Since the dawn of human history, when our ancestors first migrated into cities and established distinctive societies, certain predicaments have inevitably plagued all civilizations. Though war, disease, and famine have all played their part in modifying the ebb and flow of history, some of the most significant revolutions and movements in history have occurred because the poor, downtrodden masses are forced to endure harsh, unreasonable, and ultimately cruel measures at the hands of the corrupt establishment. In the twentieth century, as mass media came to fruition, music became an increasingly popular mode of influencing both ‘the Man’ and his victims. But even though social movements may be separated by geography, time, and style of music, their penultimate messages resound across these boundaries to enact change and reform.

In the early twentieth century, labor disputes were coming to a head. Aggravated by poor conditions, low wages, and oppressive management, the American proletariat was turning toward radical groups like the Industrial Workers of the World. The IWW, or the Wobblies, as they were commonly called, urged a massive class war that would ultimately end with the complete overthrow of the petty bourgeois. One of the chief mediums for spreading the IWW’s message of content was song. Because the heyday of the Wobblies’ struggle took place before the proliferation of radio, they relied on contracted singer/songwriters to write fiery ballads of revolution and would then print the lyrics and music and distribute them for a small fee, simultaneously spreading the word and raising precious funds.

Among the most famous of these hired lyricists was Joe Hill, a Swedish immigrant whose ballads emphasized the labor struggle with their caustic edge. Hill achieved national notoriety when he was executed for a murder in Utah, having been quickly tried and killed on extremely circumstantial evidence. The IWW promoted him as a martyr of the cause and sales of his songs increased substantially. Hill’s most famous song, “The Preacher and the Slave” is a parody of “In the Sweet Bye and Bye,” a popular hymn that promises eternal rewards for earthly piety and support of the church. Hill’s version contained many sardonic puns, even referring once to the Salvation Army as “the starvation army.” At the end of “The Preacher and the Slave,” Hill, in line with the IWW’s goals, encourages a radical revolution, urging “the workingfolk of all countries” to unite against their oppressors and fight “side by side” for the “world and its wealth.”

Such a radical, combative message was hardly uncommon. Indeed the IWW’s constitution states that “between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize…take possession…and live in harmony with the world.” This militant message would ultimately lead the IWW into trouble with the government and an eventually decline, but the struggle for economic and social equality has continued in its absence.

In the late 1970s, a new musical revolution was occurring in England. Fed up with the commercialization of rock and roll, social outcasts collectively known as the punks began to experiment with new types of music, creating a sound that was wholly unique and anti-establishment. Punk has its roots in the sound of bands like the Kinks and the Who, with explosive anthems like “My Generation,” which emphasized youth culture and passion with lyrics like “I hope I die before I get old.” By the time true punk materialized in the Seventies, bands like the Ramones and the Sex Pistols were leading the revolution. However, it was the Clash that would come to truly epitomize the punk ideal and attitude, achieving their iconic status with their 1979 album London Calling. The album, with its legendary cover of bassist Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar, successfully fused the Clash’s politically charged punk with a variety of world beats. This blending of punk and reggae produced one of the most well known tracks off of the double album, “The Guns of Brixton.”

“The Guns of Brixton” refers to building social unrest in London in the late seventies and early eighties. Brixton is a neighborhood in southern London which is overwhelmingly poor, overcrowded, and rife with both crime and an inherent distrust of law enforcement. In response to the abundance of crime, police forces began to enforce an obscure segment of an 1824 law to accost and arrest individuals based solely on the suspicion to commit a crime. These codes, commonly referred to as the “sus laws” resulted in a massive violation of civil liberties and due process. As a result of the economic conditions and police harassment, Brixton became a volatile powerkeg waiting to explode.

In the song, writer/bassist Paul Simonon takes a similar approach to Joe Hill, urging revolt against the sus laws. However, Simonon’s lyrics lack Hill’s cynical humor. Instead, the Clash song is full of a fiery rage. Simonon demands listeners make a choice:

“When they kick in your front door

How you gonna come

With your hands on your head

Or on the trigger of your gun?”

Simonon presents a bleak decision – either comply with the unjust sus laws or die in a hail of bullets, “shot down on the pavement.”

He shares this retaliatory sentiment with Hill. Both writers are fermenting rebellion among the lower classes, the downtrodden, oppressed proletariat. Hill and Simonon both specify a target; in “The Preacher and the Slave,” hill targets the bourgeois grafters and the “starvation army” while Simonon attacks “the law,” the policemen enforcing the unfair statutes. Each song is harshly critical of the establishment for their complicity in the problem at hand.

However, for all of their similarities, “The Guns of Brixton” and “The Preacher and the Slave” are two very different songs. The most obvious difference is the style of music. “The Preacher and the Slave” is a traditional folk hymn. It is designed to be sung a capella or with only an acoustic guitar accompanying. “The Guns of Brixton” is a completely different affair. It is a punk song, a genre which endorses anti-establishment beliefs and attacks the traditional. The song possesses a Jamaican influenced reggae beat with a prominent bass-line and reggae-style upstrokes on the guitar.

In addition to differences in style, the two songs, though they possess similar prognosis and motivation, differed in results. Though the IWW was fairly militant and known for inciting riots, “The Preacher and the Slave” held a more broad target and objective, one that would never see fruition in the United States. “The Guns of Brixton” however continued to stir unrest and discontent in Brixton, which erupted into the most vicious riots Britain had ever seen and sparked further rioting on a national scale. These riots ultimately resulted in the repeal of the hated sus laws.

Though Joe Hill and the Clash wrote and performed very different types of music in very different eras, the two share common, universal elements. Both songs deal with a universal human condition and suggest similar ways of fixing the situation. For all their differences in style and result, “The Guns of Brixton” is a spiritual successor of sorts to Joe Hill’s classic protest music.