Yesterday was the darkest day of the year. Most people think that’s the winter solstice on Dec. 21st but they’re wrong; the darkest day is actually Dec. 22nd, the day Joe Strummer died two years ago.

No Clash reunions to daydream about, no new Strummer albums, no more great lyrics about everything under the sun. A brief sampling:

Garageland
I don’t wanna hear about what the rich are doing
I don’t wanna go to where the rich are going
They think they’re so clever, they think they’re so right
But the truth is only known by guttersnipes

Death or Glory
Every gimmick hungry yob digging gold from rock ‘n’ roll
Grabs the mike to tell us he’ll die before he’s sold
But i believe in this-and it’s been tested by research
That he who fucks nun will later join the church

Complete Control
They said we’d be artistically free
When we signed that bit of paper
They meant let’s make a lotsa mon-ee
An’ worry about it later

The Prisoner
your mother does the washing up
your old man digs the garden
you’re only free to dodge the cops
an’ bunk the train to stardom
…I don’t want to be the prisoner

The Clampdown
The voices in your head are calling
Stop wasting your time, there’s nothing coming
Only a fool would think someone could save you
The men at the factory are old and cunning
You don’t owe nothing, so boy get runnin’
It’s the best years of your life they want to steal

(sigh)