Should I Stay or Should I Go
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| "Should I Stay or Should I Go" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by The Clash | ||
| from the album Combat Rock | ||
| Released | September 17, 1982 February 18, 1991 |
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| Format | 7" single, cassette tape | |
| Genre | Punk rock Hard Rock |
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| Length | 3:06 | |
| Label | CBS Records | |
| Writer(s) | Mick Jones | |
| Producer(s) | Glyn Johns | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| The Clash singles chronology | ||
| "Rock the Casbah" (1982) |
"Should I Stay or Should I Go/Straight to Hell" (1982) |
"This is England" (1985) |
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" is a song by The Clash, released as a 7" single and featured on their album Combat Rock. This single became the band's only song to reach number 1 on the charts, though a decade after it was originally released.
The tune is perhaps the most traditionally Clash-like track on the album, leaning towards a retro punk rock sound. The song was written in 1981, and though some observers see the song as a possible comment by Mick Jones on his position in the band, and his impending expulsion from it, it actually primarily regards Jones' personal life. At the time he was in a rocky relationship with Ellen Foley that would soon implode, and the song is an argument over the problem of whether he should stick with the relationship or move on to better things.[citation needed]
The Spanish backing vocals are courtesy of Joe Strummer:
- "On the spur of the moment I said 'I'm going to do the backing vocals in Spanish,'...We needed a translator so Eddie Garcia, the tape operator, called his mother in Brooklyn Heights and read her the lyrics over the phone and she translated them. But Eddie and his mum are Ecuadorian, so it's Ecuadorian Spanish that me and Joe Ely are singing on the backing vocals." - Joe Strummer, 1991[citation needed]
In March of 1991, the band allowed the song to be used in a commercial for Levi's. The single was re-released and on the back of the commercial it made it to number 1 in the UK.
"Should I Stay or Should I Go" has been covered by many artists including Ice Cube and Mack 10, Error Type II, Living Colour, The Long Tall Texans, Spastic Vibrations, Guitar Wolf, Die Toten Hosen, Bai Bang, Super Green, The Picketts, and even Kylie Minogue. Mick Jones sampled the track for his Big Audio Dynamite II song "The Globe".
Jones has a cameo appearance in the 2003 film Code 46, singing "Should I Stay or Should I Go" in a karaoke club.
In November 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Should I Stay or Should I Go at #228 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
| Preceded by "Do The Bartman" by The Simpsons |
UK number-one single March 3, 1991 for 2 weeks |
Succeeded by "The Stonk" by Hale and Pace |
