Going Underground

This song was Paul Weller's angry outcry against the British Conservative government. In particular it was an indictment of the government's policy on arms in which they seemed to be keener on spending taxpayers money on a nuclear arsenal rather than beneficial government programs.

The Jam were touring the States when this became their first UK #1. In an interview with Positive Energy of Madness, Jam drummer Rick Buckler said: "It was a shock when we got to #1, otherwise we wouldn't have been in the States. We knew 'Going Underground' would do well. We had a good drink that night. However, everyone wanted to be back in Britain. We made out we had all come down with a virus. We canceled the rest of the tour of the States. We flew back to Britain on Concorde, to record 'Going Underground' on Top of The Pops for the following week."