Joe Strummer | Autograph manuscript lyrics for “Long Shadow"

Joe Strummer

Autograph manuscript lyrics for “Long Shadow,” the third track on Strummer’s final musical effort, Streetcore

3 pages (215 x 280 mm). Written recto only in black felt tip, each page titled and numbered, edits made in Wite-Out; one or two instances of very faint finger soiling. 

Well I'll tell you one thing that I know

You dont face your demons down

You gotta grapple 'em, jack

And then you pin 'em to the ground

The Devil may care—

and maybe God he wont

“The Long Shadow” is the third track on Streetcore, Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros third and final album. It was completed after Strummer’s death at the age of 50. Brought to competition by Martin Slattery and Scott Shields, the album was released on 21 October 2003 to mostly positive reviews, and marked a return to a sound reminiscent of Strummer's early work with the Clash.

Due to Stummer’s untimely death, which was the result of an undetected congenital heart defect, many of the vocal performances on the album are first takes, and “Midnight Jam” is without lyrics. “Long Shadow,” however, was recorded with legendary producer Rick Rubin, and it is unclear if it was originally intended for Streetcore. Whether it was meant for the album or not, the lyrics—which here feature edits of Strummer’s, with some words whited out, and others crossed out and written over, demonstrating his attention to detail and rhythm—strike a poignant, nostalgic note:

And I hear punks talks of anarchy

I hear hobos on the railroads

I hear mutterings on the chaingangs

It was those men who built the roads

And if you put it all together

And you don’t even once relent

You cast a long shadow

And that is your testament

And somewhere in my soul…

There’s always rock and roll

And casting a long shadow is precisely what Strummer did. In 2022, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder performed a cover of “Long Shadow,” remarking: “I just think that what Joe did with the Mescaleros and those records, and those songs, and those words – it’s a very communal sound. The listener feels that they can just be part of that community. You know, I can only imagine that he facilitated thousands and thousands of connections." From his days in the Clash, to the Pogues, and the Mescaleros, Strummer undoubtedly forged these connections, along with securing his place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.