Almost 40 years have passed since the release of “Anarchy In The UK”, the Sex Pistols groundbreaking first single, and Virgin Money and Master Card feel the time has come to dilute the band’s original message and market a collectable credit card with a variable 18.9% APR . Spokesperson, Michele Greene said it was “time for consumers to put a little bit of rebellion in their pocket” and “The Sex Pistols challenged convention and the established ways of thinking – just as we are doing today in our quest to shake up UK banking.” WTF? Really? Is banking hip and ready to shake things up? Are they suddenly on the side of the working class and have our best interests in mind? In light of everything that has happened since the financial meltdown in 2007, this seems to be pretty vacant thinking. Hasn’t it been the collusion of Banks and Politicians that has obliterated the “working class” and left us with “working poor” instead? If Michele Greene had bothered to look at the lyrics of “Anarchy In The UK”, she might have noticed that the song was a declaration of war against everything she stands for!
Aligning “Anarchy” and “Sex Pistols” with a financial lending institution is nonsensical and deeply incongruous. Unless of course, the card is literally for Anarchists and it’s purpose is to offer a line of credit to individuals who wish to buy bombs in order to wage a class war against capitalist bankers, the bourgeoisie ruling class and the royal family! Anarchist, Pierre Proudhon famously stated that, “Property is Theft.” so I don’t think he would have approved of the variable 18.9% APR or even the idea of making any payments at all! Mind you, I’m sure the organizers of the 1920 bomb attack on Wall Street would have loved to have had a credit card… perhaps with the extra funding they wouldn’t have missed J.P. Morgan their target. 
Disappointingly, the card isn’t espousing anarchy but aimed at a demographic creeping into their 60’s who’ve long forgotten the values and ideals of their youth. The card is an inept attempt at historical revisionism that trivializes the phrase “Anarchy In The UK” into essentially meaning the same thing as Miley Cyrus‘s “Party In The USA”. It’s not a tribute… it’s utter bollocks. A lot has happened to tarnish the Sex Pistols credibility, Lydon doing adverts for butter, Cook playing drums in Bananarama, and their 1996 reunion tour which was an obvious cash grab, but it made sense. Punk Rock’s righteous idealism died the day that, long time Pistol fan, Kurt Cobain blew his brains out… after that it was Green Day‘s Dookie and Modern Rock Radio. The 90’s music industry was all about taking whatever you could get and getting as much as you could take! Thanks to the self serving P.R. and delusions of their manager Malcolm McLaren, who cast himself as the mastermind behind the band while neglecting to keep watch of their business, the Pistols spent 10 years in the courts trying to retrieve their unpaid royalties. Malcolm also dishonestly created the misconception that they were nothing more than a prefabricated boy band. The only thing the Pistols had in common with boy bands was their youth (Johnny Rotten was 19 when he wrote the song). “Anarchy In The UK” is not an easily digestible pop throw away. It’s a song with a huge statement, a huge message and huge implications. The only statement their contemporaries the Bay City Rollers could ever muster was “Shang A Lang”. 
On Friday, Nov 26 1976 EMI Records (Not Virgin.) unleashed “Anarchy In The UK” on Britain causing instant furore among the country’s establishment, due to the blatant and unprecedented language in the song being employed to attack them. Two months later the band would appear on the Bill Grundy show. The infamous telly incident that thrust them into the nation’s tabloids. Overnight, the Sex Pistols were Britain’s public enemy No 1… the “Anarchy” single however had only just made it to No. 38 on the charts before it was pulled and the band found themselves sacked by EMI. “Anarchy In The UK” was a dangerous record and the ruling class reacted with numerous attempts to censor the band. The single was the musical equivalent of A Clockwork Orange! In 1976 there was nothing to compare it to… it was an influential record that opened the floodgate to the 80’s and beyond. Without it there would have been no Clash or U2 or Replacements or Duran Duran or Oasis or Libertines or Nick Cave or Nirvana. Actually there is no artist or band worth mentioning in the 40 years that followed the release of Never Mind The Bollocks that wasn’t influenced by the Sex Pistols! “Anarchy In The UK” was a truly revolutionary song, that called for a revolution and actually achieved it’s goal. 
The most ironic thing about all this is, due to the firmly entrenched class system of 70’s Britain, none of the Sex Pistols at that time could get a bank account, much less a line of credit. Steve Jones and Paul Cook robbed everything they needed, Johnny Rotten took speed to stave off hunger pangs and Sid… well, the night that Nancy got stabbed, he was carrying 5000 dollars in cash because he still hadn’t managed to get a bank account and the money was mysteriously stolen. Sid Vicious wasn’t exactly “credit card” material.
“Anarchy” was an important song… no one would be talking about it 40 years later if it wasn’t! “Anarchy In The UK” isn’t about reckless spending and pocket book rebellion that you can’t actually afford. Back when the song was on the charts, the number 1 was “Under The Moon Of Love” by a band called Showaddywaddy. Never heard of it? Me neither. To truly comprehend how offensive and inappropriate this Master Card/ Virgin Money venture is, one simply needs to take a quick look at the “Anarchy In The UK” lyric sheet. Does this sound like a quest to shake up UK banking? So…
Right!
now ha ha ha ha ha…
I am an antichrist
I am an anarchist
Don’t know what I want
But I know how to get it
I wanna destroy passerby
(One of the greatest opening couplets in rock n’ roll, followed by a menacing threat! “I wanna destroy passerby” is pure Clockwork Orange. Essentially Mr. Lydon is saying that he’s lawless, ungovernable and espouses random violence toward innocent victims. 🙂 Now that’s how you start a song!!)
