Belsen was exactly that John, Lydon was appalled when the rest of the Pistols re-recorded it with Ronnie Biggs. The swastika was worn by 70s punks in England to shock and not as any political statement. A friend of mine wore one, he was on holiday(Spain I think in 79/80) and was wearing it at dinner, a family were eating their food opposite when the Dad of the family made them spit their food out, my mate realised they were Jewish and had been wrongly given pork. He said that he felt sick and never wore it again, he was wearing it purely as a Pistols fan to look like Sid. Siouxsie wore a lot of swastikas at the time as well although, outside of London, I dont think anybody else really took it up. none of the punks i knew wore it, the gay cowboys t-shirt was the big favourite!
John Battles said:
Johnny , Good ones. Tho' I get the feeling "Belsen" was written with very dry sarcasm as an anti - Nazi /NF song. When Lydon says "JOIN THE ARMY ! BE A MAN !" , then , you can really hear the venom start to boil. Sid took a songrwriting credit , but , Johnny later claimed he let him have it , because he needed the money. Sid got a little TOO into the Swastika bit (Did he ever take that shirt off?), for which he got his ass beat , for wearing said T- Shirt in a Jewish neighborhood. But , while I think Lydon's politics were complex , Sid did'nt really seem to have any. A recent article in "The Chicago Reader" tried to say "Anarchy in The UK" WAS NOT A POLITICAL SONG......HUHN ?!!!!
BTW I'm really not into politics , just citing an example.
Johnny sic said:"BELSEN WAS A GAS" SeX PisToLs
"HOMOSEXUAl" Angry Samoans
