Tribute To Joe Strummer

Tribute To Joe Strummer

 Your words were boots Joe , boots in Lewisham

when black and white and yellow riot put down the Nazi scum,

and  in Trafalgar Square  in ninety-one

when the  fury of our rainbow class put Thatcher on the run

your words were firing like a gun Joe, firing like a gun.

I heard your booming words echo

through the streets of Prague-

when we shut the World Bank down

and you were roaring vengeance in Genoa

when we had to fight through gas

and bullets just to hold our ground

and when the many-headed future met in Florence

everyone knew your name Joe

your songs were all around.-

And when the threw me in a cell Joe

I sang straight to hell Joe

and when they stood me up in court Joe

I hummed the Brixton guns Joe

Oh Joe! when you got up to sing

it was a fist in a copper’s face.

It was a pitchfork in a landlord’s neck.

It was a bullet in a contra’s gut.

It was an arrow in the eye of a general.

It was a kick in the balls for the rich.

It was everything good Joe.

It was everything good.

And when us Zombies and us Rastas

and us Punks and Workers win

you will be singing in our blood Joe

you will be dancing like speed in our veins.