Defying the “Punk Rock Police”: The Story Behind “Train In Vain (Stand By Me)” by The Clash

The Clash were always a band that had to walk both sides of the line. They took a DIY/punk rock stance while signing with a major label. Their first album wasn’t released in America until two years later, but it was the biggest-selling import in 1977. Singer/guitarist Joe Strummer would complain about the “punk rock police” judging people who weren’t wearing the proper clothes or playing music outside of the accepted parameters of the genre. He saw punk rock as a genre where anything goes. It should allow a band the freedom to express itself with any style of music or clothing. Once your entire audience rebels from society by wearing a black leather jacket and spiking their hair, they become an army of conformity just as boring as what they broke free from.

The band always looked out for their fans, keeping ticket prices low and insisting their record company price their albums low. London Calling was a double album sold for the cost of a single record, and Sandinista was a triple album sold for just over a third of the price. As the band explored new musical territories, they heard cries of “sellout” from many directions. The relatively low record sales from the first two albums put the band’s back against the wall. They felt London Calling was their last chance. They were desperate to grow their fanbase and wanted to do it their way. Let’s look at the story behind “Train In Vain (Stand By Me)” by The Clash.

They say you stand by your man
Tell me something I don’t understand
You said you loved me, and that’s a fact
And then you left me, said you felt trapped
Well, some things you can explain away
But the heartache’s with me till this day
Did you stand by me
No, not at all
Did you stand by me
No way

Rehearsals

Following their American tour, the band returned to England and secured the back room of a garage to rehearse. It was called Vanilla Studios, and the band worked diligently from May to August 1978, rehearsing and writing. When they went into Wessex Studios to record, they had many new songs. 

All the times that we were close
I’ll remember these things the most
I’ve seen all our dreams come tumblin’ down
I can’t be happy without you around
So alone, I keep the wolves at bay
And there’s only one thing I can say
Did you stand by me
No, not at all
Did you stand by me
No way

The Last Testament

The album’s concept was to make the last rock and roll album. It began with the working title of The Last Testament. In 1980, Strummer told Rolling Stone magazine, “We realized that if we were a little more subtle, if we branched out a little, we might reach more people. We finally saw that we had just been reaching the same people over and over. And the music—just bang, bang, bang—was getting to be like a nagging wife. This way, if more kids hear the record, then maybe they’ll start humming the songs. And if they start humming the songs, maybe they’ll read the lyrics and get something from them.”

You must explain why this must be
Did you lie when you spoke to me?
Did you stand by me?
No, not at all

Flexi Disc

The song was (primarily) written by keyboardist Mick Jones in one night and recorded the following day. The plan was to give it away as a promotional item for the new album as a flexi disc in the New Musical Express. However, it was decided to be too expensive, so the idea was scrapped. The band added it to the end of their album even though the artwork had already been handed in to the record label. The first run of London Calling doesn’t list the track on the sleeve or label.

Engineer Bill Price laughed about it during interviews for the 20th anniversary rerelease, “A couple of Clash websites describe it as a hidden track, but it wasn’t intended to be hidden. The sleeve was already printed before we tacked the song on the end of the master tape.”

Now I got a job, but it don’t pay
I need new clothes. I need somewhere to stay
But without all these things, I can do
But without your love, I won’t make it through
But you don’t understand my point of view
I suppose there’s nothing I can do
Did you stand by me
No, not at all
Did you stand by me
No way
Did you stand by me
No, not at all
Did you stand by me
No way

Visit from a Pretender

Jones told author Daniel Rachel about a visitor to the studio, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, “It wasn’t about Chrissie Hynde, but she was upstairs, and there was a window from the pool room where she could look in. I was singing it to Chrissie. It was like an R&B song. We couldn’t believe how popular it became, especially in America. That broke us in there. They thought it was a regular R&B song, then they found out it was The Clash.”

You must explain why this must be
Did you lie when you spoke to me?
Did you stand by me?
No, not at all
Stand by me, no way
Stand by me, not at all
Stand by me, no way
Stand by me, not at all
Stand by me, no way

The Plan Worked

In the liner notes for Clash on Broadway, Strummer remembered, “The first time we hit Berlin after London Calling came out, I was sitting at this cafe, talking to this 16-year-old skinhead. He was saying he was horrified, that he couldn’t stand it, because his grandmother was grooving around to the London Calling album in his flat.”

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Photo by Steve Morley/Redferns