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On world poetry day I listed some of my favorite poets. To my shame I forgot to add the great American poet Allen Ginsberg to the list. In my biannual "I've-got-to-update-my-mobile-playlist" routine, I format my mobile memory -I am sooo happy not being shackled to itunes btw-  and sift through my music library, looking for new discoveries and re-affirm the classics which are always included in the list. The unusual, one-time duet of the Clash and Allen Ginsberg titled "The Capitol Air" is one of those classics. Ginsberg sings one of his acerbic social critiques with the Clash in the background. I found out recently that this delightful punk rock-poetry coming together was not one time. In 1982 movie Poetry in Motion 20 contemporary American poets sang their poems. Ginsberg was once again reciting his poems with punk rock in the background. I had quoted the Turkish singer/songwriter Sezen Aksu in my entry for World Poetry day: Poetry is dying out...

"Capitol Air" Allen Ginsberg Frankfurt-New York December 15, 1980 I don't like the government where I live I don't like dictatorship of the Rich I dion't like bureaucrats telling me what to eat I dont' like Police dogs sniffing round my feet I don't like Communist Censorship of my books I don't like Marxists complaining about my looks I don't like Castro insulting members of my sex Leftists insisting we got the mystic Fix I don't like Capitalists selling me gasoline Coke Multinationals burning Amazon trees to smoke Big Corporation takeover media mind I don't like the Top-bananas that're robbing Guatemala banks blind I don't like K.G.B. Gulag concentration camps I don't like Maoists' Cambodian Death Dance 15 Million were killed by Stalin Secretary of Terror He has killed our old Red Revolutionary for ever I don't like Anarchists screaming Love Is Free I don't like the C.I.A. they killed John Kennedy Paranoiac tanks si...

The Turkish Police celebrated its 164. anniversary by bombing 1000s of Besiktas supporters who were marching to the stadium with tear gas and using high pressure water guns. The Guns of Besiktas were victorious in the end made it to the stadium, after humiliating the cops as shown above. As if it were a comedy show, the police wanted to do a pre-game ceremony to the same people they had gased and shot with uniforms in the field, which -obviously- was cut short after fierce protests. Reminds me again, of the bizarre and tragicomic feeling of security the police supposedly established in the society. Always ask this question, like The Clash did: When they kick out your front door, How you gonna come? With your hands on your head, Or on the trigger of your gun?

The people of the cradle of democracy are giving another great example of courage and humanity, by standing against the tyranny of the coercive force monopoly in modern society, which we call the "Police." No sir, you cannot get away with killing a young boy at will... When they kick out your front door How you gonna come? With your hands on your head Or on the trigger of your gun When the law break in How you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement Or waiting in death row You can crush us You can bruise us But you'll have to answer to Oh, Guns of Brixton (*) Athens district around the Politechnical University where the protests got started

I suggest Clash on Broadway to everyone. It is a 3 disk collection, filled with all the best songs of The Clash, worth buying. Up to now I was attracted to punk for its * Simplicity - Especially Ramones * Wit - Ramones and Sex Pistol * naiveness - Undertones * Raw Power - Stooges * I-don't-give-a-fuck-attitude - Sex Pistols but not its political tone. Clash has showed me punk can be great while being dead serious about politics, and being more complex than riffs and beats. The Carribean beats spilling out of the bass line is living proof how immigration made London a great town... The song that is an example of this Jamaican flair is The Guns of Brixton that also has very sharp lyrics: "When they kick out your front door How you gonna come? With your hands on your head Or on the trigger of your gun When the law break in How you gonna go? Shot down on the pavement Or waiting in death row" I will post not the original Clash version, because I really want people to buy this ...