Spinner

20 Protest Songs That Matter: No. 14

'Clampdown'
--The Clash (1979)

Rebelling Against: Fascist capitalism!

The late, great social critic Joe Strummer compared the "blue and brown" suits of middle-class office drones to Nazi uniforms, and the analogies didn't stop there. "Young believers" grow into positions of authority, where they "got someone to boss around/ Makes you feel big now." If contempt was a musical quality, this song's would go to 11.
Listen to 'Clampdown'

Buy it on iTunes

All the AOL Music info you want to know

50 Cent, Street King: Rapper Visits…

The Boombox

AP Photo/World Food Programme, Rose Ogola NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - Rapper 50 Cent…

Grammy Acceptance Speeches: Watch 30…

AOL Music Blog

FilmMagic, Getty, WireImage It's been a busy week for God. Besides helping…

Earl Sweatshirt Returns, Releases New…

The Boombox

YouTube.com Ironically, Earl Sweatshirt was one of the most visible members…

See all AOL Music »

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

17 Comments

Filter by:
roserosewild

Re: fascist capitalism. While its true that the "fascist" regime was anti capitalist, fascism as a form of control fits the current form of capitalism in this country, where the government is run by the "owners", ie: government and big business are controlled by the same hands. Also because of the nature of capitalism to be hegemonic, it has fascistic qualities.

December 24 2007 at 9:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jonathon Allen

The Dead Kennedys have always been a favorite of mine. If you really want to be blown away, Download " Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Round" It is so scary. Jello tells it like what it is. And what it will be.

December 12 2007 at 9:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jonathon Allen

The minute I saw this, I thought " I bet The Clash Doesn't even get a mention". EVERY song Mick/Joe wrote had meaning. Joe is my hero. A punk rock warlord, a political and lyrical genius, and a humanitarian. He Taught me more about culture and life than any school book. These moron critics dont know half of his music, life or beliefs.
Joe broke The Clash up in 1984 because they were selling out every night they played in the USA. Joe believed They had gotten too big to be real. Songs like Garageland and Career Opportunities had lost meaning when sung to a faceless crowd.So he ended it. Maybe people should read books about this amazing soul. RIP, Joe. You will always be my mentor.

December 12 2007 at 8:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Questioningly

Whew! Another good choice. Joe Strummer and the band The Clash were the real deal. Public Enemy was a joke (pun intended).

December 12 2007 at 7:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tom

Fascist capitalism? There is no such thing. Fascism is business under the control of government. This guy must be a retard or went to public school. Capitalists believe in FREE enterprise. You know Mr. Strummer, like the way you make money.

December 12 2007 at 5:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bobcat

AwwwwwwRIGHTTT!!!!! Long live Joe Strummer (even though he's no longer living)! Glad you could include this Clash classic in this list! The Clash were prophets, really speaking out against the evils of our world! Like John Kerry, Joe Strummer was a diplomat's son with a political voice/agenda.

December 12 2007 at 5:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kent

I bet Joe Strummer never read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.

December 12 2007 at 3:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
matt

the reviewer / OP obviously doesn't know much about politics, having cited that this song rebells against so called "fascist capitalism". Better do your research there buddy, because one of the main tenets of fascist economy was a rejection of socialism and liberal capitalism. They tried to implement their ideology as an alternative to both of these established methods of economics.

October 20 2007 at 4:55 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brt

One of my all time favorites -- "The judge said five to ten but I said double that again - I'm not workin'for the clampdown"

August 30 2007 at 1:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gia

Oh come on you music snob, if you want to call Joe Strummer a hypocrite for writing/singing about what he beleived in, than you can go f yourself. You obviously have no idea where The Clash came from or what was going on then.

August 28 2007 at 3:19 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply