God Save the Queen

"God Save the Queen"
Single by Sex Pistols
from the album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
B-side	"No Feeling"(sic) (A&M release)/"Did You No Wrong" (Virgin release)
Released	May 27, 1977 October 8, 2007 (30th anniversary re-issue)
Format	Vinyl single: Worldwide
Recorded	London, England
Genre	Punk rock
Length	3:20
Label	Virgin Records
Writer(s)	Sex Pistols
Producer	Chris Thomas Bill Price
Sex Pistols singles chronology
"Anarchy in the U.K." (1976) "God Save the Queen" (1977) "Pretty Vacant" (1977)

"God Save the Queen" was the second single released by the punk rock band Sex Pistols. It was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977. The record's lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time, and both the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority refused to play the song.

The single reached number one on the influential NME charts in the UK, but only made it to #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 number one.^[1]

Overview

The single was released on 27 May, 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."^[2] 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 fed up of seeing them mistreated."^[3] His intentions were apparently to evoke sympathy for the English 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 the boat on the river Thames, outside the Palace of Westminster. After a scuffle involving attendee Jah Wobble and a cameraman, eleven people were arrested when the boat docked, including several members of the band's entourage.^[4]

The song peaked at number 2 (behind Rod Stewart's I Don't Want To Talk About It) on the official UK Singles Chart used by the BBC, though there have been persistent rumours - never confirmed or denied - that it was actually the biggest-selling single in the UK at the time, and was kept off number 1 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 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. The lyric provided the title of Jon Savage's award-winning 1991 history of the Sex Pistols and punk rock, 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 value as of 2006 of between £500 to £13,000 a copy, depending on condition of the disc.^[5] The B-side of the A&M single was "No Feeling" (without an s), an early rough mix or performance of "No Feelings." (A later version was released on the Pistols' debut album.)

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.^[6] In 1989 it was 18th in the list of NME writers all time top 150 singles.^[7] Q Magazine in 2002 ranked it first on their list as "The 50 Most Exciting Tunes Ever..."^[8] and 3rd in their list of "100 Songs That Changed The World" in 2003.^[9] In 2007 NME launched a campaign to get the song to number 1 in the British charts and encouraged readers to purchase or download the single on October 8. However it only made #42.

Cover Artwork

The record cover, depicting a defaced picture of Queen Elizabeth II, was designed by Jamie Reid and in 2001 was named #1 in a list of 100 Greatest Album Covers of All Time by Q Magazine.^[10]

Cover versions

Motörhead version

"God Save the Queen"
Single by Motörhead
from the album We Are Motörhead
B-side	One More Fucking Time/God Save the Queen (Enhanced Video)
Released	2000
Format	CD single
Recorded	June to August, 1999 Karo Studios, Brackel, Germany
Genre	Punk rock, heavy metal
Length	3:19
Label	Steamhammer
Writer(s)	John Lydon Steve Jones Glen Matlock Paul Cook
Producer	Motörhead Bob Kulick Bruce Bouillet Duane Barron
Motörhead singles chronology
"Born to Raise Hell" (1994) "God Save the Queen" (2000)

A cover version by the heavy metal band Motörhead was released as a single in 2000 to promote their album We Are Motörhead.

The cover art gives further reference to the Sex Pistols by using the same cut-out words to form the title as the Sex Pistols' single cover.

A performance of the song recorded during the band's 25th anniversary concert at Brixton Academy, on October 22, 2000, appears on their 25 & Alive Boneshaker DVD.

Single track listing

1. "God Save the Queen" (Paul Cook, Steve Jones, John Lydon, Glen Matlock)
2. "One More Fucking Time" (Lemmy, Phil Campbell, Mikkey Dee)
3. "God Save the Queen (Enhanced Video)" (Cook, Jones, Lydon, Matlock)

Personnel

• Guitars, vocals - Phil Campbell
• Drums - Mikkey Dee
• Bass, lead vocals - Lemmy

The SCTV satire

On the 03/18/83 episode of SCTV in the Mel's Rock Pile segment, Mel Slirrup (Eugene Levy) has a tribute to punk rock featuring a performance by the band The Queenhaters (Martin Short-lead singer, Andrea Martin-lead guitarist/back-up vocals, Eugene Levy-secondary guitarist, Joe Flaherty-bass, and John Candy-drummer), singing 'I Hate The Bloody Queen'-a sound alike song that almost matches the original it is spoofing, with references to the Falklands War ("I'd like to drown the Queen/Off the coast of Argentine/Throw her off a battleship/With her Falkland war machine!") and the problems that Princess Diana was, and would be soon having with her in-laws ("I feel sorry for you, Lady Di/Having a mother-in-law like that!") This satirical version of God Save The Queen even has its own cover version by Mudhoney on the tribute album Oh Canaduh! 2.

Other covers

• Madonna samples the song during "Dress You Up" in her 2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour.
• The song was covered by Anthrax on their Armed and Dangerous EP in 1985.
• Part of the song was played by the Foo Fighters in the 2007 MTV Europe Music Awards.
• It was also covered by Bathory on their final box set.
• UK punk rock band The Enemy performed the song live as part of their two homecoming gigs at Coventry's Ricoh Arena in 2008.
• In 2009 Nouvelle Vague released a cover of the song on their album 3.

References

External links

• "God Save The Queen" Songfacts entry
• Mel's Rock Pile segment with The Queenhaters singing 'I Hate The Bloody Queen'