“Wrong ’Em Boyo” by The Clash
The Clash’s “Wrong ’Em Boyo” is based on a historical incident where in 1895, one Lee Shelton proceeded to murder Billy Lyons. Both individuals were criminals. And as the story goes, the cause of said assault was Lyons trying to jack Shelton’s hat.
But with that noted, it’s not abundantly clear what the message of this song is supposed to be, i.e. what exactly the vocalist means by “it is the wrong ‘em boyo”. But what The Clash seems to be putting forth, all things considered, is that in life you have to be careful of the people you try to “cheat”.
So with that hypothesis in mind, the intended addressee would be the likes of sheisty individuals – those who are inclined to take advantage of others. And using Billy Lyons as an example, the point being made is that even if you run “small game” on the wrong person, the consequences can prove dire.
So understood as such, this piece is actually a warning to criminals. And the message being relayed is to be careful that you don’t end up offending “the wrong ‘em, boyo”.
When was “Wrong ’Em Boyo” released?
This song is from The Clash’s iconic album of 1979 titled “London Calling”. In all, three singles (including the global hit “London Calling“) were used to promote the album. The album (which is considered one of the greatest albums ever) was released on December 14th, 1979.
Credits
The writing of “Wrong ’Em Boyo” is officially credited to a songwriter named Clive Alphonso. Guy Stevens produced the song as well as the entire “London Calling” album. Actually Guy’s work on the said album remains one of his most notable works. He died tragically at the age of 38 in 1981 from an accidental drug overdose.
Nice. 👍
Would be worthy to mention the song is a cover of The Rulers’ 1967 song, Wrong Emboyo
Should probably mention it’s a cover of The Rulers’ song which has lyrics from Lloyd Price’s “Stagger-lee”. Based on the American folk song “Stack O’ Lee [Blues]”, based on the 1896 murder in St Louis.
Gotta love wrong em boyo I miss the good old ska days