I Live By the River

Today marks the 41st anniversary of the release of The Clash's iconic London Calling, and the folks over at Far Out Magazine have ranked the tracks from worst to best. In general it's not a terrible list, other than it's godawful placements of Death or Glory and The Card Cheat, which are 1-2 on my own better, more definitive list from 2007, when the double album was a mere child of 27 years old. And while the title track has become its own thing, it's #1 here but only #8 on my list, which means I am right and they are wrong.

The article on Death or Glory:

The song depicts a punk who has begun to see the futility of his ways, mellowed out somewhat and instead “ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl.” After punk had begun to subside, the feeling that the bands who burgeoned the scene may fall into obscurity was a very real one — The Clash were keen to avoid such a plight and made sure they did with songs like this.

This is a good point, but still manages to belie the incredible intensity of the song while severely misplacing it in their pecking order. Grr.