I'm trying to make a case for those people who don't have a sense of belonging that they should have, that there is something really worthwhile in having a sense of belonging, and recasting and looking at our modern history.
I came into this whole business by going to see Rock Against Racism gigs with the Clash.
We read our own political content into The Clash, and they accepted it.
Being spokesman for a generation is the worst job I ever had.
All the great political music was made at the height of political confrontations.
An isolationist America is no bloody use to anyone.
Even with politics, stuff comes around again. Woody Guthrie would recognize America today.
I try and write honestly about what I see around me now.
I was in a little punk band and we put out a few punk records that weren't very political, at all.
My theory is this; I'm not a political songwriter. I'm an honest songwriter.
My upbringing was very straightforward suburban working class upbringing.
Were it not for the Clash, punk would have been just a sneer, a safety pin and a pair of bondage trousers.
