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Should I Stay or Should I Go is a song by The Clash.
Mick Jones sings the words in English, and Joe Strummer echoes with Spanish lyrics. Strummer decided to sing the backing vocals in Spanish on the spur of the moment along with Texan country rocker Joe Ely. However, he needed someone to do the translation so Eddie Garcia, the sound engineer, called his mother in Brooklyn Heights and got her to translate them over the phone. Eddie's mother is Ecuadorian, so Joe Strummer and Joe Ely ended up singing in Ecuadorian Spanish. (Thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England and Rainyhouse, Spanish Fork, UT)
This was re-released as a single in February 1991 after it was used in a Levi's jeans television ad. It went to #1 in the UK but didn't chart in the US.
The line, "If you want me off your back" was originally "On your front or round the back." They decided to change it just before the album was release, but it was too late to make changes to the packaging, so some early copies showed the early lyric. This last-minute change created a lot of friction between Mick Jones and Joe Strummer and may have been the start of the demise of the band. It says in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs, "The hell-bent chorus hints at the end: At the time, none of us were really talking to each other, said Paul Simonon. The original four were soon no more."
Mick Jones in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh said, "Should I Stay Or Should I Go? wasn't about anything specific and it wasn't pre-empting my leaving The Clash. It was just a good rocking song, our attempt at writing a classic." (Thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for above 2)
In a 2009 Rolling Stone article on The Clash, they state that Jones wrote this song about his girlfriend Ellen Foley, who acted on the TV series Night Court and sang with Meat Loaf on "Paradise By the Dashboard Light."
Lyrics[]
Darlin' you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I'll be here 'til the end of time
So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
It's always tease tease tease
You're happy when I'm on my knees
One day is fine and next is black
So if you want me off your back
Well come on an' let me know
Should I Stay or should I go?
Should I stay or should I go now?
Should I stay or should I go now?
If I go there will be trouble
An' if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
This indecision's buggin' me (Indecisión me molesta)
If you don't want me, set me free (Si no me quieres, librame)
Exactly whom I'm supposed to be (Dime! ¿Qué tengo ser?)
Don't you know which clothes even fit me? (¿Sabes que ropa me quedar?)
Come on and let me know (Pero tienes que decir)
Should I cool it or should I blow? (¿Me debo ir o quedarme?)
Split
Should I stay or should I go now? (Yo! ¿Me frío o lo soplo?)
Should I stay or should I go now? (Yo! ¿Me frío o lo soplo?)
If I go there will be trouble (Si me voy, va a haber peligro)
And if I stay it will be double (Si me quedo, es doble)
So you gotta let me know (Pero que tienes que decir)
Should I cool it or should I blow? (¿Me frío o lo soplo?)
Should I stay or should I go now? (¿Me frío o lo soplo?)
If I go there will be trouble (Si me voy, va a haber peligro)
And if I stay there will be double (Si me quedo, es doble)
So you gotta let me know (Pero que tienes que decir)
Should I stay or should I go
Video[]
Rock Band - Should I Stay Or Should I Go - The Clash Expert OMB FC
Full band FC expert
The Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go
Official music video