Cause I wanna be Anarchy
No dogsbody!
(Mentioning “Dogsbody” is a very class conscious lyric. A dogsbody is a servant of a servant. The lowest on the pecking order.)
Anarchy for the UK
It’s coming sometime and maybe
I give a wrong time stop at traffic line
Your future dream is a shopping scheme
(Well this verse is relevant to this Master Card nonsense…It’s about his disdain for mindless empty consumerism and the trap of debt.)
‘Cause I wanna be Anarchy
In the city
(The “City” represented danger and excitement in the days before CCTV. The Pistols playground was an urban environment. Might as well own your streets when you can’t own anything else!)
Many ways to get what you want
I use the best
I use the rest
I use the Enemy
I use Anarchy
(Not only is Johnny Rotten a dangerous, intelligent and articulate working class youth, he won’t be patronized. This is the instruction manual part of the song. Helpful hints for others who may be interested…)
‘Cause I wanna be Anarchy
It’s the only way to be
(He’s selling it now… This Anarchy stuff is beginning to sound pretty good!)
Is this the M.P.L.A or
(MPLA fought for the independence of Angola against Portuguese colonial rule. In the 70’s South Africa intervened militarily in the bloody conflict. South Africa was supported by Western banks.)
Is this the U.D.A or
Is this the I.R.A
(70’s Britain was quite stressed out by IRA terrorism as the Northern Ireland conflict raged on. The Ulster Defense Association was responsible for murders, kidnappings, massacres and a prolific amount of sectarian violence. John Lydon was Irish Catholic. He grew up seeing “No Dogs No Blacks No Irish” signs around London which later became the title of his autobiography.)
I thought it was the UK
Or just another country
Another council tenancy
(Refers to the poverty on England’s estates and the empire’s decline. Poor housing estates have only gotten worse since the 70’s. There is now no chance of upward mobility. Those were the people rioting in 2011. They are called the “underclass” rather than working class now.)
I wanna be Anarchy
And I wanna be Anarchy
(Blatant rabble rousing… Class War, isn’t really boy band fare is it?)
And I wanna be anarchist
get pissed, destroy!
(Conclusion; The song recommends against accruing credit card debt. Suggests you destroy a bank instead.)
Disappointingly, the card isn’t espousing anarchy but aimed at a demographic creeping into their 60’s who’ve long forgotten the values and ideals of their youth. The card is an inept attempt at historical revisionism that trivializes the phrase “Anarchy In The UK” into essentially meaning the same thing as Miley Cyrus‘s “Party In The USA”. It’s not a tribute… it’s utter bollocks. A lot has happened to tarnish the Sex Pistols credibility, Lydon doing adverts for butter, Cook playing drums in Bananarama, and their 1996 reunion tour which was an obvious cash grab, but it made sense. Punk Rock’s righteous idealism died the day that, long time Pistol fan, Kurt Cobain blew his brains out… after that it was Green Day‘s Dookie and Modern Rock Radio. The 90’s music industry was all about taking whatever you could get and getting as much as you could take! Thanks to the self serving P.R. and delusions of their manager Malcolm McLaren, who cast himself as the mastermind behind the band while neglecting to keep watch of their business, the Pistols spent 10 years in the courts trying to retrieve their unpaid royalties. Malcolm also dishonestly created the misconception that they were nothing more than a prefabricated boy band. The only thing the Pistols had in common with boy bands was their youth (Johnny Rotten was 19 when he wrote the song). “Anarchy In The UK” is not an easily digestible pop throw away. It’s a song with a huge statement, a huge message and huge implications. The only statement their contemporaries the Bay City Rollers could ever muster was “Shang A Lang”. 
On Friday, Nov 26 1976 EMI Records (Not Virgin.) unleashed “Anarchy In The UK” on Britain causing instant furore among the country’s establishment, due to the blatant and unprecedented language in the song being employed to attack them. Two months later the band would appear on the Bill Grundy show. The infamous telly incident that thrust them into the nation’s tabloids. Overnight, the Sex Pistols were Britain’s public enemy No 1… the “Anarchy” single however had only just made it to No. 38 on the charts before it was pulled and the band found themselves sacked by EMI. “Anarchy In The UK” was a dangerous record and the ruling class reacted with numerous attempts to censor the band. The single was the musical equivalent of A Clockwork Orange! In 1976 there was nothing to compare it to… it was an influential record that opened the floodgate to the 80’s and beyond. Without it there would have been no Clash or U2 or Replacements or Duran Duran or Oasis or Libertines or Nick Cave or Nirvana. Actually there is no artist or band worth mentioning in the 40 years that followed the release of Never Mind The Bollocks that wasn’t influenced by the Sex Pistols! “Anarchy In The UK” was a truly revolutionary song, that called for a revolution and actually achieved it’s goal. 
SECRET AGENT RECORDS MAGAZINE 