The Jam - Down in the Tube Station at Midnight | Reaction!

[@robw7676]

The imagery of this song is so British that I am not sure it chimes with other people in quite the same way. I can almost taste the smell of the tube from my childhood in the 80s listening to this... ozone, old grease, stale cigarettes, wooden escalator slats, discarded newsprint, 1930-60s carriages etc...

[@gemmagreene362]

Bizarrely, I always think of the ticket office at Tottenham Court Road because that is the only one I have ever been completely alone in and I thought I thought of this song at that moment. This song is poetry. Pure and simple.

[@annother3350]

yeh and they used to use that really weird disinfectant

[@martinashford3107]

There's still a special smell, like coal, or maybe its creosote!

[@bigredfella13]

Bruce Foxtons base in this track is amazing and Rick Buckler on the drums, perfect Loved this track since I was a kid listening to the jam in my bedroom with my older brother

[@grahamjones3259]

They were an incredibly tight band because they played so much. They were an incredible live band, and wrote a lot of masterpieces. He wrote about life in Britain during the seventies and eighties, and caught the sight, the sounds and the smells of life in that era. Was also a very politically charged band, and maybe that wouldn’t have played well int he US market. To be fair, it would’ve been tough to break a US market that had the likes of Van Halen and Aerosmith as competition. The Jam would’ve come across as aliens or most Americans at that time. They were mods, and that was never a big thing over there.

[@strumbolli]

In a nutshell

[@Paulrm68]

Shout out from the UK 🇬🇧👍😀 This is my favourite Jam song I'm not surprised by your enthusiasm !!!

[@nickbrooker1411]

lyrics reflecting the British working class growing up in the late 70s and early 80s. these lyrics speak for my generation.

[@Purewalite]

All Mod Cons is a top 5 album of all time in my opinion.

[@thesoundlikechameleons2082]

I have it signed TWICE by Rick!

[@thesoundlikechameleons2082]

One is FOR SALE if anyone is interested! let me know... 💯% genuine hand signed by him too.

[@Mark-kf6kd]

Bruce foxtons amazing bass lines .. make this song even better than the masterpiece it is. The raw vocals of Paul singing his amazing lyrics. This has always been my favourite Jam song and especially live with Rick's extended drum solo to bring you into the last verse..pure magic

[@soulska75]

Great reaction vid.. I think the reason The Jam didnt make it in the US is because the lyrics are very British. People in the US didnt relate with the stories Mr. Weller was laying down. Wormwood Scrubs (a prison in the UK) and Right Wing Meetings (National Front Racist movement at the time) are very British references that someone in the US wouldnt pick up. Thats just my theory. I am from the US, but love The Jam and just know a lot of what the pulse of the UK was in those times. Keep those reaction vids coming.. PS. Foxton is so underrated

[@thewealduk9802]

The Jam were huge here, along with the re-emergence of Mod culture. I don't think cracking the US was high on the agenda, probably evidenced by Paul Weller breaking up the band at their zenith.

[@electricleg207]

Nice to hear from an American Jam fan , I was an early fan buying In The City when it first released .As Weller once said 'The Jam never made it in the US but neither did The Small Faces or egg 'n' chips '.

[@sirandrelefaedelinoge]

@3:30 It's a Tube train, departing a tube station (sound effect ... fading out), with an over-layed snare drum fading in...

[@pauldear6660]

You could say that The Jam's lyrics were about real life at that time and Paul Weller told it as he saw it. My favourite Jam song is That's Entertainment, and to my mind, the "entertainment" was the everyday things that you'd experience in normal life, and if you grew up in London at that time (or any inner city environment), you could relate to these types of songs.

[@mollyfilms]

Great reaction, truly in depth and you obviously know how to dissect a tune. This was one of my original albums I bought when I was still at school. I feel growing up in the 70s and 80s I was blessed with some of the best bands and musicians ever, not only on radio but going to gigs and living this. I miss it greatly.

[@timtaylor7364]

Your comment gave me goose bumps. Man I miss it too. This track when I first heard it scared the crap out of me.

[@rippog1]

Weller was a lyrical master at painting scenic pictures

[@paulockenden4278]

My fave Jam song . The three parts that made up the Jam are all at the top of their game on this one, the drums replicating the sound of the underground trains movement on the tracks underpinning the intricate bassline which holds the whole song together with the short interactions from the guitar exchanging with the phrasing of the vocals as the lyrics convey the story in almost poetic form.

