Anarchy in the U.K.
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"Anarchy in the U.K." (B-side "I Wanna Be Me") was the first single by the punk band the Sex Pistols. It was released on November 26, 1976, and is thus frequently considered to be the first punk single (although The Ramones released Blitzkrieg Bop a year earlier and The Damned released New Rose the previous month). It only reached number 38 on the UK pop charts before EMI stopped pressing it on January 6, 1977, but its long-term influence was substantial. The group's follow-up single, "God Save The Queen", reached number 2. Both songs later appeared on the album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.
The song's lyrics espouse a nihilistic, emotive, and violent concept of anarchy. The lyrics mention several political/paramilitary organizations prominent at the time, comparing them to the UK: the MPLA, the UDA, and the IRA. The lyrics can be interpreted as satirical, mocking not only the government but also directionless or purely fashionable rebellion.
A French version called "Anarchie Pour Le U.K.", sung by a French singer and with accordion and fiddle as the backing instrumentation, was part of the soundtrack to the Sex Pistols film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. This version was also released as a Sex Pistols single in France. The German punk band Big Balls and the Great White Idiot covered the song on their first album, Big Balls, under the name "Anachy in Germany." Another iteration appeared on the soundtrack to the film Million Dollar Hotel featuring Tito Avarilla of Tito and Tarantula and the Million Dollar Hotel Band. The song was covered by Megadeth on their 1988 album So Far, So Good... So What!, with famously incorrect lyrics ("...another council tenancy" was sung as "...and other cunt-like tendencies."), and by Mötley Crüe on their 1990 greatest hits album Decade of Decadence, with America-centric lyric changes (referring to the Parents Music Resource Center, district attorneys, and the Central Intelligence Agency instead of the MPLA, UDA, and Irish Republican Army.)
A line in the song is often misquoted as, I use the enemy. The actual lyrics are, I use the NME, a reference to UK music peridocal the New Musical Express. However, the double entendre was certainly not lost on the Sex Pistols nor their audience, who viewed the contemporary musical establishment (of which the NME was most definitely a part) as an adversary.
Trivia
- In 1978, a parody of the song was recorded by British comedian Johnny Rubbish called "Living in NW3 4JR" (a postcode reference to an expensive neighbourhood in North London). It was produced by Hugh Cornwall of the The Stranglers and released on the United Artists label. Rubbish (real name John Gatward) had been a roadie and friend of The Stranglers and was well known for perfoming his stage-act from inside a dustbin.
- Anarchy in the U.K. was also used as the working title for Paul Cornell's Doctor Who novel No Future.fr:Anarchy In The UK