London’s Burning Lyrics

[Intro]
London's burning
London's burning

[Verse 1]
All across the town, all across the night
Everybody's drivin' with full headlights
Black or white you turn it on, you face the new religion
Everybody's sittin' 'round watching television

[Chorus]
London's burning (With boredom now)
London's burning (Dial 99999)
London's burning (With boredom now)
London's burning (Dial 99999)

[Verse 2]
I'm up and down the Westway, in and out the lights
What a great traffic system, it's so bright
I can't think of a better way to spend the night
Than speedin' around underneath the yellow lights

[Chorus]
London's burning (With boredom now)
London's burning (Dial 99999)
London's burning (With boredom now)
London's burning (Dial 99999)
[Verse 3]
Now I'm in the subway and I'm lookin' for the flat
This one leads to this block, this one leads to that
The wind howls through the empty blocks looking for a home
I run through the empty stone because I'm all alone

[Chorus]
London's burning (With boredom now)
London's burning (Dial 99999)
London's burning (With boredom now)
London's burning (Dial 99999)

[Outro]
Here we go
Yeah, here we are riding along the West London motorway
On your left we see the tower blocks built in 1963
With a massive repair bill for the GLC
And over there you see Westbourne Park
They don't want a traffic system to park the car
London's burning

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About

Genius Annotation

Taking its name from the nursery rhyme of the same title, “London’s Burning” is yet another explosive track off of The Clash’s eponymous debut album. With Joe Strummer leading the track with his fiery vocals and Mick Jones providing his improvised guitar solos, the song proves to be one of the most lively off of the LP.

First released alongside “Remote Control,” there’s a stark contrast between the twin tracks: where “Control” delves into the firm hand placed over people by the government, “London’s Burning” covers an array of topics, the most prominent being the dismal lives of people in London, implying that this boredom is “burning” the city. Even frolicking into subjects such as the notorious automobile traffic experienced in the area, it also comments lightly on racial divides, instead implying that African Americans and Caucasians are one in the same.

Similar to other songs on the album, there would be a differing track placement between the UK release of “London’s Burning” and the United States publication. Where it was the eighth track on the former, it was placed as the seventh on the latter.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Produced By
Lead Vocals
Backing Vocals
Copyright (c)
Manufactured by
Phonographic Copyright (p)
Recorded At
CBS Studios - London, England / National Film and Television School - Beaconsfield, England
Release Date
April 8, 1977
London’s Burning Covers
London’s Burning Live Performances
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