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