Guardian - 40 Greatest Songs ranked

[Badger]

Oops, my mistake ! Of course SAEngland isn't in this top 40, although it could easily have been. I meant This is England, which is a good song but would have been better if Bernie hadn't sped it up (along with Joe's vocal track) and the Clash had played on it...

[rudebhoy]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

[oliver]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

I refuse to accept I'm the only one who loves The Call Up. It was one of the first Clash songs to really hit me hard.

[WestwayKid]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

I refuse to accept I'm the only one who loves The Call Up. It was one of the first Clash songs to really hit me hard.

I love The Call Up...so you are not alone. I love Joe's lyric and I love the defiant, yet weary tone of his delivery. I've heard it criticized for sounding repetitive, but I've always felt the music matches the words very well to create an overall tone that works. It also has a cool video.

[Heston]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

I refuse to accept I'm the only one who loves The Call Up. It was one of the first Clash songs to really hit me hard.

I love the Call Up but it was never a single. Probably wouldn't make my top ten on S! either.

[Dr. Medulla]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

I refuse to accept I'm the only one who loves The Call Up. It was one of the first Clash songs to really hit me hard.

I love The Call Up...so you are not alone. I love Joe's lyric and I love the defiant, yet weary tone of his delivery. I've heard it criticized for sounding repetitive, but I've always felt the music matches the words very well to create an overall tone that works. It also has a cool video.

It succeeds as a single because it generated more attention (i.e., radio play) to the content of the lyrics than it would if it were just on the album. It's less about being radio pop than using the special status of a single to get out a message that the band wanted heard.

[Kory]

Rudie Can't Fail at 30 is way too low considering we decided it was their best song ever when we did that massive poll last year...

Yes that is the one that jumped out at me. Rudie has always featured very highly in every poll we have done.

Yeah, Hitsville above Rudie is pure insanity.

Don't forget that other list from last month that didn't have Rudie at all.

[101Walterton]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

I refuse to accept I'm the only one who loves The Call Up. It was one of the first Clash songs to really hit me hard.

I love The Call Up...so you are not alone. I love Joe's lyric and I love the defiant, yet weary tone of his delivery. I've heard it criticized for sounding repetitive, but I've always felt the music matches the words very well to create an overall tone that works. It also has a cool video.

I’ve always like The Call Up. Those that criticise it for being repetitive are clearly missing the point of the song.

[Low Down Low]

Dont have a single bad word to say about the Call Up. It might even be better live. The Akron 82 outing is up there with the best things they've ever done. No.7 is admittedly high, but not shockingly so imo.

[Kory]

Also weird that SEH didn’t crack the top 10

[GotGameGreggy]

I actually think that The Call Up is a very underrated song, but Sandinista was the first Clash album I ever listened to, so i might be biased. I love the themes and meaning of the song too. It's very anti-draft, anti-war, and anti-propaganda. The line's like "There is a rose that I want to live for", "There is a town - unlike any other", and "fifty five minutes past eleven" honestly give me chills when I listen to it. When they played it live at the Bond's shows, they were on fire.

[muppet hi fi]

Loving the love for Gates.

Oh yes. "Gates of the West" is easily Top 10 Clash for me, maybe just songs in general.

[JohnS]

Lists - at least numerically ranked lists - are always going to be divisive. There's no such thing as a universally accepted ratings table for 'art,' but it's an interesting read and a bit more informed than the usual 'Clash history' fodder. I'd forgotten about the idea of the Clash writing Somebody Got Murdered for a film. (Did I ever know this?)
I absolutely agree Something About England is among their best work.
But I'd add Drug Stabbing Time in there somewhere too

[matedog]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

As you can see, that five minute tuneless dirge gets a lot of love around here.

[Dr. Medulla]

The Call Up at number 7? That's mental.

Not even the 7th best track on Sandinista - more like 17th imo. It's a bit of a dirge to be honest, poor choice for a single.

As you can see, that five minute tuneless dirge gets a lot of love around here.

Don't forget the hectoring. A lot of us love hectoring, too.