Going Underground



"Going Underground" is the first British #1 chart single by The Jam, released in March 1980. It went straight in at #1 in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks at the top. It was the first of three instant chart-toppers for the group.

Song profile
"Going Underground" was not released on any of the band's six studio albums, although it has appeared on many compilations and re-releases since then. The song was released as a double A-side with "Dreams of Children", which originally had been intended to be the sole A-side; following a mix-up at the pressing plant, the single became a double A-side, and DJs tended to choose the more melodic "Going Underground" to play on the radio.

The song covered important social issues of the time such as political corruption, voter apathy and Thatcherism.

The song was ranked at #2 among the "Tracks of the Year" for 1980 by NME. In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Going Underground" at #73 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, and in October 2006, placed it at #98 in its list of the 100 Greatest Songs Ever.

Covers and parodies
Ade Edmondson's folk punk band The Bad Shepherds covered it in 2013.

Welsh alternative metal band Lostprophets covered the song in 2007 as a B-side to their single 4:AM Forever.

The comedy band Amateur Transplants released a two-minute parody titled "London Underground" in 2005 in the light of the December strike. It became a popular download in the United Kingdom.

The song was covered by Buffalo Tom for the 1999 Jam tribute album Fire and Skill: The Songs of the Jam. This version also was released as part of a double A-side single with Liam Gallagher's and Steve Cradock's version of "Carnation" and reached #6 in the UK singles chart.

Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered the song on their 1986 album "Criminal Tango".

Daryl Denham released a version of the song titled "Go England" in 2002 after Weller gave permission for it to be adapted as a football song.

Dreams of Children
"Going Underground" was coupled with "Dreams of Children" as a double A-side. It opens and is intermittently accentuated with a backmasked sample of the band's 1979 song "Thick as Thieves". In the US the backwards intro was edited out making the single 10 seconds shorter than the UK Version. This US edit is available on the best-of compilation Snap!.

The Jam released two other double A-side singles: "David Watts"/"'A' Bomb in Wardour Street" and "Town Called Malice"/"Precious".