The phrase “London Calling” is a reference to BBC reports that were broadcast during the darkest periods of World War II. “This is London Calling,” a voice would say, before delivering the news to people who worried about their very survival amid the most destructive war in human history.The track’s origins date to a fateful taxi ride by Clash frontman Joe Strummer and his then-fiancée Gaby Salter. As Strummer told Uncut magazine, “There was a lot of Cold War nonsense going on, and we knew that London was susceptible to flooding. She told me to write something about that.”
