Bodies (Sex Pistols song)

Infobox Song
Name = Bodies


Artist = Sex Pistols
Album = Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
Released = October 28 1977 (UK) November 10 1977 (US)
track_no = 2
Recorded = October 1976 March-June & August 1977 Wessex Studios, London
Genre = Punk rock
Length = 3:03
Label = Virgin (UK) Warner Bros. Records (US)
Writer = Johnny Rotten Steve Jones Sid Vicious Paul Cook
Producer = Chris Thomas Bill Price
prev = "Holidays in the Sun"
prev_no = 1
next = "No Feelings"
next_no = 3"Bodies" is a Sex Pistols song about abortion from the 1977 album "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols". It has a large amount of profanity for the time, with one couplet largely composed of the word "fuck".

The song was written by the entire band. It is mostly about a fan named Pauline, who was (as the song states) from Birmingham. She had been in a mental institution, where she apparently lived in a tree house, in the garden of the institution. This was where the line 'Her name was Pauline, she lived in a tree' comes from. The institution was also where she had apparently got pregnant from one of the male nurses. When she was released, she travelled to London, where she became a punk rock fan. She had several abortions. According to legend, she showed up once at John Lydon's door wearing nothing but a clear plastic bag and holding an aborted fetus in a clear plastic bag as well.

However, what is known from Lydon's autobiography, is that she would tell Lydon about becoming pregnant and then having abortions and describing them in detail to him. This affected Lydon enough to write the song. Most of the band also had experiences with Pauline, but have spoken less about it.

With its repeated mentions of "I'm not an animal," of "Mummy," and of a dying "baby," the song is widely interpreted as being anti-abortion [cite web | year=1977 | title="Consumer Guide Review, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols" | url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=sex+pistols] . In 2006, "National Review" magazine put the song at #8 on its list of the "50 Greatest Conservative Rock songs", citing a pro-life message [cite web | year=2006 | title="Rockin' the Right" | url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NzZkNDU5MmViNzVjNzkzMDE3NzNlN2MyZjRjYTk4YjE=] . Yet both Steve Jones and John Lydon have stated in interviews that the song reflects a pro-choice view in its lurid description of an illicit abortionFact|date=February 2007. In 2000, John Lydon went on the record as pro-choice [cite web | year= 2000 | title="Politically Incorrect" | url=http://www.johnlydon.com/PI2000.HTM ] , supporting the choice of a 13 year old French girl to use the morning after pill without her parents' knowledge.

However, in an interview, Lydon is quoted as identifying himself as neither anti- nor pro-abortion [cite web | year= 2005 | title="John Lydon.Com, Q Magazine, December 2005, The Best of British £1 Notes " | url=http://www.johnlydon.com/q05.html ] . However, he believes the decision belongs to the pregnant woman. In the same interview, Lydon speaks of the song in relation to his mother's miscarriage and how one should not misconstrue that incident as being anti-abortion [cite web | year= 2005 | title="John Lydon.Com, Q Magazine, December 2005, The Best of British £1 Notes " | url=http://www.johnlydon.com/q05.html ] . This may indicate the song's lyrics describe that situation to some degree.

The song has been covered by grunge-rock band Veruca Salt, Velvet Revolver, The Manic Street Preachers, and LA band Peppermint Creeps.

References