a polemic against no one in particular

alright. I'm pissed off about something inconsequential again.

This time, it's several blogs i've read recently which have all tried to claim that "Train In Vain" is either the best song the clash ever recorded or the best song on London Calling (same difference.) These people are drowning in BS. Sorry about the graphic imagery.

First, let me state that "Train In Vain" is a wonderful song. If you like blatant motown ripoff. No, i'm mostly kidding. It's a great song. I've loved it ever since i figured out it was on the cd. (I think it's been listed on the liners of the last two CD releases, which is sort of a travesty. At any rate, my first copy of London Calling -- I've gone through a couple, like the original record, preserved the clandestinity of this hidden track. In a lot of ways, it's typical of Strummer and Jones's genre-hopping, experimental punk ethic and pop genius. Some of the lyrics are brilliant - "i see all my dreams come tumbling down... so alone i'll keep the wolves at bay..." -- it's powerful stuff.

But the real climactic end to London Calling isn't "Train," it's "Revolution Rock," when Strummer and Jones proclaim that "this here music mash up the nation/this here music cause a sensation," a metalyric reference to the purpose and intent of the album's syncretic genrebending rebel music, and i feel like if "Train," almost an afterthought, hadn't acquired so much mileage from it's "hidden track" mystique, it might have been forgotten a long time ago. The truth is, almost every song on the album is incredible, from the opening power chords of the title track to the anticapitalist disco lament of "Lost In The Supermarket," the ridiculously mangled espanol in "Spanish Bombs," Strummer's homage to Catalonia, the joyous reggae explosion of "Rudie Can't Fail" and the defiant pounding of Paul Simonon's bassline of "Guns of Brixton."

I don't have a favorite song on London Calling. Like the Pixies' Doolittle, all perfect. Indeed, the act of singling any one song on the album from the others has always struck me as an enterprise doomed from the start. I mean, every gimmick hungry yob digging gold from rock and roll has grabbed the mic to tell us, he'll die before he's sold...

No wait, that has nothing to do with this argument, does it? Bh. Although -- watch out, Benny 16...

I suppose i'll conclude then by insisting that those who want to exalt "Train In Vain" alone need to tale a much closer look at the rest of the freaking album.

Thank you. The end.