WOODY, John Graham Mellor, Punk Rock Warlord: whatever moniker he happened to be using at the time, the fact that Joe Strummer remains an icon to this day is completely indisputable.

Undoubtedly best known for his work with The Clash, his unaltered vision, righteous outrage and at times, sincere warmth resonates to this day and can also be found in lesser known material such as his albums with The 101’ers, The Mescaleros and The Latin Rockabilly War.

One of the most vocal advocates of both equality and anarchy that rose to prominence during the immensely creative period that was the  late 70’s, there is an element of dystopian foreshadowing to some of his most concise quotes that perfectly encapsulates why his career and that of the group once dubbed ‘the only band that matters’ continues to be as relevant today as it was once when their presence incited pandemonium in ardent fans around the world.

Ranging from his greatest lyrical quips to his thoughts on the nature of life itself and much more, here are Joe Strummer’s most enduringly vital words.

On the music industry and his material:

“Punk rock isn’t something you grow out of. Punk rock is an attitude, and the essence of that attitude is ‘give us some truth”

“If I had five million pounds I’d start a radio station because something needs to be done. It would be nice to turn on the radio and hear something that didn’t make you feel like smashing up the kitchen and strangling the cat.”

“To me our music is like Jamaican stuff – if they can’t hear it, they’re not supposed to hear it. It’s not for them if they can’t understand it.”

“I spoke to Paul Simon about this and he said, ‘Hey man, before Graceland I was dead in the water. Nobody was checking my stuff.’ So he’s a realist. He had some barren years after stuff like One-Trick Pony, and out of the hat he pulled Graceland. So life is interesting: anything can happen. But you’ve got to be tough enough to take a spell in the wilderness, instead of hoping to be in the spotlight the whole fucking time. People get sick of you.”

“Punk rock for me was a social movement. we tried to do the things politically we thought were important to our generation and hopefully would inspire another generation to go even further.”

On humanity and society 

“And so now I’d like to say – people can change anything they want to. And that means everything in the world. People are running about following their little tracks – I am one of them. But we’ve all got to stop just following our own little mouse trail. People can do anything – this is something that I’m beginning to learn. People are out there doing bad things to each other. That’s because they’ve been dehumanised. It’s time to take the humanity back into the center of the ring and follow that for a time. Greed, it ain’t going anywhere. They should have that in a big billboard across Times Square. Without people you’re nothing. That’s my spiel.”

“”All of you who think violence is tough – why don’t you go home and collect stamps? That’s much tougher”

“It’s up to you not to heed the call-up
‘N’ you must not act the way you were brought up
Who knows the reasons why you have grown up?
Who knows the plans or why they were drawn up?”- The Call Up

“All the power is the hands/ Of people rich enough to buy it/ While we walk the streets/ Too chicken to even try it- White Riot

You have the right to free Speech as long as you’re not Dumb enough to actually try it.- Know Your Rights

“Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control and it didn’t have any inherent wisdom. I quickly realised that you either became a power or you were crushed”

“I’d like to say that people . . . people can change anything they want to. And that means everything in the world. Show me any country . . . and there’ll be people in it just trying to take their humanity back into the center of the ring . . . . And follow that for a time. Y’know, think on that. Without people you’re nothing.”

“The Future Is Unwritten”

Listen to the band’s seminal track ‘I’m So Bored With The USA’ below: