Music Video

The Clash - Ghetto Defendant (Remastered)
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Featured In

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Spoken Word
Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
Vocals
Mick Jones
Mick Jones
Guitar
Paul Simonon
Paul Simonon
Bass
Topper Headon
Topper Headon
Drums
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
Songwriter
Mick Jones
Mick Jones
Songwriter
Paul Simonon
Paul Simonon
Songwriter
Topper Headon
Topper Headon
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
The Clash
The Clash
Producer
Eddie García
Eddie García
Tape Operator
Glyn Johns
Glyn Johns
Mixing Engineer
Jerry Green
Jerry Green
Recording Engineer
Joe Blaney
Joe Blaney
Recording Engineer
Tim Young
Tim Young
Mastering Engineer

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Starved in metropolis
Hooked on necropolis
Addict of metropolis
Do the worm on Acropolis
Slamdance cosmopolis
Enlighten the populace
[Verse 2]
Hungry darkness of living
Who will thirst in the pit?
Hooked in necropolis
She spent a lifetime deciding
How to run from it
Addicts of metropolis
[Verse 3]
Once fate had a witness
And the years seemed like friends
Girlfriends
Now her child has a dream
But it begins like it ends
[Verse 4]
Shot in eternity
Methadone kitty
Iron serenity
[Verse 5]
Ghetto defendant
It is heroin pity
Not tear gas nor baton charge
That stops you taking the city
Strung out committee
[Verse 6]
Walled out of the city
Clubbed down from uptown
Sprayed pest from the nest
Run out to barrio town
The guards are itchy
[Verse 7]
Forced to watch at the feast
Then sweep up the night
Flipped pieces of coin
Broken bottles
Exchanged for birthright
Crafted in a jiffy
[Verse 8]
Ghetto defendant
It is heroin pity
Strung out committee
Not tear gas nor baton charge
Will stop you taking the city
[Verse 9]
Not sitting pretty
Crafted in a jiffy (Heroin pity)
Not tear gas nor baton charge
Will stop you taking the city
[Verse 10]
The ghetto prince of gutter poets
Was bounced out of the room
Jean Arthur Rimbaud
By the bodyguards of greed
For disturbing the tomb
1873
[Verse 11]
His words like flamethrowers
Paris commune
Burnt the ghettos in their chests
His face, painted whiter
Then he was laid to rest
Died in Marseille
[Verse 12]
Ghetto defendant
Buried in Charleville
It is heroin pity
Not tear gas nor baton charge
Stops you taking the city
[Verse 13]
Shut up in etenity
It is heroin pity
Not tear gas nor baton charge
Stops you taking the city
[Verse 14]
Guatemala, Honduras, Poland
The hundred years war
TV re-run invasion
Death squad Salvador
[Verse 15]
Afghanistan, meditation
Old Chinese flu
Kick junk, what else
Can a poor worker do?
[Verse 16]
Ghetto defendant
It's heroin pity
Not tear gas nor baton charge
Can stop you taking the city
[Verse 17]
Ghetto defendant
It is heroin pity
Not tear gas nor baton charge
Written by: Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon
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