Lyrics to
Tommy Gun

This version of Tommy Gun was released by The Clash in 1978.

Our The Clash Songs profile has Tommy Gun lyrics from 1978 and most if not all of the lyrics by The Clash that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to The Clash or about the 1970s in general.

tommy gun
you ain’t happy less you got one
tommy gun
ain’t gonna shoot the place up
just for fun
maybe he wants to die for the money
maybe he wants to kill for his country
whatever he wants, he’s gonna get it!

tommy gun
you better strip it down for a customs run
tommy gun
waiting in the airport ’till kingdom come
an’ we can watch you make it
on the nine o’clock news
standing there in palestine lighting the fuse
whatever you want, you’re gonna get it

tommy gun
you’ll be dead when your war is won
tommy gun
but did you have to gun down everyone?
i can see it’s kill or be killed
a nation of destiny has got to be fulfilled
whatever you want, you’re gonna get it!

tommy gun
you can be a hero in an age of none
tommy gun
i’m cutting out your picture from page one
i’m gonna get a jacket just like yours
an’ give my false support to your cause
whatever you want, you’re gonna get it!

okay, so let’s agree about the price
And make it one jet airliner for ten prisoners
boats an’ tanks and planes, it’s your game
kings an’ queens an’ generals learn your name
i see all the innocents, the human sacrifice
and if death comes so cheap
then the same goes for life!

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The Clash has released many songs over the years besides Tommy Gun. The Clash released songs from 1977 to 1993 spanning across albums like The Clash, Give 'em Enough Rope, London Calling, Sandinista!, Combat Rock, Cut The Crap, and Super Black Market Clash. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by The Clash.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1978 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Tommy Gun by The Clash

The lyrics to Tommy Gun are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by The Clash in 1978. Elements of the lyrics to Tommy Gun are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by The Clash and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Tommy Gun back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to Tommy Gun by The Clash in a number of ways. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Tommy Gun" means the words set to the music of Tommy Gun, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by The Clash. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Tommy Gun and the lyrics to Tommy Gun are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of The Clash who came here looking just for the lyrics to Tommy Gun, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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