:Spanish Bombs

Strummer wrote the song during the recording sessions for London Calling. He 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. It reminded him of the ongoing Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign in the United Kingdom.

According to Continente Multicultural and Vulture magazines, "Spanish Bombs" is a pop rock and punk rock song.{{cite web |last1=Wyman |first1=Bill |title=All 139 the Clash Songs, Ranked From Worst to Best |url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/10/all-139-the-clash-songs-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html |website=Vulture |date=11 October 2017 |publisher=New York |access-date=14 March 2023}}{{cite magazine|first= Débora |last= Nascimento |title= The Clash: Clássico do rock politizado chega (atual) aos 30 anos |magazine= Continente multicultural |page= 83 |issue= 106 |date= October 2009 |url= https://issuu.com/revistacontinente/docs/106_-_out_09_-_fabrica_cinema/80 |language= pt}} AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco described it as a "rousing rocker" with a combination of power chords, quickly-strummed acoustic riffs, and "simple but catchy verses and chorus".{{cite web|last=Guarisco|first=Donald A.|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/spanish-bombs-mt0000754609|title=Spanish Bombs – The Clash|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=9 July 2013}}

"Spanish Bombs" compares the modern day tourist experience of Spain with the circumstances of the Spanish Civil War,{{cite book|last=Gray|first=Marcus|page=315|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=29hwkUOFO9QC&pg=PA315|access-date=9 July 2013|title=The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|year=2004|isbn=1617749176|edition=2nd}} and contrasts the "trenches full of poets" to the planeloads of British tourists visiting the country's beaches in the post-Franco era.{{cite news|last=Mazmanian|first=Adam|date=29 December 2009|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/29/listening-station-clash-of-cultures/|title=Listening Station: Clash of cultures|newspaper=The Washington Times|access-date=9 July 2013}} Praising the heroism of the civil war republicans,{{cite book|last=Dimery |first=Robert |title=Collins Gem Classic Albums |year=1999 |publisher=Harper Collins Publishers |location=Glasgow |isbn=0-00-472485-2 |oclc=43582584 |quote=..."Spanish Bombs" praises the heroism of republicans in the Spanish Civil War.}} the song alludes to the death of anti-fascist poet Federico García Lorca,{{cite book|page=277|editor=D'Ambrosio, Antonio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZXJi2BEyYAC&pg=PA277|title=Let Fury Have the Hour: Joe Strummer, Punk, and the Movement That Shook the Word|publisher=Nation Books|year=2012|isbn=978-1568587202|edition=2nd}} with the line "Oh please leave the ventana open / Federico Lorca is dead and gone"{{cite web | url=https://genius.com/The-clash-spanish-bombs-lyrics | title=The Clash – Spanish Bombs }} echoing García Lorca's similar line in his poem "Farewell": "If I die, leave the balcony open!"{{cite web | url=https://allpoetry.com/poem/8512729-Farewell-by-Federico-Garcia-Lorca | title=Farewell by Federico Garcia Lorca }} ("Ventana" is Spanish for "window.")

Adrien Begrand of PopMatters remarked that Strummer's references to bomb attacks by Basque separatists in the late 1970s "echoes" Lorca and the Spanish Civil War, citing the line "Spanish bombs rock the province / I'm hearing music from another time".{{cite magazine|last=Begrand|first=Adrien|date=8 October 2004|url=https://www.popmatters.com/clash-londoncalling2004-2495855268.html|title=The Clash: London Calling: 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition|magazine=PopMatters|access-date=9 July 2013}}

The song utilizes what Adam Mazmanian of The Washington Times calls "pidgin Spanish". According to the liner notes accompanying the original 1979 UK vinyl release of London Calling, the song includes the lyric "Yo t'quierro y finito, yo te querda, oh ma côrazon" (sic).{{cite AV media notes |title=London Calling |others=The Clash|year=1979|type=Loose leaf lyric sheet |publisher=CBS Inc./Riva Music Ltd/Nineden Ltd|id=CBS CLASH 3 |location=London}} According to The A.V. Club, the lyric is in fact, "Yo te quiera [sic] infinito, yo te quiera [sic], oh mi corazón" which they translate as "I want you forever, I want you, oh my heart".{{cite news|author=Heller, Jason|date=23 November 2009|url=https://www.avclub.com/ca-plane-pour-wha-19-foreign-phrases-we-wouldn-t-know-1798218554|title=Ça plane pour wha?: 19 foreign phrases we wouldn't know without pop songs|newspaper=The A.V. Club|location=Chicago|access-date=9 July 2013|display-authors=etal}} However, according to a comment by Strummer himself in the liner notes for the 25th Anniversary Edition of London Calling, the lyric is "Clash Spannish [sic]", and "means 'I love you and goodbye! I want you but _ oh my aching heart!' induced by those grapes of wrath.[sic]"{{Cite web | title=ImageVenue.com - 68716_booklet_122_687lo.jpg | url=http://img23.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=68716_booklet_122_687lo.jpg | access-date=2024-12-23 | website=img23.imagevenue.com}} The song also makes reference to Andalusia, which is located close to the Spanish region where Strummer's ex-girlfriend Palmolive was born.

London Calling, remarked author Michael Chabon, is "what we'd now call 'classic rock'. Songs like 'Spanish Bombs' had me wondering what the song was about, how it related to the Spanish Civil War and why was Joe singing about it?"{{cite magazine|first=Joe|last=Daly|title=Michael Chabon's 10 life-changing pieces of vinyl|magazine=Classic Rock #209|date=May 2015|page=unnumbered}}

;The Clash

• Joe Strummer – vocals, acoustic guitar
• Mick Jones – vocals, lead guitar
• Paul Simonon – bass guitar
• Topper Headon – drums

;Additional Musicians

• Mickey Gallagher – organ

• List of anti-war songs

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Gilbert |first=Pat |title=Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of the Clash |orig-year=2004 |edition=4th |year=2005 |publisher=Aurum Press |location=London |isbn=1-84513-113-4 |oclc=61177239 }}
• {{cite book |last=Gray |first=Marcus |title=The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town |orig-year=1995 |edition=5th revised |year=2005 |publisher=Helter Skelter |location=London |isbn=1-905139-10-1 |oclc=60668626 }}
• {{cite book |last=Green |first=Johnny |author2=Garry Barker |title=A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with the Clash |orig-year=1997 |edition=3rd |year=2003 |publisher=Orion |location=London |isbn=0-7528-5843-2 |oclc=52990890 }}
• {{cite book |last=Gruen |first=Bob |author-link=Bob Gruen |author2=Chris Salewicz |title=The Clash |orig-year=2001 |edition=3rd |year=2004 |publisher=Omnibus |location=London |isbn=1-903399-34-3 |oclc=69241279 }}
• {{cite book |last=Needs |first=Kris |author-link=Kris Needs |title=Joe Strummer and the Legend of the Clash |date=25 January 2005 |publisher=Plexus |location=London |isbn=0-85965-348-X |oclc=53155325 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/joestrummerlegen00need }}
• {{cite book |last=Topping |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Topping |title=The Complete Clash |orig-year=2003 |edition=2nd |year=2004 |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn |location=Richmond |isbn=1-903111-70-6 |oclc=63129186 }}

{{Refend}}

{{The Clash singles}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1979 songs

Category:Anti-fascist music

Category:The Clash songs

Category:Songs written by Mick Jones (The Clash)

Category:Songs written by Joe Strummer

Category:Works about the Spanish Civil War

Category:Song recordings produced by Guy Stevens

Category:British pop rock songs

Category:Spanglish songs