For anyone out there taking the lyrics to the Sex Pistols' 1977 single "Anarchy in the U.K." to heart during Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee this year, singer Johnny Rotten has offered an olive branch of sorts.
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In a brand new piece for The Times, former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, née Rotten, chose to explain his antagonistic lyrics for "Anarchy in the U.K." while also illustrating his own views of current anti-government movements. “Anarchy is a terrible idea," Lydon says, adding, "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 s***storm. It’s preposterous. And they’re doing it in designer Dr Martens, clever little rucksacks and nicely manufactured balaclavas."
“God bless the Queen. She’s put up with a lot. I’ve got no animosity against any one of the royal family. Never did,” Lydon continues, explaining that his gripe was, and still is, with how the British public is asked to pay for their lavish lifestyle. "It’s the institution of it that bothers me and the assumption that I’m to pay for that. There’s where I draw the line," he says. "It’s like, 'No, you’re not getting ski holidays on my tax.'"
Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are taking place June 2 through June 5 -- and the Sex Pistols have joined their fellow Brits by releasing their very own commemorative coin in her honor. Lydon also admitted in a recent interview with political commentator Piers Morgan that he is "actually really, really proud of the Queen for surviving and doing so well."
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