Lilly Allen: “Straight to Hell (The Clash)”

Contributed by theonetruebill. Posted by aubin on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 7:00 PM (EST)

Lily Allen's cover of The Clash classic, "Straight To Hell" is streaming online. The cover is her contribution to the forthcoming War Child: Heroes compilation. The set is due out February 16, 2009 and will also feature Hot Chip covering Joy Division, The Kooks covering The Kinks,

The concept of "Heroes" is that the biggest legends in music, including Sir Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Brian Wilson and The Clash, select one of the classic tracks from their own songwriting canon, and nominate an artist from the next generation to create a modern reworking of that classic song.

The song was previously covered by Moby for Burning London: The Clash Tribute and also features prominently in the track, "Paper Planes" by MIA.

Bands in this story

The Clash

Joy Division

The Clash (88 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

shrapnel (January 20, 2009)

Madness!

carjammer (January 20, 2009)

Mezingers Did It

eazyd2 (January 20, 2009)

all i wnna do is bangbangbangbang and chick chick ching! and take ya monay

Babrook (January 20, 2009)

I fucking love this MIA tune and I hope to god it wins all the grammys it's up for.

IanIsSuperRad (January 20, 2009)

Best mashup of this song. Easy.

http://www.bootieusa.com/bestofbootie2008/02%20-%20DJ%20 Tripp%20-%20Paper%20Rump.mp3

demian (January 20, 2009)

that is the only song off of MIA's new album that's any good and fuck, it is so good

14theroad (January 21, 2009)

How about the one with The Pixies'"Where Is My Mind?"

demian (January 21, 2009)

only decent

MattRamone (January 20, 2009)

If this thing ceases to be, it's because you can in fact hate something so much it's willed out of existence.

SumWon (January 20, 2009)

The problem with this concept is that there arent many "biggest legends" in rock music who are alive and therefore able to nominate next generation artists to rework their songs.

If we had elvis, lennon, cobain, hendrix, etc on board with the Clash, Dylan and Bowie then this would be a cool idea.

Holy_Balls (January 20, 2009)

i don't consider cobain a legend at all.

savestheclash (January 20, 2009)

agreed!

Let_Yourself_Be_Heard (February 5, 2011)

yes, because kurt wrote great rock n' roll melodies, and somebody like Elvis Presley didn't write jack shit! It's kind of like saying I love The Byrds over Bob Dylan.

Babrook (January 20, 2009)

This sounds like shit and she hasn't even opened her mouth yet.

Are they seriously singing the bassline?

SumWon (January 20, 2009)

Oh, and favorite Suicide Machines album.

GO!

Battle Hymns

carjammer (January 20, 2009)

Destructive By Definition

ahopeagainsthope (January 20, 2009)

Destruction By Definition.

MattRamone (January 20, 2009)

The Rudiments side of that split.

baldsteve (January 20, 2009)

Scapegoat was a great song.

TrueBeliever (January 20, 2009)

Destruction by Definition is on a whole other level than everything else they did. They have great songs on the rest of the releases, but DxD is the most consistent, solid one.

SumWon (January 20, 2009)

Disagree. Half is brilliant (first half, mostly) and half is a little underdeveloped (second half, mostly). Battle Hymns wins by the hair on my chinny chin chin.

Cos (January 20, 2009)

The ska songs on Battle Hymns are pretty awful. The hardcore songs, though, destroy everything.

DxD is a lot more balanced, IMHO

SumWon (January 20, 2009)

Aw man, I love the ska on BH. Lies, lies, lies!

eazyd2 (January 20, 2009)

true nigga

Hey_ska (January 20, 2009)

really dude? I mean Battle Hymns is pretty good, bit nothing compares to Destruction.

That album changed my life, man.

Cos (January 20, 2009)

Destruction By Definition

That was far and away the worthiest successor to Operation Ivy in era of really shit ska bands always covered Op Ivy.

