“Bodies” by Sex Pistols
All research considered, Sex Pistols’ “Bodies” is perhaps a song that Johnny Rotten never meant to be over-analyzed in the first place. And let’s be frank. Even if you are pro-choice, there’s a certain point in a pregnancy where, if the birth is somehow terminated, well, let’s just say that you wouldn’t want to see the aftermath. This is something that Johnny had to deal with as a child and not even within the context of abortion.
And there is an extremely-gross urban legend behind Pauline, the subject of the first verse. But whether or not some of the more outlandish parts of that story are true or not, what it all boils down to is Johnny having to deal with the reality of dead fetuses later on in life also, this time related to abortion. And well, obviously he had a reaction and in the process let out that pent-up frustration.
Yes, all lyrics considered this does read like an ultra-realistic anti-abortion piece. But if it is that later down the line Rotten argued that such is not the case, it may not necessarily be that he’s backpedaling. What is obvious is that at least at one point in his life he did not perceive abortion as being ideal, even if he did understand the reasons why a person may be compelled to do so (which, as sorta implied in the third verse, would be mainly because of promiscuity). That’s because even more so, he was also able to empathize with the main victim of the act, who is in fact the fetus.
Facts about “Bodies”
This track is from a Sex Pistols’ 1977 project titled “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols”, which was put out by Warner Bros. and Virgin Records.
The Sex Pistols were a band of punk rockers from London. This song came out on 27 October 1977, during the era when the group was at its peak membership, consisting of the following:
- vocalist Johnny Rotten
- guitarist Steve Jones
- guitarist Glen Matlock
- drummer Paul Cook
- drummer Sid Vicious (1957-1979)
For the record, Sex Pistols only dropped one studio album, that being the aforementioned one. And “Bodies” was not one of the singles that was issued from it. But as of this writing, it is one of the band’s most popular songs.
“Never Mind the Bollocks” is also a very-successful album. But the band was only really together for a short time during the late 1970s, ultimately dissolving due to internal issues.
The aforenoted quintet of musicians are credited with writing this song. Its producers are Chris Thomas and the late Bill Price (1944-2016).
There are alternate versions of “Bodies” also to be found on a couple of other Sex Pistols’ (live) albums.
“Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols”
Initially released in the UK on October 28 of 1977, “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” is a debut studio project of British rock group Sex Pistols. This punk album, which is the group’s only studio project, was later released in the US on November 11 of 1977.
“Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” was supported by four hit singles, which were all issued prior to its official release.
The project’s lead single, “Anarchy in the U.K.”, dropped on November 26 of 1976. The other singles were all issued in 1977.
“God Save the Queen“, which is the project’s second single, was officially released on May 27. “Pretty Vacant” came out on July 1, as the third single. And the album’s final single, “Holidays in the Sun”, was issued on October 14.
Commercially, this album enjoyed huge success in the UK. It reached the summit of the official albums chart there.
Well, far from its remarkable success in said region, the album only managed a peak position of number 106 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
On March 26 of 1992 the project went Platinum in the US. It has also attained double-Platinum certification in the UK. And as for Gold certifications, this album has been certified as such by several other European countries including Belgium.
Also of interest, this project was temporarily titled “God Save The Sex Pistols”.
