Lyrics for I'da Called You Woody, Joe as interpreted by VoiT

I'da Called You Woody, Joe Lyrics
I was crawling around in my head in the haze of a trance.
Rico said, "I'ma turn you onto a sound, cool out your head. This is the sound from Camden town,"

And then I heard it like a shot through my skull to my brain,
I felt my fingertips tingle, and it started to rain,
When the walls of my bedroom were tremblin' around me,
This ramshackle voice over attack of a bluesbeat,
Tellin' me, he's only looking for fun.
And this was the sound, of the very last gang in town.

As heard by my wild young heart,
Like directions on a cold, dark night,
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And I heard it in his chain gang soul.
It wasn't just the same sad song.
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And I'm doing all right,
Are you doing all right?

And I carried these songs as a comfort wherever I'd go.
They was there when my summers was high,
There when she left me alone.
Saying, "The soul is hard to find."

And I never got to tell him, so I just wrote it down.
I wrapped a couple chords around it and I let it come out,
When the walls of my bedroom were tremblin' around me,
This ramshackle voice over attack of a bluesbeat,
And a girl, on the excitement gang.
And this was the sound, of the very last gang in town.

As heard by my wild young heart,
Like directions on a cold, dark night,
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And I heard it in his chain gang soul.
It wasn't just the same sad song.
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And are you doing all right?
Are you doing all right?

As heard by my wild young heart,
Like directions on a cold, dark night,
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And I heard it in his chain gang soul.
It wasn't just the same sad song.
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And are you doing all right?

And that was the sound,
I hear the sound,
Do you hear the sound?
I hear the sound,
Of the very last gang in town.

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astatusquoexile
07-28-2007

Rated +1 
It's a tribute to Joe Strummer of The Clash...."The Last Gang in Town" is a Clash tune, "excitement gang" is a reference to the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros song "Coma Girl," and I believe at one point in his life Joe Strummer went by the name Woody.

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R2k
08-01-2007

Rated +1 
What a great song. I agree this song is a tribue to Joe Strummer. On top of the references that astatusquoexile listed, Joe Strummer also did a song called Ramshackle Day Parade (great song too, check it out) with the Mescalleros, which I believe is being referenced in the "ramshackle voice" line. As far as the Woody thing, I was thinking that he was talking about Woody Guthrie, a political American Folk musician, and basically comparing the impact of Joe Strummer on music to the impact of Woody Guthrie, which is quite high praise.

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mechpope13
09-30-2007

Rated 0 
astatusquoexile is right, at one point Joe called himself woody. Also the line "he's only looking for fun" is from the clash song '(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais". The chain gang is a reference from Joe's song "Long Shadow". Last Gang in Town is also the title of a clash song.

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mechpope13
11-15-2007

Rated 0 
also "attack of a bluesbeat," is from (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais as well

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Seedboy
05-21-2008

Rated 0 
Strummer called himself Woody because he loved Guthrie's work so much.

However, in context of the song's title, my guess is that The Clash inspired him so much that he feels like he might've known Joe Strummer on so much of a personal level that he could refer to him by the nickname Woody. Or not, just throwing that out there really.

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Filbunke
06-24-2008

Rated 0 
the title of the song simply is saying that Strummer was great enough to be compared to Woody Guthrie.

great song by the way!

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heyhokid
07-07-2008

Rated 0 
joe's nickname when he was in the london squatting scene was "woody" because of his love of woody guthrie, however he ditched the name (and his friends) when the sex pistols and punk came around and hated it when people called him woody cos it was seen as as his old "hippie" self. it wasnt punk. the title refers to that and how even the great joe strummer was rerally preoccupied with his image

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blayzethebomb
07-24-2008

Rated 0 
who the hell is rico?

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poprocksncoke1212
07-28-2008

Rated 0 
great joe strummer tribute song =]

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readingkerouac
08-05-2008

Rated 0 
i just guessed rico was the person who turned him onto the clash and joe. no? i think it makes sense.

i love this song! the music video is silly, i'm in love with gaslight anthem.

my favorite part is, "And I never got to tell him, so I just wrote it down/I wrapped a couple chords around it and I let it come out." i've always wanted to meet joe too, who wouldn't!?

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modernaudrey
11-18-2008

Rated 0 
obviously a tribute to joe strummer by the clash.
Last gang in town= song by the Clash.
joe strummer's birthname is Woody something or other. poor guy.

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modernaudrey
11-18-2008

Rated 0 
of the clash. not by. sorry.

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BallsMcHenry
01-12-2009

Rated -1 
Last Gang in town is NOT a Clash song, it's a Strummer song. Joe Strummer's birthname is NOT Woody, look it up. He was given it as a nickname taken from Woody Guthrie, a big influence in The Clash's political plight - pro-Union, blue-collar values etc.. Additionally, the Gaslight Anthem share many of the same influences and even more of the blue-collar types like Billy Bragg and The Boss. There are so many Clash and Joe Strummer references in here and I choose to not even list them - not too mention, if you aren't a fan the Clash or Joe Strummer, the references will mean nothing to you. BTW, if you don't what the hell you're talking about, why would you post anything?

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1 Reply
abmiller444
02-18-2009

Rated +1 
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Alright BALLS, first off "Last Gang In Town" IS a Clash song, you will find it on 'Give'em Enough Rope', track #5. So lose your pukeface arrogance before you berate simple posters.
For the facts:
1. Woody - nickname for Joe because of Woody Gunthrie, Strummer is also a nickname because of well...his guitar playing ability. His real last name is Mellor.
2. you guys have gotten the rest pretty well spot-on.

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DaveCullen
02-19-2009

Rated 0 
Great info. Thanks everyone.

I just heard the song this week, and "Last Gang In Town" and the chords around it leapt out at me. The Clash was my all-time favorite. I realized it was about Joe Strummer, but missed half the references, and never knew about the Woody bit.

Thanks for filling me in. All great stuff until Balls got all high and mighty.

I love ". . . As heard by my wild young heart . . ."

How many punkers write that tenderly.

The never got to tell him so I just wrote it down is wonderful, too. Best tribute to a great song: another great song.

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qball12
05-20-2009

Rated 0 
This is about when a young Brian Fallon walked into a record store looking for something like rancid or the offspring. When asked by the owner what he was looking for he said "rancid, or something like that". Why?, the owner asked. Brian said, "because a i gotta get punk rock music, it the best thing ever." The owner then says "this is what you want" and hands him the first Clash record. "This is where punk came from, and it will change your life" said the owner. The owner and his friend bought the record for Brian and told him to go home. It did change his life and this is what Brian wrote this song about.

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specks121
06-16-2009

Rated 0 
brian recently said that this song was actually a letter for lucinda, joe's wife, to let her know how much he meant to him

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mbw987
06-24-2009

Rated 0 
these guys are too goood. its retarted that they arent huge and lady gaga has 3 of the top ten songs right now. i shows how dumb people are now and how bad music and radio are

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kooper
09-25-2009

Rated 0 
"that soul is hard to find" is a direct quote from Johnny Appleseed by Joe and the Mescaleros.

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