{"id":2383,"date":"2026-06-02T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=2383"},"modified":"2026-06-02T16:28:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T20:28:01","slug":"how-sex-pistols-transformed-the-british-national-anthem-into-a-banned-punk-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/how-sex-pistols-transformed-the-british-national-anthem-into-a-banned-punk-classic\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sex Pistols Transformed the British National Anthem Into a Banned Punk Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/sex-pistols\">Sex Pistols<\/a> released \u201cGod Save The Queen\u201d in 1977, the punk pioneers were already one of the most controversial acts in history. If Elvis Presley\u2019s hips had made you clutch your pearls, then wait until you get a load of these sneering and swearing punks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A New National Anthem<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"God Save The Queen (Remastered 2007)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1W6AxgqGdhM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The band released \u201cGod Save The Queen\u201d during the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Here, Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) doesn\u2019t hide his thoughts on the monarchy. \u201cGod save the Queen, the fascist regime \/ It made you a moron, potential H-bomb,\u201d he sings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To further the revolt, the Sex Pistols had repurposed the title of Britain\u2019s national anthem. Though the BBC banned the song, it still reached No. 2 on the U.K. singles chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Don\u2019t be told what you want to want,<br>And don\u2019t be told what you want to need.<br>There\u2019s no future, no future,<br>No future for you<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regarding the song\u2019s intent, Lydon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnlydon.com\/press\/pistols.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, \u201cYou don\u2019t write \u2018God Save The Queen\u2019 because you hate the English race; you write a song like that because you love them, and you\u2019re fed up with them being mistreated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Never Mind<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGod Save The Queen\u201d arrived in the spring. But the following fall, when the band released their debut album, <em>Never Mind The Bollocks, Here\u2019s The Sex Pistols<\/em>, they were already imploding under the weight of their own chaos. In 1978, Sex Pistols\u2019 manager Malcolm McLaren <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/music\/2023\/jan\/20\/rotten-day-for-punks-the-sex-pistols-breakup-1978\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>, \u201cThe management is bored with managing the successful rock \u2019n\u2019 roll band. The group is bored with being a successful rock \u2019n\u2019 roll band. Burning venues and destroying record companies is more creative than making it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, the Sex Pistols\u2019 lone studio album forever changed rock history. Guns N\u2019 Roses, Nirvana, Oasis, Green Day, and many others have cited the band as a major influence. And if the whole point of punk was to upset the status quo, then \u201cGod Save The Queen\u201d stands as the touchstone for how to write a protest anthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>God save the Queen,<br>\u2019Cause tourists are money.<br>And our figurehead,<br>Is not what she seems<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo by Sepia Times\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Sex Pistols released \u201cGod Save The Queen\u201d in 1977, the punk pioneers were already one of the most controversial acts in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":2385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"Photo by: Sepia Times\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[119,18,330],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-2383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-punk-2","tag-rock-music","tag-sex-pistols"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"Punk","term_id":119,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/punk-2\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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