What Would Joe Strummer Do?

"Making like you've got the answers to everybody's problems - it's impossible. Everybody must sort out their own problems; that's the key to everything. You sort one problem out and get the will to go on and sort another one out. You can't expect any help, I don't think." All content on this blog is fictional and is in no way intended to represent the views of any named or implied party. People, places and events mentioned herein have been fictionalized and are not to be considered a representation of fact.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

It ain’t easy startin’ from the beginning, no matter what it is you’re doin’. High school makes it even tougher – you got to start doin’ things for yourself, and it never feels like you’re ready enough.

But you’ve got this under control. Worryin’ can be a good thing, if it gets you thinkin’ about what you need to do ahead of time and comin’ up with a plan – as long as you don’t spend all your time gettin’ worried.

School’s all right. If you don’t have something you need for a class on the first day, don’t worry about it. Bring it next time. If you start havin’ trouble with class, ask for help. If you’re worried about meetin’ people, talk to the ones in your band class, or art class, or gym class. It’s pretty hard not to meet people when you spend all day with ’em every day.

You got to remember that this ain’t the first time you’ve done this. You’ve started in new places before and made friends and done well, High school’s just another place where you’re goin’ to do exactly the same thing.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

Thanks for that! But I got to say, it ain’t me that’s doing the inspiring. People do that for each other every day, and that’s how it should be. What inspires me is seein’ people talk to each other, teach each other, help each other out. Seein’ people get to know a little more about each other. Seein’ someone play a good song or tell a good story or buy a mate a drink or give a stranger a hand when there’s no one else to do it. Seein’ ’em make themselves and other people happy.

So if you want to have a good time today, go outside and say hello to someone, or go see your mates, or go give someone a hand up out of a tough place, or go do something you love. Enjoy your time, ’cause it’s the best thing you got!

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

One thing I can tell you straight away is that life is always worth livin’. There’s times when it’s better and times when it’s worse, but there’s always something good goin’ on, and there’s always something good to look forward to. Never fall into the trap of thinkin’ there ain’t anything left for you, ’cause there always will be.

You’ll do all right in your exams – and even if you don’t, it won’t be the end of the world. Doin’ well in them and movin’ on is one way of takin’ a step down the road, but it ain’t the only one. There are always new ways of movin’ forward, and you’ll find the one that’s right for you. Just keep takin’ those steps and you’ll get there.

But remember that, no matter what happens, you’re never pathetic. You’re livin’ your life and doin’ your best, and that’s worth more than anything. Keep on with it and things’ll get better.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

I like ’em fine! I got to admit, it wasn’t my sound at first, but the more I heard, the more I started seein’ where they were comin’ from –  a lot like Mick’s music with Big Audio Dynamite. And anything that gets Mick and Paul playin’ together again, havin’ a good time with each other and doin’ it for the music instead of for the wrong reasons, is fine by me.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

That doesn’t sound daft to me. Everyone does that sort of thing differently, and goin’ twenty years before your first girl don’t seem that strange to me. ’s good to hear you’ve met someone you want to go after with all your heart, though.

I got to admit, I never been great at showin’ girls I care about ’em. Mostly I just try to make sure they know they can ask me for anything they want, and even if I can’t give it to ’em, at least I’ll know what they’re thinkin’ about. And I try to let ’em into my world a bit, show ’em what I care about and introduce ’em to the people I love. I reckon if you’re goin’ to be with someone, you got to know who they are, and they got to know who you are, too.

So – once you’re sure this girl wants your attention – start listenin’ to her and findin’ out what kind of person she is. What does she like? What does she value? What does she dream about? What’ve you got in common? Listenin’ to her and sharin’ what you both care about is probably the best way of shown’ someone they matter to you. And you’ll learn things you can use to show her in other ways. If you like the same bands, take her to a gig. If she likes to play hockey, try doin’ it with her. If you both like drawing, tell her in pictures.

The most important thing is just to be straight-up with her. If you really care about her, and she cares about you, there’s no need to guess about things. Just listen to her and talk to her, same as you would any other person on the planet!

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

I reckon likin’ Monty Python’s just a part of bein’ British. But yeah, I like ’em. There ain’t anything wrong with lookin’ at the world like it’s gone a bit mad, because it has, and there ain’t anything wrong with tryin’ to make it a happier –   and madder – place. I hope people go on watchin’ for a long time.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

There’s some decisions people have got to make on their own, and it sounds like this is one of ’em. You got to ask yourself what you really want – and not just about who’s got the nicest house, ’cause that ain’t all it takes to be happy.

