
Alright
Okay
So let's agree
About the price
And make it one jet airliner
For ten prisoners
Boats an' tanks and planes, it's your game
Kings an' queens an' generals learn your name
I see all the innocents, the human sacrifice
And if death comes so cheap, then the same goes for life
Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad Lyrics
[Verse 1]
It's Lucy in the sky and all kinds of apple pie
She giggles at the screen because it looks so green
There's carpets on the pavements and feathers in her eye
But sooner or later, her new friend will realize
That Julie's been working for the drug squad
Julie's been working for the drug squad
She will even look you in the eye!
Well it seemed like a dream, too good to be true
Stash it in the bank while the tablets grow high in their millions
And everybody's high-igh-igh (Hi! Man)
But there's someone looking down from that mountainside
[Chorus 1]
'Cause Julie's been working for the drug squad
'Cause Julie's been working for the drug squad
Come On!
[Chorus 2]
Ten years for you, nineteen for you
And you can get out in twenty-five
That is if you're alive, oh alive
Don't get a life, oh alive, oh
[Verse 2]
And then there came the night of the greatest ever raid
They arrested every drug that had ever been made
They took eighty-two laws through eighty-two doors
And they didn't halt the pull till the cells were all full
[Chorus 1]
'Cause Julie's been working for the drug squad
'Cause Julie's been working for the drug squad
Come On!
[Verse 3]
They put him in a cell, they said, "You wait here"
You've got the time to count all of your hair
You've got fifteen years, it's mighty long time
You could have been a physicist, but now your name is on the mailbag list
[Chorus 1]
'Cause Julie's been working for the drug squad
'Cause Julie's been working for the drug squad
Come On!
[Chorus 2]
Ten years for you, nineteen for you
And you can get out in twenty-five
That is if you're alive, oh alive
Don't get a life, oh alive, oh
[Outro]
"You're fair
Shouldn't stay alone!"
Last Gang in Town Lyrics
[Intro]
Everybody's lookin' for
Last gang in town
Ya' better watch out, boy
They're all comin' around
[Verse 1]
The sport of today is excitin'
The in-crowd are in for infightin'
When some punk sees your rock-olla
It's rock and roll all over
In every street and every station
Kids fight like different nations
And it's brawn against brain and knife against chain
But it's all young blood flowin' down the drain
[Chorus]
The crops hit the stiffs and the spikes whipped the quiffs
They're all lookin' 'round
The crops hit the stiffs and the spikes whipped the quiffs
They're all lookin' 'round for the last gang in town
[Verse 2]
Meanwhile down in a’ blacky town
Those old soul rebels are hangin' around
And when some punk come a'lookin' for sound
Rastafari goes to the ground
The white heart flipped the pocket dipped
Because a black sharp knife never slips
And they never say to one another
That tomorrow we might kill our brothers
[Chorus]
The crops hit the stiffs and the spikes whipped the quiffs
They're all lookin' 'round
The crops hit the stiffs and the spikes whipped the quiffs
They're all lookin' 'round for the last gang in town
[Bridge]
Oh, come on, come on
Yeah, Kentucky Fried Chicken
Yeah, come on, come on
Come on an' yell out, baby
[Verse 3]
Down from the edge of London
The Rock City rebels came
From another edge of London
Skinhead gangs call out their name
But not the Zydeco kids from the high rise
Although they can't be recognized
When you hear a Cajun fiddle then you're nearly in the middle
Of the last gang in town
[Chorus]
The crops hit the stiffs and the spikes whipped the quiffs
Well, they're all lookin' 'round
The crops hit the stiffs and the spikes whipped the quiffs
They're all lookin' 'round for the last gang in town
Last gang in town
[Outro/Solo]
Where are they now? (Last gang in town)
Where are they now? (Last gang in town)
(Spoken simultaneously)
"Uh huh? Wanna know somethin'?"
"Well, Jimmy got married"
"Mark's in the slammer"
"Bullshit! []"
"[] will give up!"
"Soon as I have"
[]
"They're broken!"
"Useless!"
Guns on the Roof Lyrics
14 ContributorsGuns on the Roof LyricsI swear by Almighty God
To tell the whole truth
And nothin' but the truth
Guns guns
Guns guns
Guns guns
Guns guns
They torture all the women and children
Then they've put the men to the gun
Because across the human frontier
Freedom's always on the run
Guns guns, a-shakin' in terror
Guns guns, killin' in error
Guns guns, guilty hands
Guns guns, shatter the lands
A system built by the sweat of the many
Creates assassins to kill off the few
Take any place and call it a court house
This is a place where no judge can stand
Sue the lawyers and burn all the papers
Unlock the keys of the legal rapers
A jury of a billion faces
Shouted out condemned out of hand
Guns guns, and nobody's kiddin'
Guns guns, or foolin' around
Guns guns, the violence is singin'
Guns guns, a silence the sound
And I like to be in Africa
A'beatin' on the final drum
I like to be in U.S.S.R
Makin' sure these things will come
I like to be in U.S.A
Pretendin' that the wars are done
And I like to be in Europe
Saying goodbye to everyone
Guns guns, guns on the roof
Guns guns, ready to shoot
Guns guns, guns on the roof
Guns guns, ready to shoot
Guns guns, guns on the roof
Guns guns, ready to shoot
Guns guns, guns on the roof
Guns guns, ready to shoot
Guns guns, guns on the roof
Guns guns, ready to shoot
Drug‐Stabbing Time Lyrics
[Chorus]
Drug-stabbin' time
Better get workin' on the Ford line
A'payin' off the big fine
Drug-stabbin' time
[Verse 1]
Drug-stabbin' time
Is from nine to nine
Nobody wants a user
Nobody needs a loser
So kick him out that door
Don't answer it no more
[Chorus]
Drug-stabbin' time
Better get workin' on the Ford line
A'payin' off the big fine
Drug-stabbin' time
[Verse 2]
Drug-stabbin' time
Yeah, it's a Greenwich Mean Time
Your friends all hate each other
You think you've got another
But who's at at the door?
