Words & Music by Mike Power

With The Clash, photo by Helge Øverås

Mick Jones is one of those songwriters whose musical instincts never fail. There’s something unique in his phrasing and structure that transcends the instruments, the arrangements, and even the band that is playing his song. Whether it’s The Clash, Big Audio Dynamite, BAD II, or Carbon Silicone, it’s Mick Jones and it’s always really fucking good.

Photo by Alex Lake

Once you’re a member of a band like The Clash, that is how you are remembered regardless of what you do after. For good reason. After all, The Clash was the only band that mattered. Jones played with General Public, The Gorillaz, and Ian Hunter who he used to follow around in the Mott The Hoople days: 

“I followed Mott the Hoople up and down the country. I’d go to Liverpool or Newcastle or somewhere—sleep on the Town Hall steps, and bunk the fares on the trains, hide in the toilet when the ticket inspector came around. I’d jump off just before the train got to the station and climb over the fence. It was great times, and I always knew I wanted to be in a band and play guitar. That was it for me.”

Here’s Jones with his current band Carbon Silicon – including Tony James, who was his bandmate before The Clash – performing Big Surprise:

Great tomorrows lie in wait
With much to celebrate
And paradise lost will be found
The good times always come around

I’m alive, we’re alive
I survived, we survived
As the sun will always rise
‘Cos along comes another one
And life’s a big surprise

Maybe today is one of those days
To be astounded and amazed
And seeing that laughter in your face
Restores my faith in the human race

I’m alive, we’re alive
I survived, we survived
As the sun will always rise
‘Cos along comes another one
And life’s a big surprise

And the sun will always rise
To blow away the cloudy skies
An eagles soars into the blue
An angel turns and calls, hey you