by Amanda London·November 17, 2020

“Electric Avenue” was Eddy’s response to the Brixton riots that took place in 1981. Said riots came about as a result of the high levels of poverty and unemployment prevalent among the Caribbean migrants in Britain at the time.

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The titular Electric Avenue is actually a shopping area in Brixton, London which was named as such after being the first street to get electricity in the area. Brixton, as talked about in the song was the center stage for the 1981 riots between protesters and police officers.

Opposed to the negative picture painted by the media about the rioters, the singer here portrays them differently. He portrays them as poor, unemployed yet hardworking people who are striving so hard to feed their families.

In the first verse he describes how the neighborhood has become violent and unsafe because everyone is needy. He goes on to talk about how hard they have been working for such little pay and as such cannot feed their loved ones. Amidst these hardships, the writer calls to each and every rioter not to give up. He encourages them to press on until they see positive changes in Electric Avenue. And when that happens, they should take it up a notch until things get much better in Brixton and all other areas.

Summary

In all, Eddy is using “Electric Avenue” to speak about fighting for one’s rights and a positive change to occur in matters that affect one’s livelihood.

Facts about “Electric Avenue”

This song was written and produced by Grant. He released it as the first track on his 1982 album, Killer on the Rampage.

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Grant has said this is a serious track which talks about real places and real people. And this is despite the fact that it was originally written to make up for songs he had lost in a baggage transit.

This track became one of the highest-grossing reggae-influenced songs ever. It peaked at number 2 in UK and hit number 2 in the US.

In 1983, the song was earned a nomination at the Grammy Awards for Best R & B Song. It however, lost to Billi Jean by Michael Jackson.

The music video was filmed entirely in Barbados.

After Donald Trump tweeted a political video using this song, Eddy Grant published a copyright complaint. The video was subsequently removed while a cease and desist letter and lawsuit followed.