[@eoghanwalsh3937]

One of my favourite songs ever, lyrics are poetry, generational

[@InsideSparta]

Always bringing chills to me is the line near the end of the song when the victim of the beating is lying on the floor of the tube station: "I glanced back on my life. I think about my wife; 'cause they took the keys and she'll think its me." Such a horrifying thought.

[@stuartharrison165]

Yep , that line freaks me out . Who else would put that in a single ?

[@annother3350]

He's only got to phone her

[@InsideSparta]

@@annother3350 The victim is dying on the platform of the tube station. He's in no shape to get up and find a phone. The song was written pre-mobile phones.

[@annother3350]

@@InsideSparta how do they know his addrress?!

[@InsideSparta]

@@annother3350 Maybe you need to read the lyrics

[@William44-c9c]

That does summon up the 1970’s empty tube train & you are sitting there & a bunch of young guys (probably Skinheads come on ) and say what are you looking at & the Violence starts ( yes I experienced it a few times in the eighties) great reaction.

[@davidwaite9122]

One of the best bands ever, terrific.

[@Mod-rw9cw]

The best lyrics ever written

[@chrino21]

Always got me that the last thing he thought was "they took the keys and she'll think it's me", and that he's ruined dinner. Amazing.

[@markandresen1]

My favourite single of theirs. I love most of their singles, but this was in a class all its own.

[@frankwilson634]

late 70s early eighties so many genres of new music in England punk two tone psychobilly new wave electronic goths indie scooter boys underground scene was rocking as well as your standard pop groups. music was so good unlike todays music so glad that i grew up in this era for music

[@deanwrigleyuk]

JESUS SAVES was a regular piece of graffiti sprayed onto the tubeway walls next to the British Rail posters telling us to Have An Away Day.

[@racingspoon]

But why would it be painted by an atheist nutter?

[@garryhorton5899]

My all time favourite song. Paul Weller was just 18 when he wrote this. Check out the songs, When You're Young, Saturday's Kids, That's Entertainment and Eton Rifles 👍

[@jonnytrueblue8407]

Saw Bruce Foxtons ‘From the Jam’ last week and they played this brilliantly………god, this song reminds me of late 70’s Britain……..doesn’t half bring back memories.

[@jonreynolds1655]

Seen them too just before Covid ..They were amazing :😀😀-)

[@louisreeds4942]

I’ve listened to the jam growing up I was born in the 90s... but I’ve heard the entirety of the jams music.. multiple times , countless hours - my dad was just a massive fan.. I know the words to pretty every song they’ve got.. so here’s a few if you ever interested Private hell Strange town When you’re young Little boy soldiers Happy together Running on the spot Ghosts Mr clean Wasteland Butterfly collector David watts A bomb in Wardor street Absolute beginners Set the house ablaze has good riff Down in the tube station is my favourite song by them

[@acidthunder1]

Funeral pyre

[@sirandrelefaedelinoge]

I love the way the kick drum waits a while then turns into a thudding heartbeat... 💓💓

[@richey4287]

My favourite Jam track.

[@vincentcarrot]

It is heartwarming to see young (younger than myself) listeners finding The Jam's music among others. Intensely reacted! BTW: Liam and Noel Gallagher made The Jam's Carnation with Paul Weller -- there is a video on YT. I also recommend the album The Gift!

[@twomacks1]

I was a mod still am,saw the jam twenty times live..bass,guitar and drums,that’s it but they sounded like so much more..all mod cons is a classic album..try listening tonSTRANGE TOWN,and EATON RIFLES and WHEN YOUR YOUNG for early stuff..later stuff START and TOWN CALLED MALLICE

[@MrRolandgent]

It’s the narrative lyrical style that really sets apart so many good songwriters, I suppose Ray Davies was the master of it. Try Staring at the Rude Boys by the Ruts. Lazy line painter Jane by Belle and Sebastian or You Keep it All in by Beautiful South

[@thesoundlikechameleons2082]

I proudly now own this 7" vinyl, signed (Rick Buckler) and hung up on my wall 🧱. Classic record by The Jam. - C.

[@VicStarStuddedGamesDraws20]

If anyone wants to know about a bit more of these guys. Apparently, when they were younger, like before the Polydor records sign up in '76/77. This is from a book I'm reading on them, it says that they had the police called on them for rehearsing in Paul's mother's garden and being too loud. Weirdly enough. And I think too loud? Nah.

