Know Your Rights

"Know Your Rights" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash, released in 1982 as the first single from their fifth album, Combat Rock, three weeks prior to the release of the album.

B-side"First Night Back in London"

Released1982

GenreRockabilly^[1]

Length3:41

Quick facts Single by the Clash, from the album Combat Rock ...

"Know Your Rights"
Single by the Clash
from the album Combat Rock
B-side	"First Night Back in London"
Released	1982
Genre	Rockabilly[1]
Length	3:41
Label	CBS
Songwriters	Joe Strummer Mick Jones
Producer	The Clash
The Clash singles chronology
"This Is Radio Clash" (1981) "Know Your Rights" (1982) "Rock the Casbah" (1982)

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The song begins with the words "This is a public service announcement... with guitar!" The structure of the song revolves around the rights held by the poor and disenfranchised, in which the speaker of the song, presumably a villainous civil servant (whose identity is assumed in the song by vocalist Joe Strummer), names the three actual rights. At the end, the notion that more rights should be granted is rebuffed by the speaker.

The three are:

1. "The right not to be killed. Murder is a crime, unless it is done by a policeman, or an aristocrat".
2. "The right to food money, providing, of course, you don't mind a little investigation, humiliation, and if you cross your fingers, rehabilitation".
3. "The right to free speech (as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it)".