Your Friday Clash Song: “His Luck It Gave in as the Dawn Light Crept In …”

In honor of Newt Gingrich’s recent political self-immolation, I give you “The Card Cheat” from London Calling (1979):

To the opium den and the barroom gin

In the Belmont chair playing violin

The gambler’s face cracks into a grin

As he lays down the king of spades

But the dealer just stares

There’s something wrong here, he thinks

The gambler is seized and forced to his knees

And shot dead

He only wanted more time

Away from the darkest door

But his luck it gave in

As the dawn light crept in

And he lay on the floor …

Hey, Newt, when even Charles Krauthamer says this about your political career:

He’s done. He didn’t have a big chance from the beginning, but now it’s over. . . . He won’t recover

it’s time to pack it in. Seriously.

And by the way, don’t freak out over the lyrics I quoted. Obviously, I don’t want to see Newt “forced to his knees/And shot dead.” It’s a metaphor, people. Jeez.

Oh, yeah, and then there’s this bit:

Before you meet your fate be sure you

Did not forsake your lover

May not be around anymore …

Well. Ahem. Take that as you will.

Elsewhere, following up on yesterday’s tribute to Joey Ramone on the occasion of his 60th birthday, here’s Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros covering the Ramones’ “Blitzkreig Bop”:

According to The Clash Wiki, the Clash played “Blitzkreig Bop” live “during 1978, where the band would segue it into the end of Police & Thieves”; and, “[a] live performance from Le Stadium, Paris 1978 is included as a hidden track on the promotional album Rockers Galore,” which is pretty cool.

So, there you go. You know what to do. Turn. It. Up.

© 2011 David P. von Ebers. All rights reserved.