Straight to Hell

Straight to Hell

The Clash

“Straight to Hell” is a song about immigration, from a British and American perspective.

The first verse deals with the UK, which saw immigration from its former colonies in the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent after WW2.

The second is about the children of American soldiers in Vietnam. These American-Vietnamese were stopped from gaining American citizenship.

The third verse takes a more general view, in “any frontier, any hemisphere”.

The music from the song was famously sampled by the American producer Diplo in the song “Paper Planes”, which he wrote with Sri Lanka-born singer M.I.A.. That is also a song that deals with the mistreatment and stigmatization of foreigners.