Mick Jones' guitar technician Digby Cleaver describes the sessions as "a mad, creative rush" that occurred on 30 December 1981, the day before the Clash were due to depart New York.

[2] Joe Strummer reflected on the creative process in a 1991 piece about the track: I'd written the lyric staying up all night at the Iroquois Hotel.

[2]"Straight to Hell" has been described by writer Pat Gilbert as being saturated by a "colonial melancholia and sadness".

[5] The full, unedited version of "Straight to Hell" may be found on the Clash on Broadway and Sound System box sets.

NME reviewer Adrian Thrills in 1982 gave the double A-side single release "Straight to Hell"/"Should I Stay or Should I Go" four-and-a-half stars out of five.

Despite "Should I Stay or Should I Go" having received more radio airplay, Thrills wrote that "Straight to Hell" "reaffirm[s] that there is still life in The Clash.

Heather Nova and Moby covered the song in 1999 for the Clash tribute album Burning London.

[10] American punk rock band the Menzingers covered the song in a noise-influenced format on their 2007 debut album A Lesson in the Abuse of Information Technology.