[@jonathancole833]

This is the album version from All Mod Cons, a record which probably saved the The Jam's career after a disappointing 2nd album. For another example of Rick Buckler's drumming, try their 1981 single Funeral Pyre.

[@jinxvrs]

Excellent reaction Nick - The Jam were a great band, as well as all the singles, there were many superb album tracks. I've had a look through who you've reacted to before, and may I suggest some of The Jam's contemporaries such as Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Tom Robinson Band, Joe Jackson and XTC. I feel one of The Jam's problems in breaking in the US, was their very UK centric lyrics at times - a lot of their references would be lost on non UK listeners (this wouldn't only affect The Jam of course).

[@craigireland5629]

XTC for sure. Extremely clever, quirky, eccentricity. So many terrific songs.

[@highpath4776]

Perhaps only The Boomtown Rats came close with some of the story telling, though later as Britpop arose we had the Housemartins and The Smiths

[@malcolmpayne8211]

Love this song. Paul Weller was only 18 I think when this was written. Wormwood Scrubs is a prison in case you were wondering! Would also recommend A Bomb in Wardour Street, In the City, Going Underground.

[@normandavidtidiman9918]

Probably 20,as this was almost certainly written in 1978 when 'All Mod Cons' & 'Tube Station' were released. Especially,as the original songs were scrapped as not being good enough for this record and Weller tore it up with the album we know.

[@malcolmpayne8211]

@@normandavidtidiman9918 👍

[@highpath4776]

Wormwood Scrubs is also a patch of land nearish Willesden Junction Tube Station .

[@marje8249]

This was such a good react to an EPIC UK band, thanks

[@rippog1]

Also “ a plumb” was the colour of some underground tickets back then.

[@stevebolt7132]

Plum.

[@nickterrett6613]

dude..ive been listening to this track for over 35 years and i thought it was just a play on words from Weller from a nursery rhyme..but yes it makes perfect sense..back in that era bus and rail tickets were a plum(not plumb) colour..ty for pointing that out👍

[@highpath4776]

The UK is a lot more compact than the US, but it also has a local identity, Local Radio Stations were encourage, both BBC ones and the independents to look at local groups, some came that way, others through particularly John Peel's 10 till Midnight Radio 1 programme. There are not many good 3 piece bands but The Jam gets it for me.

[@62yoda]

The best song by The Jam and my no 1 song by any band ever

[@philippepalmer2968]

Paul's lyrics on this song were influenced by the 1960s kitchen sink/social realism dramas that were a regular feature on british TV at the time and throughout the 1970s with Play for Today.Its a theme that Morrissey took up and expanded with The Smiths.I once read an interview with the producer of this tune Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and he went down to a tube station,it was St John's Wood station at midnight to record the actual sounds of a train at a platform,he said the only thing he was unable to capture was the fear of being alone in a desolate tube station at midnight

[@thesound-chameleonman3580]

I'm getting the vinyl sleeve of this signed by original drummer Rick Buckler! a classic. C/P.

[@barryrosenthal6539]

where have you been for 40+ years ? simply the greatest band of all time.

[@mrsuperger5429]

Superb story writing from Paul Weller. The sudden end of the song, is the end of the victim's life on the tube station platform. The train then carries on into the distance with the murderers on their way to the house of the victim to attack his wife.

[@wayne_twentyfive]

Yes, this is another great song by one of the finest bands to ever exist .. And I say that without hyperbole .. The amount of quality music they put out was amazing, and for a 3-piece, they certainly made an impressive sound .. The most ominous part of this song is at the end, where it's clear that the gang has the victim's keys and will shortly be over to his house to do the wife no good.

[@MrTumshie]

Don't worry about talking too much Nick, that's what we're here for!

[@theswan4117]

Arguably one of the jams best songs

[@jimm9051]

.y favorite Jam tune. Love this

[@slbgraphics2]

So good! I love this band. Great reaction as usual!

[@damianreid2452]

That's Entertainment has been in your head all day because it's an absolute minter! And yes, Bruce Foxton's bass in this song was great. Never got to see Bruce play with The Jam, unfortunately, but I did see him play with another favourite band of mine, Stiff Little Fingers. They're an incredible punk band from Northern Ireland. You'd do well to react to something like Suspect Device or Alternate Ulster by them.

[@thesoundlikechameleons2082]

That heartbeat 💓 the thud you slightly hear in the background if you listen carefully is meant to be the victims heartbeat. Great detail from Rick Buckler.

