Songfacts®:

• The song is most popularly known for its cover by the Punk band The Clash, on their 1979 London Calling album. The record was one of many on the jukebox in The Clash's original rehearsal space.
  
  Bassist Paul Simonon in particular really loved the song, hence why the idea of a cover was mooted. The Clash jammed on a cover version with Bill Price in the London Calling sessions, and it became a Ska-influenced rave with an infectious skanking beat.
• The song and lyrics are a take on the famous American myth of Stag 'O Lee, or Stagger Lee as he became in later variants.
  
  The original song 'Stag O' Lee' revolves around the legend story of the murder of Billy Lyons by 'Stag' Lee Shelton. Both were small time criminals, and so the story goes, on Christmas day 1895, they were involved in a drunken altercation which involved Lyons stealing Shelton's stetson hat, with Shelton calmly shooting Lyons dead, retrieving his hat and leaving. He would later be arrested and imprisoned for the murder in 1897 and die in prison in 1912. At this point the story had turned into a popular American folk song: "Stag 'O Lee," or "Stagger Lee" (in what may amount to a case of Chinese whispers).
• Many cover versions of the song exist down the years, including versions by Wilson Pickett, Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown, Prince Buster and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. "Wrong 'Em Boyo" was one of many songs written inspired by the original story, including a similar one by the Black Keys in 2001 called "Stack Shot Billy" (Stack A Lee being another misheard version of the original name).