God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)

"God Save the Queen" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released as the band's second single and was later included on their only studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. The song was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977.

"God Save the Queen"

"No Feeling" (A&M release)
"Did You No Wrong" (Virgin release)

27 May 1977 (1977-05-27)

October 1976
March 1977

Wessex, London

Punk rock^[1]

3:20

Virgin
A&M

The record's lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time; both the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song, including a total ban of its airing by the BBC.^[2] The original title for the song was "No Future", with the lyrics themselves being a general expression of the band's view of the monarchy or any individual or establishment commanding general obligation.^[3]

The song reached No. 1 on the NME charts in the United Kingdom, and made it to No. 2 on the official UK Singles Chart as used by the BBC. This led to accusations by some that the charts had been "fixed" to prevent the song from reaching No. 1.^[4]

Background[edit]

The song's title is taken directly from the British national anthem. At the time, the song was highly controversial for its equation of Queen Elizabeth with a "fascist regime" and for the lyric "there is no future in England's dreaming". According to Glen Matlock, who had co-written the song — although he was no longer a member of the band by the time it was released — the bass was inspired by the Move's "Fire Brigade". Guitarist Steve Jones stated that when Matlock first played him the song, it did not sound like 'God Save the Queen': "It was like 'Love Me Do' or something".^[5]

Although many believe it was created because of the Silver Jubilee, the band has denied it, with 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."^[6] Johnny Rotten has explained the lyrics as follows: "You don't write 'God Save the Queen' because you hate the English race. You write a song like that because you love them, and you're fed up with them being mistreated."^[7] He intended to evoke sympathy for the English working class and a general resentment towards the monarchy.

On 7 June 1977, the Jubilee holiday, the band attempted to play the song from a boat named the Queen Elizabeth on the River Thames, near the Palace of Westminster. After a scuffle involving attendee Jah Wobble and a camera man, 11 people, including Malcolm McLaren, the man who organized the concert, and several other members of the band's entourage, were arrested when the boat docked.^[8]

Cover artwork[edit]

The single's picture sleeve, featuring a defaced image of Queen Elizabeth II, was designed by Jamie Reid and in 2001 was ranked No. 1 in a list of the 100 greatest record covers of all time by Q magazine.^[54] A photograph of the image is held by the National Portrait Gallery, London.^[55]