Protest Song

London Calling

London calling to the faraway towns

Now war is declared and battle come down

London calling to the underworld

Come out of the cupboard, you 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 is zooming in

Meltdown expected, the wheat is growin' thin

Engines stop running, but I have no fear

Cause London is drowning, and 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 when we were talking I saw you nodding out

London calling, see we ain't got no high

Except for that one with the yellowy eyes

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in

Engines stop running, the wheat is growin' thin

A nuclear error, but I have no fear

Cause London is drowning, and I, I live by the river

The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in

Engines stop running, the wheat is growin' thin

A nuclear error, but I have no fear

Cause London is drowning, and I, I live by the river

Now get this

London calling, yes, I was there, too

An' you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!

London calling at the top of the dial

And after all this, won't you give me a smile? (London calling)

I never felt so much a' like a'like a'like

“London Calling” was The Clash’s first single from their 3^rd album: London Calling. The title comes from the BBC World Service during The World War II. The broadcaster begins the news release with these words: “This is London calling…”

Joe Strummer puts into words the fear of nuclear disasters, inundations, the beginning of an ice age, solar explosions, wars…; a total apocalypse.

The lyrics reflect desperation, maybe to influence the public, to protest about possible ends of the world.

There is an English proverb that says: “When the Thames overflows, all of London is flooded”. Probably The Clash knew this saying because the lyrics talks about an inundated London.

My proposal of a protest song is “Teenagers” of My Chemical Romance. This song talks about how adults are worried about teenagers without reason. Talking about music, the genre rock is one of my favourites and I really like this band. I choose this song because I feel identified. I think parents may be very concerned about us, the teenagers, and I do not feel good when I go out with friends knowing they are worried about me.