I want to know who wrote this and where it's from  --"Every cheap hood
strikes a bargain with the world-ends up making payments on a sofa or
a girl-nobody tattoed accross the knuckles of his hand-hands that slap
the kids around because they don't understand how."

Your quote comes from a song called "Death or Glory," recorded by The
Clash. The song was written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. Since
Strummer is the principal lyricist of The Clash, it is likely that the
words are his.

"Now every cheap hood strikes a bargain with the world
 And ends up making payments on a sofa or a girl
 Love 'n' hate tattooed across the knuckles of his hands
 The hands that slap his kids around 'cos they don't understand

 How death or glory becomes just another story..."

Death or Glory
http://www.geocities.com/thewhiteriot/deathorglory.html

Here's a bargain price on a reissue of The Clash's classic album,
"London Calling," which contains "Death or Glory":

Tower Records: "London Calling" [Remaster] - The Clash
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=1020827

Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "death or glory" clash lyrics
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22death+or+glory%22+clash+lyrics

I hope this is helpful. If anything is unclear or incomplete, or if a
link doesn't work for you, please request clarification; I'll gladly
offer further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

---

Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 19 Nov 2004 12:52 PST

I should have mentioned in my answer that Joe Strummer's original name
was John Graham Mellor, as noted in this obituary:

MTV News: Joe Strummer Of The Clash Dead At 50 
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1459257/20021223/clash.jhtml?headlines=true

Thanks for finding the answer so fast!

Thank you very much for the five stars and the generous tip!

~pinkfreud