London calling to the faraway town
Now war is declared and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come outta the cupboard, ya boys and girls
London calling, now don't look to us
Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain't got no swing
'Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing
The ice age is coming, the sun's zoomin' in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growin' thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drownin'; I live by the river
London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out and draw another breath
London calling and I don't want to shout
But while we were talking, I saw you noddin' out
London calling, see we ain't got no high
'Cept for that one with the yellowy eyes
~ Joe Strummer & Mick Jones (The Clash)
By now, you've heard about the most recent terror attack, again in Great Britain. This time, a van plowed through pedestrians on London Bridge before three men emerged from the van and began stabbing people. The three attackers were killed by police within minutes, but not before seven citizens were dead and 48 injured. Upon hearing the news, "London Calling" (which used to be the ringtone on my phone) came into my head and there it remains. Appearing on 1979's album of the same name, "London Calling" is one of The Clash's most notable efforts. The album is #8 on Rolling Stone's list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time," containing "19 songs of apocalypse, fueled by an unending faith in rock & roll to beat back the darkness."
During WWII, the BBC World Service station began their communications with the words, "This is London calling . . . " in order to identify themselves to occupied countries. Could it be that Strummer and Jones were announcing the start of another war? Perhaps a war of sorts, against 1979's fear of global cooling, depletion of the ozone layer, an economic meltdown, a wheat shortage, and an energy crisis. A nuclear error, but I have no fear. They were very concerned about the tragedy at Three Mile Island (PA) in which a nuclear reactor had a meltdown. At the same time, the band was having disagreements with their record company. It is unclear to me which of these issues were being addressed when Strummer said, "We felt that we were struggling, about to slip down a slope or something, grasping with our fingernails. And there was no one there to help us."
Although the current leader of our country proclaimed in a tweet that the United States is willing to do what it can to help out, that was not before he politicized the tragedy by using it to push for his (Muslim) travel ban. It is noteworthy that he also tweeted about the "terror attack" before the London police had even named it as such. And to make matters worse, this morning, he tweet-attacked the mayor of London, who cautioned his people not to be alarmed at the increased police presence in the city. Completely twisting this comment, the Tweeter-in-Chief issued the inflammatory response: "At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is "no reason to be alarmed!"
At the end of the song, the feedback spells out Morse code for SOS, the universal distress signal and call for help. London could use our help, not our criticism. The mayor of London, to his credit, has not responded to the tweeter's insult. I suspect he has other things to be concerned with, unlike other ineffective "leaders."
As for me, in these troubled times, I will continue to maintain my "unending faith in rock & roll to beat back the darkness."
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