The Clash

Joe Strummer improvised the Spanish backing vocals for "Should I Stay or Should I Go" on the spot during recording. The tape operator called his mother in Brooklyn Heights to translate the lyrics over the phone. She was Ecuadorian, making this the only Ecuadorian Spanish translation in the Clash's catalog. The sharp "split!" in the chorus happened when Strummer startled Mick Jones in the vocal booth. They kept it. The song peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, barely a chart blip. A UK jeans ad in 1991 revived it, and it went to number 1.

In our deep dive into Should I Stay or Should I Go, we trace the song from a studio session full of accidental moments to its nine-year journey from minor chart entry to number 1, and what it reveals about how songs sometimes wait for the right moment to arrive.

Should I Stay or Should I Go: Lyrics, Meaning & the Full Story →