Straight to Hell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQwm1v1R-qM

"Straight to Hell" is a song by The Clash, from their album Combat
Rock. It was released as a double 'A' side single with "Should I Stay
or Should I Go?" on September 17, 1982 in 12" and 7" vinyl format (the
7" vinyl is a picture disc).

The song is a typical Clash condemnation of the wrongs that they saw
in the world as they wrote the song. The first verse refers to the
shutting down of steel mills in Northern England and the alienation
and racism suffered by immigrants despite their attempts to integrate
into British society. The second verse concerns the abandonment of
children in Vietnam who were fathered by American soldiers during the
Vietnam War. The third verse contrasts the American Dream as seen
through the eyes of an Amerasian child with a dystopian vision of
American reality. The final verse considers the plight of immigrants
throughout the world. Due to this difficult subject material, as well
as the slow, aching beat, the song is one of the most downbeat tracks
in the Clash's history.

The reference to "Amerasian Blues" describes the abandonment of
children fathered by American soldiers stationed in Vietnam during the
Vietnam War: an Amerasian child is portrayed as presenting an absent
American father, "papa-san," with a photograph of his parents,
pleading with his father to take him home to America. The child's plea
is rejected. "-san" being a Japanese rather than Vietnamese honorific
the reference must be either an error or meant ironically.

When Strummer sings of a "Volatile Molotov" thrown at Puerto Rican
immigrants in Alphabet City as a message to encourage them to leave,
he is referring to the arson that claimed buildings occupied by
immigrant communities – notably Puerto Rican – before the neighborhood
was subject to gentrification. Hence, the ironic reference to "dead-
head," the removal of dead flowers to encourage further blooming, at
the end of the verse.

The last line of the song, "King Solomon never lived 'round here,"
condenses at least three attributes associated with the biblical
figure of King Solomon: his love of dance (thus referring back to the
singing and dancing of immigrants throughout the song), his purported
wisdom and justice, and finally the promise of a return from exile to
a land or, as Strummer would suggest, a world of peace and prosperity.

The song, whose full version lasted 7 minutes (which can be found on
the Clash on Broadway box set or Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg (bootleg)
- the double album that Combat Rock was going to be), had a lingering
violin background that distinguished it from most other Clash songs.

The music for the song has also been sampled by M.I.A. for "Paper
Planes", the eleventh track on her 2007 album Kala"

Paper Planes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g