Let fury have the hour. Anger can be power. Do you know that you can use it?
Bruce Springsteen and Joe Strummer had more than a bit of mutual admiration between them, each citing the other as an influence.
It’s a wonder then that Bruce hasn’t covered Strummer and The Clash more often. There are exceptions, like “London Calling” and “Coma Girl,” but rarely does Bruce give one of Joe’s songs multiple outings in concert.
That changed in Pittsburgh on the High Hopes Tour, when temporary E Streeter Tom Morello joined Bruce on vocals to open with a cover of a song Morello was more than a bit familiar with.
The Clash released “Clampdown” as a single in Australia only, the second single off their landmark 1979 album, London Calling.
“Clampdown” never charted, but the punk anthem galvanized audiences, influenced young rockers, and inspired a host of covers with its galvanizing rallying cry.
One such band heavily influenced by The Clash was Rage Against the Machine, who covered “Clampdown” in their very first show… ever. In fact, “Clampdown” was only the second song they ever played live, and it was miraculously captured on video. Here’s that performance from 1991, featuring a 27-year-old Tom Morello:
So when Bruce decided to make “Clampdown” their show opener that April evening in Pittsburgh and asked Tom to join him on vocals, Morello was more than up to the task.
It was a brilliant decision: “Clampdown” rocketed the show out of the starting gate. Bruce was so pleased with the way it turned out that he went on to perform it not once but five more times over the next four weeks (although he would drop the horns immediately after that debut performance in Pittsburgh).
By their third performance a week later in Sunrise, they’d nailed both arrangement and performance. Within days, Bruce released an official video of that performance on his YouTube channel.
Bruce, Tom, and the band continued performing “Clampdown” through the end of the High Hopes Tour. When Morello left the band at that point, The Clash’s anthem went too. It was the Obama era, after all. The economy was booming, and the United States was at the peak of its progressive arc. “Clampdown” didn’t feel urgent enough to warrant a regular spot in the set list.
That would change.
A dozen years later, the lyrics of “Clampdown” sound eerily resonant.
In these days of evil presidentes
Working for the clampdown
But lately, one or two has fully paid their due
For working for the clampdown
It was almost certainly Morello’s suggestion to reprise “Clampdown” on the Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour, and it was a great one.
It was a late addition, first appearing on Night Three of the tour, but it’s been a staple ever since.
As part of the show’s opening salvo, “Clampdown” sears ferociously and makes it clear that Bruce and the band aren’t going to hold back.
Nor should they.
Let fury have the hour. Anger can be power. Do you know that you can use it?
Clampdown
First performed: April 2, 2014 (Pittsburgh, PA)
Last performed: April 23, 2026 (Sunrise, FL)
© September 10, 2021 / April 25, 2026
