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The Clash experimented with a lot of styles of music. After the success of their double album London Calling, they expanded to the triple album Sandinista! It was critically well received as it explored punk, jazz, rockabilly, R&B, disco, reggae, folk, rap, funk, and gospel. When Combat Rock was released in May 1982, the band was still interested in pushing boundaries but pulled it back to a single album of material. The album would yield the band’s only Top-10 hit in their home country of the UK, and it didn’t even happen while they were a band. “Should I Stay or Should I Go” went to No. 1 five years after the band called it quits. Let’s look at the meaning of “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash.
Darling, you got to let me know
Should I stay, or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I’ll be here till the end of time
So you got to let me know
Should I stay, or should I go?
London Meets Texas
The Clash had been listening to Honky Tonk Masquerade, Joe Ely’s 1978 second album, when the singer/songwriter played at the Venue Club in London. They became fast friends and went on to play shows together around Ely’s stomping grounds in Texas.
Ely talked about his involvement in Combat Rock with The Austin Chronicle in 2000: “I ran into them accidentally in New York when they were cutting ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ and [lead vocalist Joe] Strummer said, ‘Hey, help me with my Spanish.’ So, me, and Strummer and the Puerto Rican engineer sat down and translated the lyrics into the weirdest Spanish ever. Then we sang it all.
It’s always tease, tease, tease
You’re happy when I’m on my knees
One day, it’s fine, and next, it’s black
So, if you want me off your back
Well, come on and let me know
Should I stay, or should I go?
The backing track was recorded at Ear Studios in London, and the vocals were added at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. The song was recorded in a time of upheaval for the band. They had just switched management, and not everyone was on board. Producer Glyn Johns had been pulled in to edit down the album to make it a single record, and keyboardist Mick Jones was not happy about some of the cutting and remixing he was doing.
Should I stay, or should I go now?
Should I stay, or should I go now?
If I go, there will be trouble
And if I stay, it will be double
So come on and let me know
It Almost Turned Out Entirely Different
Jones did not want to sing the song. He had recorded the demo, but when it came time to do the final vocals, he insisted Strummer sing lead. Strummer resisted as he liked what Jones had contributed to the demo. It was only after Strummer suggested the Spanish callbacks that Jones agreed to sing the lead.
This indecision’s bugging me (Esta indecisión me molesta)
If you don’t want me, set me free (Si no me quieres, librarme)
Exactly whom I’m supposed to be (Dígame que tengo ser)
Don’t you know which clothes even fit me? (Sabes que ropa me “quedrá”?)
Come on and let me know (Me tienes que decir)
Should I cool it, or should I blow? (Me debo ir o quedarme?)
“Split!”
“When you listen to ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go,’ there’s a place in the song where Mick says, ‘Split,'” Ely noted. “Me and Strummer had been yelling out the Spanish background lyrics and we had snuck up behind him as he was recording. We were behind a curtain, jumped out at him in the middle of singing, and scared the s–t out of him. He looks over and gives us the dirtiest look, and says, ‘Split!’ They kept that in the final version.
After Strummer’s death, a typed lyric sheet came to light. He had written alternate lyrics in the character of Jones: It’s always whinge whinge whinge / When the crew go on a binge. When these satirical lyrics were shared with Jones in 2004, he was amused.
Should I stay, or should I go now? (Yo me enfrío o lo soplo)
Should I stay, or should I go now? (Yo me enfrío o lo soplo)
If I go, there will be trouble (Si me voy va a haber peligro)
And if I stay, it will be double (Si me quedo sera el doble)
So ya gotta let me know (Me tienes que decir)
Should I cool it, or should I blow? (Tengo frío por los ojos)
Should I stay, or should I go now? (Tengo frío por los ojos)
If I go, there will be trouble (Si me voy va haber peligro)
And if I stay, it will be double (Si me quedo será el doble)
So ya gotta let me know (Me tienes que decir)
Should I stay, or should I go?
The Afterlife
In 1991, “Should I Stay or Should I Go” was used in a British television commercial for Levi’s jeans. The campaign brought new attention to the song and took it all the way to the top of the charts. Ice Cube and Mack 10 recorded a rap version of the song in 1998, and Weird Al Yankovic included it in his “Polkas on 45” medley.
Jones sampled the vocal from the song and used it in his post-Clash group, Big Audio Dynamite. It appears on “The Globe.”
The song is a rock ‘n’ roll classic. Simple chords with a simple message and very basic Spanish add up to a timeless romp that still sounds great when the bass comes in with just the right amount of distortion.
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Photo by Keith Bernstein/Redferns
