英国无政府状态 (1976)

"Anarchy in the U.K." is a song by the British punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released as the band's debut single on 26 November 1976 and was later featured on their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. "Anarchy in the U.K." was number 56 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

Music

Anarchy in the U.K was described by Cashbox as a sparsely produced, guitar dominated song that helped to define punk rock. Record World ranked it 2nd in its November 1977 New Wave Top 20. AllMusic reviewer Steve Huey noted that "Decades later, some combination of those attitudes still defines punk rock".

Releases

Originally issued in a plain black sleeve, the single was the only Sex Pistols recording released by EMI, and it reached number 38 on the UK Singles Chart before EMI dropped the group on 6 January 1977, a month after members of the band used profanity during a live television broadcast. (The EMI version was recorded on 17 October 1976. An earlier demo version, titled "Nookie', was recorded between 10 and 12 October at Lansdowne/Wessex Studios, London. This version later surfaced on the Sex Pistols bootleg album Spunk).

In 2007, the surviving members (not including original Pistols bassist Glen Matlock) re-recorded "Anarchy in the U.K." for the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock because the multi-track master could not be found (it was rediscovered along with the rest of the Never Mind The Bollocks masters during a move in January 2012). The Guitar Hero version also appears in the film adaption of the A-Team. The song was also featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 as part of the soundtrack. The song also appears in the Constantine TV series during the episode "The Devil's Vinyl".

A limited edition 7" picture disc of the single was released on 21 April 2012 for that year's Record Store Day. In June 2022, a test pressing of the single that belonged to John Peel sold for more than £20,000 at auction.

Lyrics

In the documentary The Filth and the Fury, John Lydon described the composition of the song's opening lyrics, explaining that the best rhyme he could devise for the first line, "I am an Antichrist", was the second line, "I am an anarchist".

Despite the fact that he wrote and sang "Anarchy in the U.K." with the Sex Pistols, Lydon said in a 2012 interview,“I never was (an anarchist).Whoever told you that? Anarchy is mind games for the middle class...“I also had a song that said Pretty Vacant. I’m not pretty and I’m not vacant.” In a 2022 piece in The Times, Lydon elaborated,"Anarchy is a terrible idea. Let's get that clear. I'm not an anarchist. And I'm amazed that there are websites out there – .org anarchist sites – funded fully by the corporate hand and yet ranting on about being outside the shitstorm. It's preposterous. And they’re doing it in designer Dr Martens, clever little rucksacks and nicely manufactured balaclavas."

Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren considered the song "a call to arms to the kids who believe that rock and roll was taken away from them. It's a statement of self rule, of ultimate independence."

Abbreviations

The abbreviations used in the lyrics are a selection of civil war references from 1970s headlines, a suggestion of what could happen in the United Kingdom. The IRA and the UDA were the largest paramilitary armies in the conflict in Northern Ireland: the heavily armed IRA (Irish Republican Army) were on the Republican (anti-British, pro-unification) side, and the thousands-strong UDA (Ulster Defence Association) were on the Loyalist (pro-British, anti-unification) side. The MPLA (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, or the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) were the political party that took control of Angola, formerly one of Portugal's African colonies, in a 1975–1976 civil war, and still run the country today. When Rotten sings "I use the enemy", it's a deliberate homonym for "I use the NME", or New Musical Express, the British weekly music newspaper.

Personnel

Personnel taken from Sound on Sound.

• Johnny Rotten – vocals
• Steve Jones – guitar
• Glen Matlock – bass
• Paul Cook – drums
• Technical
• Chris Thomas – producer
• Bill Price – engineer

Cover versions

"L'Anarchie Pour Le UK"

An alternative recording of the song in 34 time, accompanied by violin and accordion, apparently both translated into French and sung by a mysterious figure called Louis Brennon (also named as Jerzimy in some sources), appeared on the Sex Pistols' 1979 album The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle.

Megadeth

"Anarchy in the U.K." was covered by American thrash metal band Megadeth for their third album So Far, So Good... So What!, released in 1988.