10 Amazing Rock Songs Not Sung By The Lead Singer
4. The Guns of Brixton - The Clash
When you break down the greatest acts in punk rock, Mick Jones and Joe Strummer are basically the Lennon and McCartney of the genre. While they have been known to take a few shots at the Beatles on occasion, Strummer and Jones always had a way of balancing each other out, with Mick's melody driven material being just the right foundation for Joe's pertinent lyrical content. If this was the Beatles of punk rock, the George Harrison of the group would have to speak up sometime.
Since London Calling is a massive undertaking just for how many songs are on it, giving Paul Simonon a spotlight on The Guns of Brixton is a nice way of breaking things up. Though Paul is definitely not a singer first, his snide attitude about the economic situation he grew up in is a lot more confident than Strummer or Jones could have hoped to be.
It also helps that this is also a bit of a departure stylistically. After going through one punk rock rager after another, having something that's inspired by reggae is something different, which was inspired by Simonon's love for the music when he was growing up. While this might not sound like your traditional Clash song, it has the same atmosphere of one all the same. The authorities may be trying to take you down at every turn, but Paul's about to come out with all guns blazing.