Beat Surrender



"Beat Surrender" was The Jam's final single, and was released on 22 November 1982. It became the band's fourth No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in December 1982.

Title
The song's title was a play on words combining the title of the 1979 Anita Ward disco single Sweet Surrender with the British traditional military term of Beating Retreat signaling a withdrawal.

Theme
Paul Weller, the lead vocalist/frontman of The Jam wrote the song as a valediction for the end of the band's career, which he broke up by walking away from shortly after its release. "I wanted it to be a statement, a final clarion call saying: Right, we're stopping, you take it on from here."

Release format
The 7" was backed by the B-side "Shopping". A double 7" and 12" single version was available with additional studio cover versions of The Chi-Lites' "Stoned Out of My Mind", Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up", and Edwin Starr's "War".

"Beat Surrender" was not included on any of the band's six studio albums. In the U.S.A., it appeared on the five-track EP, Beat Surrender (Polydor 810751), which peaked at No. 171 on the Billboard 200 album chart in April 1983.

Cover art
The sleeve for the single, including the 12" and the double single pack, featured Gill Price, Weller's girlfriend at the time.

Performances
"Beat Surrender" was previewed live on the first episode of The Tube, on 5 November 1982.