[@InsignificantNick]

Very detailed, damn!

[@thesoundlikechameleons2082]

@InsignificantNick here's a reaction for you worth a listen to.. new band apparently onto bigger things, post-punk group from Vermont. Thus Love - Inamorato (2022)

[@mallatratt36]

Bruce Foxton was a great bass player and a good singer you should do a reaction to just who is the 5 o'clock hero by the jam

[@jonreynolds1655]

He still is ...lol !!

[@marcharley6465]

The Jam released a number of really good singles but I'd recommend an album track called "Private hell".

[@jonathancole833]

The live version on Dig The New Breed is even better in my humble opinion!

[@louisreeds4942]

Agreed

[@stuartharrison165]

My all-time fav band after The Beatles . You seem to dig Bass playing , you should also check out early Stranglers .

[@charliegeorge9393]

Hi Nick, no Tony Blackburn wasn't being sarcastic, bloke is a complete wet wipe. He was the very first DJ on Radio 1 in 1967 which was created for pop music. Sadly he's still on the airwaves.

[@jonathancole833]

I remember him tearing into some re-working of a classic song (might of been Falling In Love Again) in the early 80s on Radio 1 because it had been given a cynical, mocking Post-Punk treatment. He certainly wasn't a fan of Punk!

[@sirandrelefaedelinoge]

Sorry to keep on, but I love your enthusiasm here. I don't know if you're aware that Wormwood Scrubs is a London prison. Also _"have an away day"_ Is a reference to a British Rail poster campaign from the late 1970s. I'm not quite sure the song is about racism. It's purely about the senseless violence of those timess - It was a grim period... Your musical taste is a pleasure to this old man. Thanks for giving this stuff a chance. 🙏

[@andyyoung9463]

Eton Rifles next please

[@leefr76]

As you wearing an Oasis t-shirt, Liam Gallagher released a cover of The Jam song Carnation in 1999. Definitely worth reacting to The Jam original song.

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

I've always thought the protagonist is Black or Asian. Tony Blackburn really did think that rubbish. He is what we Brits call a prat.

[@malinandersson9151]

The Jam later made an album called Setting Sons. Epic lyrics based on solidiers going to war. Please have listen 🙂 And music better than ever, reminded me of Green Day and their flair for a great melody.

[@patrickholt2270]

Tony Blackburn was that clueless. He was the king of playing the most commercial, highest selling records only, for decades on BBC radio. The exact opposite of John Peel of blessed memory, the DJ who broke Teenage Kicks by The Undertones and had it put on his gravestone. As well as just being the poppiest of poptastic pop music DJs, Tony Blackburn kept his national stature just because of BBC Radio 1's legal monopoly position on UK radio. A whole stable of DJs were made into national figures because of it, including the infamous Jimmy Savile, none of whom had any discernable music taste or brains except John Peel.

[@austinwiththehat]

I don’t know if this has been covered in the comments. Sorry if it has. Wormwood scrubs is a prison in London

[@somethingelse4878]

To any Americans playing the jam Its not about the bass, drums or lead Not about the music Its the words and meaning The music is only the container Yes boots btw docs

[@glebelands11]

perfect music for a teenager. i was so lucky. bruce foxton never got enough recognition.

[@alex-E7WHU]

The drums at 3:31 ... Exactly like an arriving tube train.

[@markthomasjones9520]

The year was 1980 and I went to see THE JAM IN DEESIDE NORTH WALES 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿AND PAUL WELLER IS HALF WELSH yes WALES IS A PROUD NATION CYMRU AM BYTH WRECSAM 😎❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@nomisnestral6956]

Have an away day! A cheap holiday! Do it today! I hear the new Belsen is where it's at.

[@Jonathan-ij3pz]

Are friends electric by tube way army is an amazing tune if you haven’t heard it before

[@richey4287]

Yes, try reacting to this or something else from Tubeway Army / Gary Numan; perhaps 'Down in the Park' or 'Films'.

[@gerardmccavana4905]

Great review.

[@user-jq7di9pz8m]

If you haven't already you should check out Paul Weller - Broken Stones Great song

[@markjohnston1813]

the b side of this classic is dedicated to great late keith moon, the who's so sad about us,give it a lten its fantastic

[@somethingelse4878]

A song about getting the crap kicked out of you Yeah the uk was violent in the 70s

[@Zubareffstream111]

I think Tony Blackburn's comment was slightly tongue in cheek but not very. I'm only saying that because he played the very first record on BBC Radio 1 which in 1967 was the first UK radio station dedicated to playing popular music for the kids. Ironically, the song he played was called Flowers in The Rain by The Move. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpO7g6eFd7WZg9E

[@glenngastonjonsson7954]

The Jam are pretty fantastic. Thanks, man! Americans aren't necessarly dumb. English is sometimes inarticulate.

