Clash Fan Detained...

...as a terrorism suspect.

Man Held as Terrorism Suspect Over Punk Song
Wed Apr 5, 9:15 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - British anti-terrorism detectives escorted a man from a plane after a taxi driver had earlier become suspicious when he started singing along to a track by punk band The Clash, police said Wednesday.

Detectives halted the London-bound flight at Durham Tees Valley Airport in northern England and Harraj Mann, 24, was taken off.

The taxi driver had become worried on the way to the airport because Mann had been singing along to The Clash's 1979 anthem "London Calling," which features the lyrics "Now war is declared -- and battle come down" while other lines warn of a "meltdown expected."

Mann told British newspapers the taxi had been fitted with a music system which allowed him to plug in his MP3 player and he had been playing The Clash, Procol Harum, Led Zeppelin and the Beatles to the driver.

"He didn't like Led Zeppelin or The Clash but I don't think there was any need to tell the police," Mann told the Daily Mirror.

A Durham police spokeswoman said Mann had been released after questioning -- but had missed his flight.

"The report was made with the best of intentions and we wouldn't want to discourage people from contacting us with genuine concerns," she said.

Careful which Rolling Stone all-time greatest album lyrics you sing along with, folks, particularly if those lyrics were written by the late Joe Strummer of the Clash, who foresaw the fascist global police state being unveiled here in the 2000s. Joe spoke about it, wrote about it, sang about it...

Try to rest in peace, Joe. I know Bush and Blair make it difficult, but take comfort in the fact that you did more to warn the youth of the West than most.

Do you have a favorite Clash lyric? Please share it in the comments section -- but make sure that Big Brother is not looking over your shoulder as you type things like:

"You have the right not to be killed/Murder is a CRIME!/Unless it was done by a Policeman or aristocrat." -Know Your Rights

"Guns guns a-shaking in terror/Guns guns killing in error/Guns guns guilty hands/Guns guns shatter the lands." -Guns On The Roof

"Y'wanna join in a chorus/Of the Amerasian blues?/When it's Christmas out in Ho Chi Minh City/Kiddie say papa papa papa papa-san take me home." -Straight To Hell

"Yankee dollar talk/To the dictators of the world/In fact it's giving orders/An' they can't afford to miss a word." -I'm So Bored With The USA

"He who fucks nuns will later join the church." -Death Or Glory