God Save the Queen (1977) Sex Pistols

Home , God Save the Queen, Sex Pistols, Steve Jones (musician)

MUSC-21600: The Art of Rock Music Prof. Freeze

LISTEN FOR • Simple riff-driven form with new music at end • Fast tempo, driving pulsing eighths in bass • Monotone vocal delivery • Lyrics’ nihilistic view of Britain’s future + insulting view of Britain’s monarch

CREATION Songwriters Sex Pistols Label Virgin, A&M Musicians Johnny Rotten (vocals), Steve Jones (guitar, bass), drums (Paul Cook) Producer Christ Thomas Engineer Bill Price Recording Wessex Sound Studios (London); October 1976, March 1977; stereo Charts UK 2

MUSIC Genre Punk rock Form AABA with full reprise and coda Key A major Meter 4/4

MUSC-21600 Listening Guide Freeze “God Save the Queen” (Sex Pistols, 1977)

LISTENING GUIDE Time Form Lyric Cue Listen For 0:00 Intro (4+8) • Fast tempo, loud dynamics, and driving rhythms (eighth-notes in bass, guitar and syncopated rhythm in drums). • Main guitar riff begins. 0:19 A 1 (8) “God save the queen” • Vocals enter. Note Johnny Rotten’s monotone, speech-like delivery. • Call and response between vocals and guitar/bass. 0:32 A 2 (8) “God save the queen” • As before. 0:44 B (8) “Don’t be told what” • Intensity picks up for the contrasting section, with fast rhythms in the bass and guitar and a higher range for the vocals. 0:58 A 3 (8) “God save the queen” • As before, with altered ending and vocal sneer. 1:10 A 4 (8) “God save the queen” • As before. 1:23 A 5 (8) “Oh God save history” • As before. 1:36 B (8) “When there’s no future” • As before. 1:49 A 6 (A) “God save the queen” • As before, but with ride cymbals added to every beat and occasional crash cymbal hits. 2:02 Break (8) • Guitar solo with stereophonic cymbal crashes. 2:17 A 7 (8) “God save the queen” • As before. 2:30 C 1 (8) “No future” • New music on short, descending motive that repeats in unison in vocals, electric guitar, and bass. 2:43 C 2 (8) “No future” • As before. 2:57 C 3 (10) “No future” • As before.

2 MUSC-21600 Listening Guide Freeze “God Save the Queen” (Sex Pistols, 1977)

LYRICS God save the queen When there’s no future The fascist regime How can there be sin They made you a moron We’re the flowers in the dustbin Potential H-bomb We’re the poison in your human machine We’re the future, your future God save the queen She ain’t no human being God save the queen There is no future We mean it man In England’s dreaming We love our queen God saves Don’t be told what you want Don’t be told what you need God save the queen There’s no future, no future, We mean it man No future for you And there is no future In England’s dreaming God save the queen We mean it man No future, no future, We love our queen No future for you God saves No future, no future, No future for me God save the queen ’Cause tourists are money No future, no future, And our figurehead No future for you Is not what she seems No future, no future For you Oh God save history God save your mad parade Oh Lord God have mercy All crimes are paid

SOURCES • Katherine Charlton, Rock Music Styles: A History, 6th ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 2011), 238. • Roberta Freund Schwartz, Course Notes for MUSC-309 at the University of Kansas.