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"Know Your Rights" is a song by The Clash released as a single that was eventually released on their penultimate album, Combat Rock. The song was the first single off the album that was released, and it was a modest success, but it was not as successful as the album's major successes, "Rock the Casbah" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go".
The song begins with the words “This is a public service announcement...with guitars!” The structure of the song revolves around the rights held by the poor and disenfranchised, in which the speaker of the song, presumably a villainous civil servant (whose identity is assumed in the song by vocalist Joe Strummer), is only able to name three rights, which are all provisional anyway. At the end, the notion that more rights should be granted is rebuffed by the speaker.
The three are:
- The right not to be killed, unless it is done by a policeman or an aristocrat.
- The right to food money, providing of course, you don't mind a little investigation, humiliation, and, if you cross your fingers, rehabilitation.
- The right to free speech (as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it).
This is one of the most overtly political songs by The Clash, and it remains reasonably popular.
[edit] Cover versions
"Know Your Rights" has been performed live many times by Pearl Jam, most notably during their Riot Act Tour in 2003, and it also has been recorded on their live albums 7/11/03 - Mansfield, Massachusetts, 7/9/03 - New York, New York, and 3/3/03 - Tokyo, Japan. The song is featured on the compilation album, Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11, which followed up the 2004 documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 by filmmaker Michael Moore, where the track listing was selected by Moore based on the songs and the artists he listened to while creating the documentary.
[edit] Charts
[edit] References
