Should I Stay or Should I Go

Jones sang lead and was the principal songwriter, though the song is credited to the whole band. Its melody and chord structure resemble Little Latin Lupe Lu. Jones said in 1991 that it was not about anybody specific and was just a good rockin' song, their attempt at writing a classic. The Spanish backing vocals were sung by Strummer and Joe Ely. Strummer said the tape operator Eddie Garcia phoned his mother in Brooklyn Heights, who translated the lyrics, so it is Ecuadorian Spanish. Strummer and Jones re-recorded their vocals for it while Combat Rock was being edited.

In 1982 it came out as a double A-side with Straight to Hell and reached number 17 in the UK. In the United States it charted on the Hot 100 without reaching the top 40. In the early 1990s Levi's asked permission to use it for a jeans commercial, and the band left the decision to Jones, who agreed. The song was reissued in 1991 and went to number one in the UK, the band's only number one there. Rolling Stone ranked it number 228 in 2004.

Live and video

A live recording from Shea Stadium on 13 October 1982, the band's second night opening for the Who, appears on Live at Shea Stadium, released on 6 October 2008. Don Letts made the video from the band's US tour, with footage in New York including that concert. The song appears in several episodes of the Netflix series Stranger Things.