Songfacts®:

• This single captured the mood of the time, as riots swept Britain in the summer of 1979. "Babylon's Burning" is about the fiery collapse of western civilization.
• The Ruts were heavily involved in anti-racism causes and Southall born lead singer Malcolm Owen was particularly affected by the race riots in his hometown in April 1979. Another song on the album, "Jah War," is about those riots.
• This was featured in the 1980 film Times Square.
• This was The Ruts biggest hit and they never recovered from the death of Malcolm Owen from a heroin overdose the following year.
• Babylon's burning
  You're burning the street
  You're burning your houses
  With anxiety
  
  Malcolm Owen's warning about social unrest employs Rastafarian slang. "Babylon was a much-used word in Rasta culture, referring to Western decadence and it did seem, as far as youth were concerned, that it was all burning," drummer David Ruffy told Uncut magazine. "It was almost like the folk tradition, singing about what was going on."
• The song originated with the bass riff. "I wasn't a great bass player - I didn't do scales because I couldn't. But I did this run as an annoying warm up," bassist John "Segs" Jennings told Uncut. "We went to do some demos, I think in High Wycombe, and [guitarist Paul] Foxy seized on that 'da-da-da-da-da-da' run and took it somewhere. Malcolm started singing '...With anxiety' and there you go."
• Producer Mick Glossop added the sound effects of clanging bells and wailing police sirens.