Would you rather live with your mum or your dad, or would you be happy stayin’ with either one? Which one of ’em can you see workin’ out best in the long run – do you get along better with one of ’em, has one of ’em got more time to spend helpin’ you out when you need it, are the house rules in one place better than in the other? Which one would make school easiest for you – is one of the houses closer to your school, does one have more study space, has one got more room for you to relax? Which one would make you most comfortable and give you the space you most want? Which one’s closest to your mates?

Work out what matters most to you and where you think you’re most likely to be happy – and then go with that. You deserve to be happy, and it sounds like you’ve got a chance to make that happen.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

’course I believe in you. You got a dream, and there ain’t anything wrong with it. Punk rock didn’t come out of nowhere, and the blues was just as important to makin’ it what it was as anything else was. And if anyone doesn’t believe you when you say it, tell ’em to look it up, ’cause blues and punk have gone together since before I started makin’ music at all.

If you think you can make it, and you’re ready to work hard for it, then you’re already on your way. Don’t let anyone tell you it ain’t gonna happen, ’cause you're the person that’s goin’ to prove them wrong.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

I wish you the very best of luck! You got the right idea – your dreams don’t have to wait for anyone else if you don’t want ’em to. It’s your house and your life and that means it’s your decision what you do and when. So good for you, not waitin’ for someone else before makin’ your dreams happen! I hope you get your house, and I hope it’s just the start of the good things in your life.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

Let me tell you something. I love the people I love because I admire ’em and want to be around ’em, not because of the way they look. Same goes for Paul, and Mick, and any of our mates – and if anyone thinks you got to weigh this or look like that to be loved, that’s the kind of person you don’t want in your life anyway.

I love people with good hearts, who care about things and stand up for what they believe in, and who know what makes ’em happy and go after it. None of that’s got anything to do with how they look. So yeah, I reckon a guy like me would love you just the same whether or not you could help bein’ anorexic.

But I got to say something else, too. You shouldn’t heal for other people – you should do it for yourself. The right kind of guy will love you, anorexic or not, but that don’t mean it’s okay to give up on stayin’ healthy. Life’s a lot harder to enjoy when you aren’t feelin’ good, or when your body won’t do what you want it to because you don’t have the energy you need. So don’t give up, and don’t do it for any guy. Do it because you deserve to be healthy and happy and loved, no matter what else is goin’ on in your life.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

Forgive us for the lack of presence over the last month. Life, as it occasionally does, took over – there were day jobs, graduate theses, side projects, yet another house move, and all sorts of other things that seem innocuous on their own, but add up when they all happen at once. We know you guys understand.

With that said, all of those things are over now, and we certainly don't intend to stop posting here – at least, not while the queue is as long as it is now! We're deeply sorry for making you wait for answers, and I promise that posting will be a lot more regular and a lot more frequent from now on.

Thanks for understanding, guys, and thank you for being so relentlessly kind to us and so brilliant in general. We're looking forward to reconnecting!

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

I reckon everyone gets that sort of thing sometimes. I used to deal with it by stayin’ awake at night until I couldn’t keep my eyes open, goin’ out and wanderin’ the streets or findin’ a pub with good company. Mick used to handle it by gettin’ up and workin’ at his guitar. Everyone’s got different reasons for not bein’ able to sleep, and everyone’s got different ways of tryin’ to make it better.

If you can, find something to distract you from whatever it is you’re frightened of. Gettin’ your mind off it will let you relax and your body’ll eventually figure out it’s tired. If you can’t do that, or if it ain’t workin’, maybe you can talk to some of your mates – get ’em to come over if they live close, or just chat with ’em if they don’t. Bein’ around other people can make you feel safer and let you relax. And if nothing works, it might be time to talk to someone who can help you – like a doctor or a counsellor. I never tried it myself, but if it’s a real problem for you, it’s worth seein’ if there’s anything they can do.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

That depends on when you’re askin’!

Mick was a bit of an idiot when we were younger, but so was I. I reckon everyone is. He used to act like a rock star, gettin’ people to treat him like one and fetch him meals and that sort of thing. I never used to like it – The Clash wasn’t about bein’ stars, it was about bein’ a voice for people like us who didn’t get listened to any other way – but lookin’ back, I can see how bein’ on tour all the time and havin’ to get albums out and havin’ all that music to write and not really havin’ much of a say in all of it got to him. He was just doin’ what he could about it.

