GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (SEX PISTOLS SONG)

"'God Save the Queen'" (B-side "Did You No Wrong") was the second single released by the punk rock band Sex Pistols.

Contents

Overview

Cover Versions

References

External links

Overview

The single was released on May 27, 1977, and was regarded by much of the general public to be an assault on Queen Elizabeth II and the monarchy. The title is taken directly from God Save the Queen, the British national anthem. At the time it was highly controversial, firstly for its equation of the Queen with a "fascist regime", and secondly for the apparent claim that England had "no future".
Although many believe it was created because of the Jubilee, the band denies it, Paul Cook saying that, "It wasn't written specifically for the Queen's Jubilee. We weren't aware of it at the time. It wasn't a contrived effort to go out and shock everyone."^[1] Johnny Rotten has explained the lyrics as follows: "You don't write a song like 'God Save The Queen' because you hate the English race. You write a song like that because you love them, and you're sick of seeing them mistreated." His intentions were apparently to evoke sympathy for the British working class, and a general resentment for the monarchy.
On June 7, 1977 - the Jubilee holiday itself - the band attempted to play the song from a boat on the river Thames, outside The Palace of Westminster. After a scuffle involving attendee Jah Wobble and a cameraman, the band and some of its entourage were arrested.

The song peaked at number 2 on the official UK Singles Chart used by the BBC, though there have been persistent rumors - never confirmed or denied - that it was actually the biggest-selling single in the UK at the time, and was kept off number 1 (by Rod Stewart's ''I Don't Want To Talk About It'') because it was felt that it might cause offence. It did hit number 1 on the unofficial NME singles chart. It was banned by the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority which regulated Independent Local Radio, effectively denying it any media exposure. It was also not stocked by some shops. Since the official singles chart at the time was compiled using sales returns from a number of outlets amongst a wider participating roster, it is in theory possible that the single's number 2 position was not the result of disregarding sales figures as such, but of the knowing selection for that week's chart source data of a number of stores which were not selling the record.
The phrase "no future", the song's closing refrain, became emblematic of the punk rock movement, although its use in the song was ambiguous, the lyrics claiming that "there is no future in England's dreaming".
Before the group signed to Virgin, a small number of copies of "God Save the Queen" had been pressed on the A&M label. These are now among the most valuable records ever pressed in the UK, with a resale rate as of 2006 of around £13,000 a copy.
The song also features on the album ''Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols'', and several compilation albums.
Rolling Stone ranked "God Save the Queen" number 173 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, one of the group's two songs on the list along with "Anarchy in the U.K.". Sounds magazine made it their Single of the Year in 1977^[2]. In 1989 it was 18th in the list of NME writers all time top 150 singles^[3]. Q Magazine in 2002 ranked it first on their list as "The 50 Most Exciting Tunes Ever..."^[4] and 3rd in their list of "100 Songs That Changed The World" in 2003^[5].

Cover Versions

The song was covered by Anthrax on their ''Armed and Dangerous'' EP in 1985, and by Motörhead on their ''We Are Motörhead'' album, and as a single in 2000.

References

1. Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, , John, Lyndon, Picador, 1995,
2. Sounds Single of the Year 1977
3. NME Writers all time top 150 singles
4. Q 50 Most Exciting Tunes Ever
5. 100 Songs That Changed The World

External links

★ "God Save The Queen" Songfacts entry

★ "video of the Jubilee Boat Trip Part 1

★ "video of the Jubilee Boat Trip Part 2