SumWon (January 20, 2009)

Okay, so the unanimity of everyone's responses started to make me think I'm crazy, so I just listened to DxD and BH back to back. This reaffirmed my platform: BH is better. Less predictable, better lyrics and messages, better vocals.

And to me, I'm right.

BarleyPat (January 20, 2009)

From a musical standpoint, I think they are both equal. I give the slight nod to DxD just because of how much it meant to me when it first came out. If Battle Hyms had come first (or if I had heard it first), I would probably pick it.

Bxbomber (January 20, 2009)

I listened to the s/t album for the first in about 6 years the other day. Its not as bad as I remember it.

NewKid (January 20, 2009)

Steal This Record.....I love that cd. I remember it getting really good reviews around here too back when it came out.

Eric

feltlikeforever (January 21, 2009)

battle hymns wins in my book, although the suicide machines are so damn good, i love all their albums.. well, minus steal this album. there are like two good songs on that one. i fuckin love the last two cds, too. (yes, ARE so good! &being from metro-detroit, i have a glimmer of hope that someday they'll play a hometown reunion show.. how fucking great would that be?!)

officialjose (January 21, 2009)

DxD is the best ska/punk record they did. But... S/T was an amazing pop record. No denying this.

VictorIkpeba24 (January 21, 2009)

Match/Gasoline

RamblinBoyOfPleasure (January 21, 2009)

the split ep with the avengers

KurtTGS (January 21, 2009)

D x D was great, but yes, the ska songs were better on that, the hardcore ones better on Battle Hymns, and S/T was a GREAT pop-record, Steal This Record was ok, with a few good songs, and the last two albums were fantastic.

InaGreendase (brian) (January 20, 2009)

I actually like the Menzingers as much as I do Lily Allen, which is a lot. But I think we know who the winner is, here...

julianminutes (January 20, 2009)

i'm perturbed that joe strummer is her godfather

eazyd2 (January 20, 2009)

was her godfather

eazyd2 (January 20, 2009)

.... the cunt is dead

eazyd2 (January 20, 2009)

Rip

willowrain (January 20, 2009)

he should!

punk_sk (January 20, 2009)

atrocious

shrapnel (January 20, 2009)

I used to hate that "Paper Planes" song until it was used in a great scene in Slumdog Millionaire

eazyd2 (January 20, 2009)

I hated that movie Slumdog Millionaire until they used that song "Paper Planes" in a lame scene.

no one on tha corna got swagga like us

Cos (January 20, 2009)

Its better than Moby's version, but then, just about anything would be.

Who covered this on the "punk" Clash tribute 10 years or so back?

anarchyadam (January 21, 2009)

On the city rockers compilation, I'm pretty sure it was skinnerbox. It was a relaxed reggae/ska version of the song.

Like this one if there was an actual band playing the music, and the singer didn't suck as much.

cort (January 20, 2009)

i think im the only person who likes it. gives me vibes of music i heard when i was really little. oh well.

PoliticsOfStarving (January 20, 2009)

When I was little I listened to Petula Clark.

On that note, Petula Clark can actually sing, not in a fuckin broken, cockney accent like this girl does.

scientistrock (January 20, 2009)

yuck.

IanIsSuperRad (January 20, 2009)

I like it quite a bit.

scientistrock (January 20, 2009)

Paul McCartney chose Duffy. She's cute and all, but she is such a boring performer.

PoliticsOfStarving (January 20, 2009)

The problem with singing this song in a style like this girl does, is that it's not angry. Joe Strummer used to sound fucking pissed off when he sang it. And that was cool.

shrapnel (January 20, 2009)

and the clash's version is so much darker, this one sounds way too happy

carjammer (January 20, 2009)

Menzingers Did It

TommyTumult (January 20, 2009)

Menzingers Did It Better

Fixed that for you...

IanIsSuperRad (January 20, 2009)

Missed this bit of radness:

http://www.warchild.org.uk/heroes/hold_steady

demian (January 20, 2009)

not bad.

Dudley_Shale (January 21, 2009)

You sure it isn't too sexist for you? A woman covering a man's song could be construed as her being put down by men because they wouldn't give her a chance to craft a truly strong song.