Nowadays things are different. We can still both be idiots sometimes, but not the same way we used to be. Mick is my best mate and always will be, and it seems to me like he’s got more sense than I do most of the time. He’s still a musical genius, though – and he’ll probably always be that, too.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

I reckon it ain’t my place to judge how people want to express themselves. If it gets people into readin’, or writin’, or thinkin’ about the things they love, then it’s good enough for me. And if it lets people make a difference – lets ’em write about issues that matter to them, or gives people a voice when they don’t have one in other places – then that’s even better.

You got to be decent about it. If someone asks you not to write about their characters or their stories, you got to respect what they want. There’s all kinds of things to write about in this world, so there ain’t any reason not to be respectful. And you might want to make sure you understand how the law works, so you can stay out of trouble.

But I’m never gonna say a bad word about something that gets people talkin’ and creatin’ and learnin’ to use their own voices to make the world a better place.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

What sort of music d’you want to play? Once you got that worked out, start gettin’ to know people in that scene. Go to gigs, talk to the people around you in the audience, talk to the bands, talk to the people workin’ at the venues. Meet as many people as you can, and you never know – maybe you’ll find a band lookin’ for a guitarist, or some other people tryin’ to start a band, or someone who’s never even thought about bein’ in a band, but might give it a try. The key to gettin’ started is workin’ out what you want, and then talkin’ to people!

If you get to know the right venues and record shops, you might try puttin’ up advertisements there, too. I know a few bands that found singers and drummers and that sort of thing by puttin’ posters in shop windows. You got lots of options!

Whatever you decide to do, congratulations on workin’ hard enough at guitar to feel ready for a band, and good luck!

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

The way I see it, things ain’t as simple as that.

You can be poor because of what you don’t have. More and more people these days haven’t got anything of their own – livin’ on minimum wage or less, payin’ off school loans, tryin’ to decide whether they want to pay rent or buy food. Squatting ain’t what it used to be, the law ain’t what it used to be, and the world can be a tough place for people who’ve got nothing.

But you can also be poor because of what you didn’t have. Maybe you grew up on a council estate. Maybe you slept rough after leavin’ home. Maybe you couldn’t go to school, or you had no place to live, or you ate cold leftover chips for weeks because you couldn’t get anything else. Maybe now you got everything you need, but if you came from not havin’ it, you got something in you that the upper classes are never gonna have.

I ain’t goin’ to say I grew up poor. And I ain’t goin’ to say I spent my whole life poor, either. But I know what it’s like to live on the edge of nothing. I know what it’s like to be on the dole. I know what it’s like when you don’t know when or how you’re goin’ to eat next, or sleep, or get warm again. I been there, and I remember, and I ain’t goin’ to stop speakin’ up for the rights of young people and poor people and people who keep gettin’ ignored, over and over again.

We got to stand together. I don’t care where you came from or where you’re goin’ – as long as you stand by the people who need it the most, you’re all right in my book.

[whatwouldjoestrummerdo-blog]

You got to stop feelin’ like you’re alone in all this. It ain’t just you that feels like you’re barely hangin’ on – we all feel that way sometimes. And there’s nothing wrong with complainin’ about it, either, ’cause everyone’s got to get those kinds of feelings out. It can be pretty tough, so don’t ever feel ashamed of feelin’ stressed or lost or lonely, and don’t ever feel ashamed of admitting it.

If you’re havin’ trouble with school, you might start by askin’ yourself why. Are you doin’ too much? Is there anything you could stop doin’, or do less? Is there anything that’s too hard for you, and if there is, could you get help with it or switch to something more manageable? Can you ask your teachers or your school counsellors for help or advice? Can you get a mate to tutor you at school, or even at your house so that you can tackle both problems at once?

Transport’s a bit harder to deal with. If you got buses or trains or even a bicycle, use ’em. Sometimes you got to get out of the house any way you can. If you don’t have any of those things, try walkin’, even if you can’t get anywhere good –   sometimes, just gettin’ out is all that matters. Bikes don’t cost much, though, so if it’s safe to use one where you are, try lookin’ into gettin’ one of those. If none of that works, maybe you can trade favours with your mates for rides, or do some work around the house in exchange for gettin’ a lift from your parents. If not, try askin’ your mates to hang around at your house – it ain’t quite the same as gettin’ out, but it stops you from bein’ lonely.

Most of all, remember that no matter how you feel right now, it ain’t goin’ to last forever. School ends, people move from place to place, you’ll find ways of gettin’ around, your friends’ll find their way to you. The hard stuff can be beaten, and even if that ain’t easy, it won’t last.