The Clash- London Calling

"London Calling"

London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared, and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls
London calling, now don't look to us
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain't got no swing
'Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing

[Chorus 1:]
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river

London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out, and draw another breath
London calling, and I don't wanna shout
But while we were talking, I saw you nodding out
London calling, see we ain't got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes

[Chorus 2: x2]
The ice age is coming, the sun's zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
'Cause London is drowning, and I live by the river

Now get this

London calling, yes, I was there, too
An' you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!
London calling at the top of the dial
After all this, won't you give me a smile?
London calling

I never felt so much alike [fading] alike alike alike

Well, this song reflects how an era is collapsing, and how the times that are coming aren't worth of living(ice age is coming, London is drowning..).

By the way, it has also a reflection of the band's worries about worldwide events like the nuclear error(mentioned in the chorus) of Three Mile Island, the concern of what would happen if the Thames River flooded(also mentioned in the chorus), about police brutality(the line which talks about the ring in the truncheon) and the casual drug taking effects(We ain't got no high/Except for that one with the yellowy eyes. All of that apart from the references to the fact that the group had money issues with the manager, due to the decline of punk music in England, which started with the end of the same thing's boom, in 1977.

And as a gift, a reference; the title of the song is a reference towards how did the BBC World Service's identificate itself with other occuped countries in Second World War:This is London Calling....