The song that I have chosen is called Spanish Bombs by The Clash, a punk band that was born in London. The Clash released their third album called London Calling where we can find the song that I have chosen, Spanish Bombs. London Calling was released the 14th of December of 1979, and Mick Jones and Jose Strummer wrote Spanish Bombs; both of them were the singers and guitarist of the band, respectively.

 

Strummer developed that idea while he was travelling home from Wessex Studios in London and he was listening to a radio news report of ETA terror bombings of a tourist hotel on the Costa Brava. That event reminded him of the Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign in the United Kingdom.  

 

Spanish Bombs compares the modern day tourist experiences of Spain with the circumstances of the Spanish Civil War, and contrast the metaphor of the “trenches full of poets” to the planeloads of British tourist visiting the country’s beaches in the post-Franco era. Also the song eludes the death of anti-fascist poet Federico García Lorca. In conclusion, the song talks about the Spanish Civil War and the Spanish state 40 years later. 

 

I have chosen this song because the fact that a British band made a song talking about the problems that we had in Spain surprised me. I though that during that era it wasn’t common to talk about other countries’ wars. Another reason why I have chosen it is because I really like the way that they talk about the war but in a metaphorical sense.