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"Death or Glory" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash featured on their 1979 album London Calling. The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones and features Strummer on lead vocals. The song was written about the previous generation of rock stars who swore that they would die before growing old.

"Death or Glory" was covered by the American punk rock band Social Distortion on the Lords of Dogtown soundtrack. Dave Smalley also covered the song for the 1999 album City Rockers, a tribute to the Clash. "Death or Glory" is also part of the soundtrack of the video game, Skate It and Skate 2.

Background

Joe Strummer originally worked out the tune for "Death or Glory" on the piano. He took inspiration from "As Time Goes By", a song featured in the film Casablanca that Strummer expressed his fondness for to director David Mingay during the filming of Rude Boy. While the band was recording "Death or Glory", their producer Guy Stevens came into the studio and started throwing chairs around at the back wall in front of CBS record executives.

Critical reception

Rick Anderson of AllMusic wrote that the song "features the best and most satisfying chord progression and melody the Clash ever came up with". Bill Wyman of Vulture ranked "Death or Glory" as the seventh best Clash song, calling it "one of the band's most raw and emotional performances".

Personnel

• Joe Strummer – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Mick Jones – backing vocals, lead guitar
• Paul Simonon – bass guitar
• Topper Headon – drums

References

1. ^ Wyman, Bill. "All 139 the Clash Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best". Vulture. New York. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
2. ^ Anderson, Rick. "Death or Glory – The Clash | Song Info". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 8 August 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
3. Huey, Steve. "City Rockers: A Tribute to the Clash – Various Artists | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
4. ^ Gray, Marcus (2004). The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 308. ISBN 1617749176. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
5. Salewicz, Chris (2006). Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-571-21178-4. OCLC 76794852.
6. Clash on Broadway (booklet). The Clash. New York: Epic/Legacy. 1991. p. 52. 46991.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
7. Thomson, Ian (14 December 2019). "London Calling 40 years on: How The Clash rewrote the rule book". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.

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