My Top 2000 Songs #1064: Paper Planes

August 20, 2025

My Top 2000 Songs #1064: Paper Planes

Presumably an unexpected entry on the list, British singer & electronic music artist M.I.A. fits pretty squarely in the "artists that are totally not my thing but had that one song" bucket. (And that's just based on her music, without getting into the anti-vax, Trump-supporting political wackjobbery.) But I've made no secret of my weakness for well-deployed samples, and M.I.A.'s 2008 single "Paper Planes" rests near the top of the list--in this case, brilliantly selecting the Clash's "Straight to Hell" for an unusually captivating musical backing. Indeed, I still vaguely remember first hearing that snaky riff coming up on the loudspeaker some time back--maybe at the gym or somewhere else out in public--and being excited that the deep cut from the Clash's final LP was getting some love, and then the shock of hearing it looped back with M.I.A.'s vocals on top. Frankly, it was pretty cool.

But a clever sample alone doesn't give a song much staying power, so it helps that what M.I.A. lays on top is fun as all get-out, a colorful rap that draws you in with its seductively bold girlishness, then ratches it up with the wake-up gunshots & cash registers. It's definitely a track I'd much rather cue up periodically on YouTube than actually play on my stereo, the video a pretty integral part of the vibe for me, but the song has surprisingly well-outlasted its initial Clash-fanbait novelty value.