Don't answer it no more
[Chorus]
Drug-stabbin' time
Better get workin' on the Ford line
A'payin' off the big fine
Drug-stabbin' time
[Solo]
[Verse 3]
Drug-stabbin' time
In a bedroom cryin’
There's a tape recordin' on a telephone line
And it's ringin' from the floor
So don't answer it no more
[Chorus]
Drug-stabbin' time
Better get workin' on the Ford line
A'payin' off the big fine
Drug-stabbin' time
Drug-stabbin' time
Better get workin' on the Ford line
A'payin' off the big fine
Drug-stabbin' time
[Bridge]
Drug-stabbin’ time (Drug-stabbin’)
Drug-stabbin’ time
Drug-stabbin’ time (Drug habit)
Drug-stabbin’ time
[Verse 4]
Now, I was lyin' in my room
It was rainin' drugs all afternoon
I hear this car pull up outside
Comes to a stop like, skreeee
Someone's in a hurry
And someone better worry
‘Cause these four guys all had on their feet
A pair of black shoes, shinin' and neat, I thinks
Hmm, black shoes
Good lord, that's bad news
Yeah, here they come chargin' up the stairs
"Alright sonny, just tell us where!"
[Outro]
Drug-stabbin' time (“Don’t ask me, mate!”)
Better get on the Ford line (“You’re an officer?”)
A'payin' off the big fine (“Nasty, ain’t ya?”)
Drug-stabbin' time
Stay Free Lyrics
[Intro]
We met when we were at school
Never took no shit from no one, we weren't fools
The teacher says we're dumb, we're only havin' fun
You know we piss on everyone in the classroom
[Verse 1]
When we got thrown out I left without much fuss
And weekends we'd go dancin' down Streatham on the bus
You always made me laugh, got me in bad fights
Play me pool all night, smokin' menthols
[Verse 2]
I practiced daily in my room
You were down the Crown plannin' your next move
Go on a nickin' spree, hit the wrong guy
Each of you get three years in Brixton
[Bridge]
I did my very best to write
How was Butlins? Were the screws too tight?
When you lot get out were gonna hit the town
We'll burn it fucking down to a cinder
[Chorus]
'Cause years have passed and things have changed
And I move anyway I want to go
And I'll never forget the feelin' I got
When I heard that you'd got home
[Outro]
And I'll never forget the smile on my face
'Cause I knew where you would be
And if you're in the Crown tonight have a drink on me
But go easy
Step lightly, yeah
Stay free
Cheapskates Lyrics
[Intro]
I have been a washer up
And he has been a scrubber up
And I've seen him a pickin' up
Dog ends in the rain
And he has never read the book
Though I told him to take a look
He lifted his pool hall cue
For another game
[Verse 1]
But it isn't no modern miracle
That we found the golden rule
What you can't buy, ya' gotta steal
And what ya' can't steal ya' better not need
I don't like to hang about
In this lonely room
'Cause London is for going out
And tryin' to hear a tune
But people come poncin' up to me
And say, "What are you doing here
You're supposed to be a star
Not a cheapskate bleeding queer?"
Like a load of rats from a sinkin' ship
You slag us down to save your hip
But don't give me the benefit of your doubt
Because I'll bite it off and spit it out
[Chorus]
We're cheapskates anything'll do
We're cheapskates what are we supposed to do?
[Pre / Post Chorus]
And we can rock, hey hey let's roll
And we can walk, and do the stroll
[Chorus]
We're cheapskates, anything'll do
We're cheapskates, what are we supposed to do?
And we can rock, hey hey let's roll
And we can walk, adn do the stroll
[Verse 2]
Just because we're in a group
You all think we're stinkin' rich
And we all got a'model girls
Sheddin' every stitch
And you think the cocaine's flowin'
Like a river up our noses
And every sea will part for us
Like the red one did for Moses
Girl, I hope ya' make it one day
Just like you always said ya' would some day
But I'll get out my money and make a bet
That I'll be seein' ya’ down the Launderette
[Chorus]
We're cheapskates, anything'll do
We're cheapskates what are we supposed to do?
All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts) Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I'm hanging about down the market street
I spent a lot of time on my feet
When I saw some passing yabbos
And we did chance to speak
But I knew how to sing, you know
And they knew how to pose
And one of them had a Les Paul
Heart attack machine
[Chorus][x2]
All the young punks, laugh your life
Because there aren't much to cry for
All you young cunts, live it now
Because there aren't much to die for
[Verse 2]
Everybody wants to bum a ride on the rock and roller coaster
And we went out and got our name in small print on the poster
Of course we got a manager and though he isn't the mafia
A contract is a contract, when they get them out of here
[Chorus][x2]
[Verse 3]
You got to drag yourself to work
Drug yourself to sleep
You're dead from the neck up
By the middle of the week
Face front you got the future
Shining like a piece of gold
But I swear as we get closer
It look more like a lump of coal
But it's better than some factory
Now that's no place to waste your youth
I worked there for a week once
And I luckily got the boot
[Chorus][x4]