Songfacts®:

• This haunting ballad, driven by pedal steel guitar, was written by Joe Strummer, the frontman of The Clash, for American rockabilly singer Pearl Harbour in 1985. The song tells the story of a scorned lover seeking violent revenge on their ex.
  
  Strummer originally intended "2 Bullets" to be featured in the 1986 film Sid and Nancy, which depicts the tumultuous relationship between Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. However, the song was ultimately cut from the final version of the movie and remained unreleased until 2018 when it appeared on the retrospective compilation album Joe Strummer 001.
  
  Speaking with Songfacts in 2024, Harbour recounted her experience with the song: "Joe wrote the song '2 Bullets' for me to sing for the Sid and Nancy film. He told me that it would be playing on the radio in a scene where Sid Vicious was in a hotel room in Texas. We recorded it in a small basement studio, and it took about five minutes. He played me the song, sang the lyrics, and then handed me the words and I sang it in one take. I told him I could do it better, but he liked the way it sounded, so that was that."
• "2 Bullets" features Mick Jones of The Clash on guitar. This marked the first time Strummer and Jones had collaborated musically since The Clash's 1982 album Combat Rock.
• Strummer, along with The Clash's bassist Paul Simonon and drummer Topper Headon, previously collaborated with Harbour on her 1980 debut solo album, Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost Too. This connection came about through The Clash's manager, Kosmo Vinyl, who introduced them. Harbour subsequently invited the band to perform on her song "Heaven Is Gonna Be Empty."
  
  Harbour recalled to Songfacts: "It was fantastic and I had a blast. I met them through Kosmo Vinyl, who was the personal manager of The Clash, as well as Ian Dury and The Blockheads. He suggested that I move to London and he arranged for me to work with them. The music scene in London was amazing and we went out to see live music every week. I was so lucky to be there at that time.
  
  'Heaven Is Gonna Be Empty' came together at the last minute in the recording studio. We had finished recording all the tracks, except that one, and I wasn't sure about the music. The lyrics and melody were ready, but I wasn't certain what direction I should take. Mick Jones was in the studio next door with Joe Strummer, so I went over and sang the song to him and asked if he had any ideas. He started playing this country-inspired riff and it fit perfectly! Mick came over to our studio and laid down the guitar track in one take. It was perfect and he really made the song come to life."