[@Splitscreen83]

Pure sonic class 👍

[@normandavidtidiman9918]

Wo-king.

[@SEANBANOG4]

saw what you done there

[@limpethead]

The Jam arnt a punk band, although we're slightly attached. They were a MOD band. Taking influence from The kinks, The Who, The Small faces, and motown. Have a look a Mods and Rockers. Or watch the film Quadrophinia. That definitely will give you an idea. It's not fiction. Well it is. But that's how it was.

[@andrewmcmahon9512]

It’s a goddam masterpiece ❤so english it hurts

[@sirandrelefaedelinoge]

Ironic thing is, that Weller's spent most of his latter career singing about flowers and trees...

[@versioncity1]

I think the Jam were the most "british`' pop band ever. The imagery and sound is so localised that I think it didn't translate to many countries, not just the USA. It's not that americans ain't smart enough to get it, or it's too complex. It just doesn't connect or resonate in the way it did for British people.

[@mod0049]

Known as urban lyrics paul was influenced by Ray Davies from the kinks ,but the Jam were a MOD band not punk.

[@normandavidtidiman9918]

Punk was a badge of convenience for Weller after seeing the Sex Pistols for the first time although they were a far more complex and competent musical band.

[@Habbiemods]

That's crap, Weller never identified as punk, it fired his imagination but he hated the nihilism and fakery. The Jam were criticised by the punks for being too musically tight (they'd been playing together regularly since '72 after all).

[@normandavidtidiman9918]

@@Habbiemods Where did I mention he "identified as punk" you moron. I said it was a badge of convenience (that they wore) having seen the Pistols. 'In the City' is their "punk" album (as is the watered down 'The Modern World'). You should try actually READING what people write before you comment with your ignorant misinformation.

[@Kainlarsen]

I don't know about the other reasons you were told about why the Jam didn't make it big in the States, but a big one was that Paul Weller did not endear himself to the US press by being dismissive towards America, causing them to call him a "little Englander".

[@paulbriggs5238]

Paul was actually beaten up and wrote a song about it

[@somethingelse4878]

Eton rifels the jam Was masive About the rich attacking a poor ppls march

[@thesoundlikechameleons2082]

Timeless but tragic song.

[@lvtv0197]

I always feel this is kind of like a rap before rap was invented. The lyrics are fantastic but would need to be translated as their is a lot of British slang terms and also a lot of references to things that happened at that time such as laying the table.

[@beetleything1864]

The yanks just never got it. Being Scottish it took me a good few listens to understand what the hell Weller was saying back in the day.

[@ac9110]

The voices of both Strummer and Weller are just working class London accents.

[@InsignificantNick]

And I love 'em!

[@somethingelse4878]

Going underground went in at no one Try burning sky A letter to a old friend

[@martinashford3107]

Sometimes, that wordy, punctuated lyric becomes the second guitar...

[@denizgunes3672]

Can you react to muse "citizen erased" Please

[@keithallison4586]

A fan since 77 but I think they were to English for the U.S . I think he got killed and the key in the door the people coming to rob th w house

[@InsignificantNick]

The US didn't understand a lot of great English artists, it seems.

[@paulhadfield7909]

the songs aobut being beaten up by fascist thugs in the tube station at midnight,we've all been in that situation in uk at one time or another

[@mattowen9958]

Now your talking

[@southlondon63]

Wormwood Scrubs is a prison not far from Queens Park Rangers football ground

[@lazuli8447]

Grew up listening to them but always felt this song was let down by the lyrics like a few of their songs, sounds and played better than it actually is like running on the spot a nearly great song let down by a few dodgey lyrics. That's entertainment is not like this

[@SEANBANOG4]

Sting kicks wellers arse!

[@InsignificantNick]

I'd pay to see that

[@Polenzo69]

Really…….You clown

[@jonnwhalley8942]

Only in an alternative universe😁

[@alex-E7WHU]

You spelled licks wrong.

[@sirandrelefaedelinoge]

I love the way the kick drum waits a while then turns into a thudding heartbeat... 💓💓