Paul Simonon told Uncut magazine in 2015 that the recording sessions on the song were strained due to an argument he had been having with Mick Jones: "I seem to remember that, when we did 'Clash City Rockers', him and me had had a row. I was in one corner of the studio and Mick was in the other.
The strain on the collaboration arose from a longstanding dispute between Paul Simonon and Mick Jones, which manifested during the recording of "Clash City Rockers".