I was listening to The Clash’s “Train in Vain” the other day, and I got to wondering if it’s one of rock’s most effective changeups. The music is not too foreign for anything the band had done to that point – it’s not a simple stylistic move, like Led Zeppelin tackling reggae on “D’yer Maker”. And while Mick Jones was always good for an autobiographical song about an old mate, the band never tackled the topic of anything beyond platonic love. Even “Lover’s Rock”, a track earlier on side 4 of London Calling, is more of a “politics with a small ‘p'” song, as Paul Simonon might explain.
So I ask our Townspeople…What’s your favorite rock changeup and what about it makes it a special one?
