Why "Straight to Hell"?

[mcguck]

I've always wondered why "Straight to Hell" was chosen as the walk on music at Pogues concerts. I of course know the Strummer connection with the Pogues but why that particular song?

[RICHB]

The calm before the storm maybe?? Cant wait to hear it in NYC

[Clash Cadillac]

always gives me goosebumps

[firehazard]

always gives me goosebumps

Always gives me goosebumps now whenever I hear it, not just at Pogues gigs. Goosebumps by association, I guess.

[philipchevron]

I've always wondered why "Straight to Hell" was chosen as the walk on music at Pogues concerts. I of course know the Strummer connection with the Pogues but why that particular song?

Shane suggested it years ago. Though we've considered changing it once or twice, the truth is we've never found a better choice. Just something about it.......

[mcguck]

It's haunting and bewitching indeed....btw, the new issue of Rolling Stone has an excellent article on the history of The Clash. No mention of Joe's time with the Pogues after they broke up, but interesting tales of Joe, Mick and the gang. They truly did "clash"!

[Christine]

The first notes alone give me a big rush, every time, but definitely with the lights dimming and the crowd surging forward, long before it gets to "If you can play on the fiddle..."
It is the perfect match.

Lucky people tonight, have fun!

[philofbelloni]

always gives me goosebumps

Dead on balls, clash.
It's always a treat to hear half of that tune, see seven guys walk out on stage and then simultaneously look around in anticipation of whether the singer will walk on stage or roll on up in a wheelchair.

[territa]

It's the secret signal between band and audience. Revving the engines before heading down the tarmac. Being aware of your place in the universe in relation to those around you, and them to you, before liftoff. It is a bond shared, never forgotten.

Oh, hell, it's the Pogues!

[DzM]

I have a dirty secret to tell.

I love that this song is used as the intro. It gives me goosebumps. Especially on on the rare occasion that Andrew and/or Darryl comes out and begins playing along with the track. But the goosebumps don't come from "wow, the Pogues are about to play, oh hell yeah." Honestly I've loved this song since before I knew who the Pogues were. Since before I had any context for the lyrics or understanding for what they meant. I've just loved the song since I was ... what? ... eleven years old? Something like that.

When I was a youth the community in which I lived had a private radio station ("You're listening to WUTZ, 88.5 on the FM dial! What's on YOUR radio!"). This meant that the various record labels sent us their discs along with promo materials and lovely letters describing why the vinyl should get worn to a nub (I remember vividly the day "Oh No! It's DEVO!" was delivered). My mom was a DJ at the station and would turn me loose in the studio "listening room" with whatever records struck my fancy. I would take things like DEVO, The Clash, Ralf & Florian, Elvis Costello, Graham Parker - Hell, I'm not positive but I THINK I recall taking a Wendy Carlos record back with me at one point - and listen to them at ungodly volumes. That's when I fell in love with "Straight to Hell." It was a part of the "WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SEX PISTOLS!" sound track. Later, as an angst-ridden teen in high school, I listened to this song almost like a salve and an opiate for my own only-child-of-a-single-mom anxieties. I wrote essays about the lyrics. This song was a constant purposeful companion throughout my teens, and has been a constant incidental companion for the twenty years since then.

Anyway - in addition to "OMG!!! THE POGUES are about to play" I absolutely love hearing "Straight to Hell" come over the house sound system simply because it sounds So. Damn. Good. The kick-drum. The bass. The ... whatisit? off-tempo? "tropical"? reggae (or ragga)? calypso? percussion? Whatever. I love hearing it over the house sound system, with giant speakers, and massive decibels, and Joe Strummer, and the fiddle, and the lighting, and the pent up anticipation of the crowd. Every time I hear that combination I feel like it's as close as I'll ever come to hearing The Clash actually perform the song. On the rare occasions when Andrew and/or Darryl start to play along with it I find that I can't stop smiling, bouncing, jumping, dancing, singing, shouting.

I've always felt a special connection with this song. I always felt a connection to some of the broad themes of the song - a bastard child seeking a connection with his lost father. I've long since made peace with my own absentee father, but hearing the song (even on crappy ear buds) reminds me of that angst-filled youth of wanting to connect with my dad. Hearing the song on the house speakers of a concert hall, with all the energy of the crowd, the lights going dim ... I always feel like I'm transported back to before I understood the themes of loss and abandonment, back to when I was an eleven-year-old listening to the album at ungodly volumes in the listening room of WUTZ and dancing around the room to the exotic rhythm of the song and shouting/singing "IT AIN'T COCA-COLA! IT'S RICE!"

I recall reading somewhere in the ancient stacks of Medusa Mr. Chevron (or perhaps Mr. Fearnley) explaining that at some point Shane had said "Hey, let's play Straight to Hell as the intro" and everyone else saying "yeah, good idea." (or something along those lines.) Frankly I don't care what the reason is. I'm just glad they do.


Also also - One should not write these kinds of things once one has run out of wine.

[philipchevron]

Also also - One should not write these kinds of things once one has run out of wine.

But we're glad you did anyway.

[DzM]

Flatterer.

[Cdn Steve]

That's a nice story, Dzm - thanks
I'm gonna close the door to this office and play me some Clash, nice and loud

[Low D]

It's just a great song in every way. I have a couple of bootlegs of The Pogues with Joe Strummer where this was on the setlist. The sound on 'em is absolute crap, but the performance is sublime. Here's hoping that if/when the live album is released, that's on the setlist.

[Doktor Avalanche]

I also knew the song long before the Pogues (It did predate them). I had Combat Rock the year it came out and it always was a standout track for me.

The first time I saw the Pogues was the kick-off of the first US reunion tour in DC. I was unaware they used it as the walk-on, and as it began, I was happy to hear it, then happier still to see the band come out.