The title “London Calling” alludes to the BBC World Service’s station identification: “This is London calling …”, which was used during World War II, often in broadcasts to occupied countries.

Lyrically the song reflects the concern felt by Strummer about world events with the line about “a nuclear error” being an allusion to the incident at Three Mile Island, which occurred earlier in 1979. Joe Strummer has said: “We felt that we were struggling about to slip down a slope or something, grasping with our fingernails. And there was no one there to help us.”

The lyrics also reflect the desperation of the band’s situation in 1979 struggling with high debt, the lack of management, and arguing with their record label over whether the London Calling album should be a single or double album. The lines “Now don’t look to us / Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust” reflect the concerns of the band over its situation after the punk rock boom in England had ended in 1977.

Musically, the song is far removed from their earlier style of frenzied punk rock I-IV-V-I chord progressions, as best exemplified on songs like “Career Opportunities” and “I’m So Bored with the U.S.A.”. The song is in a minor key (something The Clash had rarely used before) and the inherent dirge-like, apocalyptic feel is intensified by Topper Headon’s martial drumming without backbeat, in synchrony with staccato guitar chords; Paul Simonon’s haunting and pulsating bass line; the group’s deliberate, mid-tempo pace; and Strummer’s icy lyrics and baleful delivery. Strummer’s howls during the instrumental break further fuel the atmosphere of paranoia.

“London Calling” was The Clash’s first single from their third album London Calling.
For the single the band recorded their fifth music video, on Battersea Pier.