The Clash
Combat Rock (1982)
Mick Jones, Joe Strummer
The standout hit from 'Combat Rock', this track blends classic garage rock with pop accessibility, featuring Mick Jones on lead vocals. It remains the band's most commercially successful song and a definitive staple of early 80s alternative rock history.
The song's harmonic distinctiveness comes from the use of the bIII chord (F major) in a D major context. This borrowing from the parallel minor scale is a hallmark of rock and roll and blues, giving the song a 'tougher' sound than a standard I-IV-V progression…
Written primarily by Mick Jones, the song features a call-and-response style with Spanish backing vocals. During the recording, Joe Strummer suggested the Spanish lyrics; Joe Ely and Eddie Garcia (the studio's tape operator) helped with the translation and voc…
“The Spanish backing vocals are a direct translation of the English lines, yelled by Joe Strummer and Joe Ely.”
The song's harmonic distinctiveness comes from the use of the bIII chord (F major) in a D major context. This borrowing from the parallel minor scale is a hallmark of rock and roll and blues, giving the song a 'tougher' sound than a standard I-IV-V progression. The structure mimics a 12-bar blues in its movement from the tonic to the subdominant, but replaces the standard V chord transitions with high-energy rhythmic stabs and modal borrowing.
Written primarily by Mick Jones, the song features a call-and-response style with Spanish backing vocals. During the recording, Joe Strummer suggested the Spanish lyrics; Joe Ely and Eddie Garcia (the studio's tape operator) helped with the translation and vocal delivery. While often rumored to be about Jones' relationship with Ellen Foley, Jones has remained ambiguous, suggesting it was just a good rock song and not about anyone specifically.
The standout hit from 'Combat Rock', this track blends classic garage rock with pop accessibility, featuring Mick Jones on lead vocals. It remains the band's most commercially successful song and a definitive staple of early 80s alternative rock history.
Detailed analysis of this section is not yet available for this song.
Genre
Rock
Era
80s
Mood
Energetic
Tempo
Upbeat
Key
Major
Texture
Full Band
Sound
Guitar-driven
Feel
Shuffle
4.3M
Plays
748K
Listeners
1.7M
Genius Views
4
Annotations
100%
Popularity
3:14
Duration
4/4
Time
From the album Combat Rock
Harmony The song's harmonic distinctiveness comes from the use of the bIII chord (F major) in a D major context. This borrowing from the parallel minor scale is a hallmark of rock and roll and blues, giving the song a 'tougher' sound than a standard I-IV-V progression. The structure mimics a 12-bar blues in its movement from the tonic to the subdominant, but replaces the standard V chord transitions with high-energy rhythmic stabs and modal borrowing. Deep Analysis Available Detailed analysis of this section is not yet available for this song. Request Full Analysis
No musician information available for this song yet.
Composition Written primarily by Mick Jones, the song features a call-and-response style with Spanish backing vocals. During the recording, Joe Strummer suggested the Spanish lyrics; Joe Ely and Eddie Garcia (the studio's tape operator) helped with the translation and vocal delivery. While often rumored to be about Jones' relationship with Ellen Foley, Jones has remained ambiguous, suggesting it was just a good rock song and not about anyone specifically. Inspiration: The track was inspired by the classic 1950s rock and roll sound, specifically designed to be a catchy, 'retro' contrast to the more experimental and dub-heavy tracks found on the rest of the Combat Rock album. Recording Studio: Electric Lady Studios (New York), Ear Studios (London) Producer: Glyn Johns, The Clash The Spanish backing vocals are a direct translation of the English lines, yelled by Joe Strummer and Joe Ely. The song became a massive hit nearly a decade after its release due to its use in a Levi's 501 jeans commercial. It was the only song by The Clash to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Chord Sheet Chords Used Hide functions D I T G IV P D I T G IV P F bIII T G IV P A V D Progression by Section Chorus D I T G IV P D I T G IV P F bIII G IV P D I T G IV D D I A7 V7 Verse D I T G IV P D I T G IV P F bIII G IV P D I T G IV D D I A7 V7 Chord Fingerings D Standard G Standard D Standard G Standard F Standard G Standard A Standard Harmony Analysis The song's harmonic distinctiveness comes from the use of the bIII chord (F major) in a D major context. This borrowing from the parallel minor scale is a hallmark of rock and roll and blues, giving the song a 'tougher' sound than a standard I-IV-V progression. The structure mimics a 12-bar blues in its movement from the tonic to the subdominant, but replaces the standard V chord transitions with high-energy rhythmic stabs and modal borrowing. Find Tabs & Chords Songsterr Interactive tabs Ultimate Guitar Chords & tabs Cifra Club Chords
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