Holy_Balls (January 20, 2009)

is lily allen hot? if so, want to do her. if not, i don't.

DrBino (January 20, 2009)

Someone with no talent covering songs by people with talent. Sounds great.
Remind me again how popular her tv show was...

vaginalinferno (January 20, 2009)

i know i say this at great risk, but when it comes to talent i think i'd rather hear her sing than have to listen to the clash. talk about overrated

savestheclash (January 20, 2009)

awww shit son....

BrandonSideleau (January 21, 2009)

The Clash are legendary and in no way overrated, if anything they don't get enough credit. U2, on the other hand, is disgustingly overrated- talk about a bunch of boring, no talent hacks.

vaginalinferno (January 22, 2009)

while i disagree with what you say sir, i'll defend to the death your right to say it.

cmon tho, what does the clash have that can equal the power of sunday bloody sunday? the passion of new years day? the whole joshua tree cd is sweet.. i mean yea they've tapered off but i'd say that material is more legendary than any period of the clash's existence. they just weren't very creative musicians

slymer (January 20, 2009)

I like it. I like the Menzingers version as well

OzmanX (January 20, 2009)

Skinnerbox did it best... cover-wise that is.

LinoleumMagazine (January 21, 2009)

Hell yeah. I was just about to say that same thing but ya beat me to it.

Bxbomber (January 20, 2009)

I listened to the s/t album for the first in about 6 years the other day. Its not as bad as I remember it.

OzmanX (January 20, 2009)

She has a connection with Joe? hmmmm would.

savestheclash (January 20, 2009)

yeah, he was her godfather...i still don't know who the hell nominated her to do this thing...surrrrsly

WorryRock (January 20, 2009)

do we have enough pop stars messing with that song

jacknife737 (January 20, 2009)

That was pretty good.

Franco (January 20, 2009)

That was surprisignly good. Nice!

DrunkPunk711 (January 21, 2009)

This Sucks! Can Shitty artist please leave the Clash alone!! Enough of this shit.

throw_aways (January 21, 2009)

i think this is really good. i like it as much as the clash's version.

but then straight to hell is not one of my favorite clash songs by any means. i think there are at least 50 clash songs i like better

Pacoco (January 21, 2009)

i thought that was a really good cover

VictorIkpeba24 (January 21, 2009)

Match/Gasoline

tmuda (January 21, 2009)

I want to marry Lily Allen, and I love the Clash, but I don't like this cover.

Munker (January 21, 2009)

Lily Allen is a filthy slag with no talent. Shame on everyone for paying attention to her.

StuckInBielers (January 21, 2009)

This is almost as shit as when the guys from the specials joined her on stage at glastonbury. Why are they validating her cheap, watered down rips offs of their sound?

kevgren (January 21, 2009)

Publicity?

Jelone (joe) (January 21, 2009)

It kinda picks up halfway through. Never thought "Straight to Hell" could work like a straight pop song, but Allen comes close. Still prefer the Menzingers' version though. Or, ya know... the original...

MN_punkmaster-skaman (January 21, 2009)

Right now it's a tie between Destruction by Definition and A Match and Some Gasoline

SweetpunkRock (January 21, 2009)

Can't believe the story didn't mention these other tracks in the main article....

Yeah Yeah Yeahs (The Ramones: Sheena Is A Punk Rocker)
Peaches (Iggy Pop: Search And Destroy)
Franz Ferdinand (Blondie: Call Me)
The Kooks (The Kinks: Victoria)

I wonder which one of the Ramones nominated they Yeah Yeah Yeahs for there track, I bet it was CJ.

Lesterfangs (January 21, 2009)

she and her 3 nipples she has, shouldn't be touching The Clash

deathisastar (January 21, 2009)

thats Mick Jones singin on there too correct? sounds re-recorded :-S

Angiepants (January 21, 2009)

No.

deathisastar (February 10, 2009)

sorry i wasn't asking i was telling