History’s an interesting subject, especially when music’s involved.
Let’s talk, specifically, about Sex Pistols, the pioneers of punk who turned the genre into a political movement. “God Save the Queen” wasn’t the first Sex Pistols single or, for that matter, the first offensive song they released; “Anarchy in the UK” came before.
[I’m trying to embed a video, but keep finding copies that are restricted. If you want to see the official promo video, which is kind of cool, head over to YouTube. I’ll wait.]
Back now? Good deal.
Anyway, GStQ was released thirty-five years ago, when the UK still had a general “Don’t criticize our overlords” attitude. This single challenged that—maybe not in the most musically pleasant of ways, but still. As a result of what some perceived to be assholery for assholery’s sake—I think, on the other hand, that the band was just tired of listening to, “Oh, the Queen is great” sentiments, just like I’m tired of hearing about the gold-dust-farting unicorns our Dear Leader’s gonna bust out any time now as a reward for blind, unwavering loyalty—the single had a lot of things going against it.
Despite A&M destroying nearly all the 25,000 copies of the single before it was released…despite not getting an abundance of radio airplay…despite some being pissed off because Sex Pistols went the inflammatory route by releasing the song during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee (a big-ass shindig)…despite all that, GStQ shot up to the number-two spot on the charts. (Some record shops didn’t acknowledge this, though, opting instead to leave that line blank.)
More impressive is the fact that people who weren’t around thirty-five years ago—including me—still play and appreciate the song.
