God Save The Queen
by
The Sex Pistols
Album:
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols Released:
1977UK Chart: 2
Songfacts: You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.
This song is about rebelling against British politics. A lot of young people felt alienated by the stifling rule of the old-fashioned royal monarchy. The Queen (Queen Elizabeth), was their symbol.
The British national anthem is called "God Save The Queen." This mocks it in a big way, which did not go over well with English royalty.
Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren released this to coincide with The Queen's Silver Jubilee, a celebration commemorating her 25th year on the throne. The Sex Pistols and their fans detested the monarchy and this celebration.
The Queen's Silver Jubilee took place on June 7, 1977. On that day, The Sex Pistols attempted to play this song from the Thames river, outside of Westminster Palace. It was a typical Malcolm McLaren promotional stunt, as they played up how the band was circumventing a "ban" by playing on the river instead of setting foot on ground. The performance never took place, as they were thwarted by authorities.
This was originally called "No Future." The band played it live and recorded a demo version with that title, but changed it when lead singer Johnny Rotten got the idea to mock the British monarchy.
This became an anthem for the Punk movement in England. It expressed the anger young people felt toward the establishment.
In the UK, this outsold the #1 song at the time, Rod Stewart's "I Don't Want To Talk About It," but it mysteriously and controversially stayed at #2.
The Sex Pistols were signed to A&M records when they recorded this. They dropped the band just as this was released, pulling all the singles. The ones that slipped through became valuable collectors items. In 2011 Record Collector magazine compiled its Top 50 most collectable records, and top of the list came the A&M release of this song - if you happen to have a copy the good news is it worth $12,000 (£8,000).
This was released on Virgin Records, the third label to sign The Sex Pistols (EMI and A&M both dropped the band because they were too much trouble). It was released as a single in May, 1977, but the album did not come out until December, as they had many problems recording it.
Bass player Sid Vicious joined the band shortly before this was released - it was one of only 2 songs he played on. Original bassist Glen Matlock was fired because he was too nice.
This was banned by the BBC for what it called "gross bad taste." (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
The working title for the album was "God Save The Sex Pistols."
A month after this was released, some members of the band were attacked by men who supported the British monarchy. Johnny Rotten's hand was permanently damaged.
The cover of the single showed a picture of The Queen with a safety pin through her lip, serving to anger the establishment even more. The cover was designed by Jamie Reid, who went to Croydon College of Art with Malcolm McLaren. The lettering was designed to look like a ransom note, an idea that would be copied in many forms of design, but especially among future Punk bands. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
Motorhead covered this on their 2000 album We Are Motorhead. The album cover is a tribute to the Sex Pistols original single.
This was re-released in England in 2002 to coincide with The Queen's Golden Jubilee, which celebrated Queen Elizabeth's 50th year on the throne.
At the 2008 Biennale of Sydney, which is a 12-week contemporary art festival, the Swiss artist Christoph Buchel presented an exhibit called "No Future." He turned the gallery into a rehearsal space for a Punk band with all the members over the age of 80. The band rehearsed this song. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)
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I wonder if you'll feel the same way when you grow up. Maybe it's your karma to have a boyfriend like that.
BTW, it was Sid who was the druggie and the girlfriend beater.
The irony, of course, is that the song doesn't actually insult the queen at all, it actually attacks the government of the UK. The newspaper hysteria of the time, stating that the song "calls the queen a moron" was incorrect. If you listen to the lyrics, they actually say "your fascist regime, they MADE YOU a moron".