SPANISH BOMBS by the clash

“Spanish Bombs” is a song by The Clash and it was released the 14th December of 1979. It was recorded from August/September of 1979 to November of 1979 at Wessex Studios. The genre of the song is Punk Rock. They wrote the song during the recording sessions for their album London Calling. Joe Strummer, the vocalist and guitarist, developed the idea for the song while travelling home from Wessex studios in London and listening to a radio news report of ETA terror bombings of tourist hotels on the Costa Brava.

 

This song deals with that uprising and parallels it with the Spanish Civil War, which devastated Spain from 1936-1939 and resulted in a dictatorship led by the Nationalist General Francisco Franco. Some of the references in the song:

 

"Spanish songs in Andalucía"

Andalucía was one of the first regions of Spain to be overtaken by the fascists in 1936.

 

"Federico Lorca is dead and gone"

Federico Lorca was a Republican poet from Andalucía who was killed during the rebellion.

 

More references include DC-10 passenger aircraft ("I'm flying in a DC 10 tonight"), and disco casinos and hotels ("Spanish weeks in my disco casino, the freedom fighters died upon the hill"). Reference of parallels with past and present is demonstrated in the line: “Or can I hear the echo from the days of '39?"

 

I have chosen this song because when I was little I used to go on vacation in Costa Brava every summer. I read that this song was written because of the situation in Costa Brava during the Spanish Civil war and really shocked me.