E=MC²

“E=MC2”
Single by Big Audio Dynamite from the album This Is Big Audio Dynamite
Released	1986
Format	7", 12"
Genre	Rock
Length	5:55
Label	CBS
Writer(s)	Mick Jones
Producer	Mick Jones
Big Audio Dynamite singles chronology
"The Bottom Line" (1986) "E=MC2" (1986) "Medicine Show" (1986)

"E=MC²" is a song written by Mick Jones, the guitarist and singer of The Clash and performed by his post-Clash band Big Audio Dynamite. It was included as the third track on their 1985 debut album This Is Big Audio Dynamite.

The track is considered to be the first song to make use of highly defined sampling technologies. E=MC² missed out on becoming a top ten hit in the UK, where it peaked at #11 and #37 in the U.S. dance chart becoming the band's most well-known song.

History

This song was inspired by the Nicolas Roeg Film Insignificance and its lyrics allude to scenes from that film, as well as other Roeg films:

• "King of brains" - refers to Albert Einstein a lead character in Insignificance (note also the reference to "relativity" in the chorus)
• "Queen of the sack" - refers to Marilyn Monroe, a lead character in Insignificance
• "Hall of fame baseball" - refers to Joe Dimaggio, a lead character in Insignificance
• "Senator's a hoodlum" - refers to Joe McCarthy, a lead character in Insignificance
• "Don't like no aborigine" - One of the main characters in Walkabout is an Aborigine
• "Pop star dyed his hair . . . When mobsters came to flush him out. Gangland slaying underground, New identity must be found. . .Insanity Bohemian style" References Performance starring Mick Jagger and James Fox
• "Space guy fell from the sky" The Man Who Fell to Earth starring David Bowie
• "Met a dwarf who was no good ... Gets to take the funeral ride" Don't Look Now Starring Donald Sutherland

Music video

The music video for the song (directed by Don Letts) features clips from movies made by Nicolas Roeg. Included throughout the song are dialogue samples taken directly from the 1970 film Performance. These include:

• "I don't like music"
• "Why don't you play us a tune pal?"
• "Comical little geezer. You'll look funny when you're fifty."
• "You know I don't think I'm going to let you stay in the film business"
• "Things have changed"
• "I like a bit of a cavort, I don't send 'em solicitor's letters. I apply a bit of pressure."
• "Who do you think you are, the Lone Ranger?"
• "You're Jack the Lad"
• "Putting a little stick about. Putting the frighteners on flash little twerps"
• "He's an ignorant boy. An out of date boy"
• "United we stand, divided we're lumbered"
• "The man's dead, and who's left holding the sodding baby?"
• "They're a bunch of liars and wrigglers. Give 'em a bit of stick."

Mick Jones and Hard-Fi

'E=MC²' has been performed live by Mick Jones a few times with the band Hard-Fi. One notable performance of this (mentioned on NME's website) was at Brixton Academy on 15 May 2006, a gig also guested by Billy Bragg and Paul Weller.^[1]

No official (or bootleg) recording of this cover is known to exist at present. On 18 May 2006, at the end of Hard-Fi's record-equalling five night residency of Brixton Academy (a record matched by The Clash amongst others) they were joined onstage by Mick Jones one song into their three song encore for their final performance of 'E=MC²'.^[1]

Chart Positions

External links

• E=MC² at Discogs

References