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1. PREFACE
With the aim to add more understanding about analyzing a literary work using a specific literary
criticism, we would like to present this paper, which is entitled An Analysis of Punk Subculture in Sex
Pistols’ Song; God Save the Queen based on Cultural Studies to all of you. Speaking about cultural
studies, we understand that using this criticism can be risky. Why? It is because there will be a lot of
things that can be found in only one literary work that is analyzed, while the chance to get the point is
inevitable. Imagine cutting a meat with a lot of kinds of knives. It happened exactly the same when we
analyzed this selected song from the most phenomenal punk rock band from UK.
Basically, cultural studies is an academic field concerned with the study of culture and how it
shapes society and individuals, mostly. But it is hard to define culture actually. It is too broad, though it
has been defined in various ways. For example, culture has been defined as a way of life. It focuses less
on institutions and more to people living in certain area. It also concerns more on texts. We sum up then
cultural studies investigates the activities of everyday life done by people living in certain area. Loosely
speaking, this paper covers the identification of punk social critics from a lyric of song composed by Sex
Pistols.
This paper is divided into 6 parts; introduction, description of the object, cultural studies
criticism, result of analysis, conclusion, and references. Each part is explained circumstantially so
hopefully that would lead to a much clearer understanding.
Last, we would like to say thanks to our Lord, Allah SWT, for the time given, so this paper can be
finished on time and we also would like to say thanks to our lecturer, Mr. Yan Ardian, for giving us such
information in finishing this paper. Hopefully this paper brings knowledge more profound to anyone who
reads in understanding cultural studies as one of literary criticism. Thank you very much.

2. INTRODUCTION
Stuart Hall, a prominent cultural theorist talks about a ‘conceptual map’. An object
becomes a part of one’s conceptual map and people with similar conceptual maps who
interpret the world roughly in the same way are generally thought of as belonging to the same
culture. Therefore, cultural studies according to him becomes all about unpacking this
conceptual map. If it is all arranged somehow, cultural studies is ranging in cultural activities
involved in clash, issues lie between them as well as language. By understanding the culture,
it can help people make sense of the world around. This is why the scope of cultural studies
is already broad as compared to the others. Then it also concerns with ideology and power
and the issues between them. But, looking back to post-structuralist and new historicism, they
certainly ‘do’ have connection with cultural studies. Cultural studies investigate everything
living against the grain, by also considering all of the aspects that lead to the decision to
against the grain. It was all started from investigating some prominent Shakespeare’s works,
identifying almost every single thing that made up the works. So it was all started from
investigating texts, like a lot of piles of it.
The example about a conceptual map is when someone imagines a tree. Each person
has the image, but certainly in different portrayed image. If the question is pointed to some
people living in certain area with similar unconscious mind about how a tree mostly look
like, that they have seen every day, that the concept is reinforced and accepted, do they have
the same conceptual map about this tree? For in certain culture, there are codes, which are
deeply rooted in and these people are connected with it. Codes are known and live within a
certain society. Other than codes, there are also ideas and values embedded in culture. The
ideas and values are then reinforced, accepted, repeated and eventually seen by a big number
of people living in the same cave as mainstream. Thus it makes them a mainstream society.
With the same styles, interests and tastes come together, it forms a common identity
as mainstream society. And there is also a chance of another one formed with different
sameness. This sameness of society forms a subculture. The portion of subculture in a
society is partial. For some reasons it can also be formed as the protest for a bigger
mainstream society ruling hegemony. So subculture is living against the grain prevail in

3. society. This term was first coined and mostly became predominant in Britain after the
Second World War. It was a time of great upheaval in the middle class way of living towards
a ruling class. Through the opposition and resistance, subculture was born in the youths of
the disintegrating middle class, and they were desperate quested for identity. The phenomena
appear a lot in the object of this analysis.
The reason why this study picked punk social critics as the issues found in the chosen
object –a song from Sex Pistols, God Saves the Queen is because there are evidences of
cultural practices and their relations to the power. Thus it makes the issue worth analyzing
using cultural studies.

4. DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECT
God Save the Queen by Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols was an English punk rock band formed in London in1975. This band is
then considered for the forerunner in initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom.
They inspired a lot of later punk and alternative rock musicians. Although their career lasted
for only about two-and-a-half years, they had produced four singles and one studio album,
Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. Ever since their album came out, a lot of
commentators believed that they are the most influential acts in the history of popular music.
Included Johnny Rotten as the singer of the first incarnation, Steve Jones as the lead
guitar, bass player Glen Matlock and Paul Cook as the drummer, they were formed in 1972.
They came as working-class teenagers who didn’t have equipment to start a band. They
started everything using the instruments they had stolen. They went to music performances
and when the concert was over, they would go up on stage and steal as much instrument as
they could carry.
In early 1977, the bass player was replaced by Sid Vicious. Under the management
of Malcolm McLaren, a visual artist, performer, clothes designer and boutique owner, the
band provoked controversies that garnered a significant amount of publicity. Their concerts
repeatedly faced difficulties with organizers and local authorities, and public appearances
often ended in mayhem. Their 1977 single "God Save the Queen", attacking social
conformity and deference to the Crown.
About the Song
God Save the Queen was released as the band's second single. It was later then
included on their only one album, Never Mind the Bollocks. It was released on March 10,
1977 outside the Buckingham Palace. Unintentionally, the released of their album took place
on the same day with Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee. This song was formerly titled No
Future, but was changed to coincide with the 1977 Silver Jubilee of the Queen. In addition to
the title which is controversial, the cover of this album once became an issue too. This title

5. was considered as satirical version of the real anthem which came up with the same title too.
God Save the Queen is a British national anthem during female sovereign. Previously it was
titled with God Save the King, when the male is on charge, and vice versa. Sadly after some
incidents, A&M Records broke the previous contract. This incident made the twenty-five
thousand copies of the planned God Save the Queen single which had been pressed were all
destroyed (virtually). On May 27, the band signed with Virgin Records. It was their third
label in little more than half a year.
This song had been censored all over Britain. This is because of the hateful and
satirical lyric. A lot of radio stations, including BBC refused to play the song (BBC is
Queen’s owned, right?). Rotten then boasted, "We're the only honest band that's hit this
planet in about two thousand million years." In addition to that, Jones shrugged off
everything the song stated and implied—or took nihilism, which also means satirical too, to a
logical endpoint: "I don't see how anyone could describe us as a political band. I don't even
know the name of the Prime Minister." The song, and its public impact, is now recognized as
"punk's crowning glory".
The song was a massive success. It was because of the release time which coincided
with the height of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee celebrations. A week and a half after the
record’s released, it has sold more than 150,000 copies. Then the band sailed down the River
Thames, passing Westminster Pier and the Houses of Parliament while performing. It was
intended as the mockery of the Queen. But it ended in chaos as the police launched forced the
boat to the dock. The band was arrested.
With the help of mass media, although this song was banned all over country, the
demands became its Queen. A lot of magazines made reviews whose predictions went to the
song to be number one. But then again, it turned out that the single was placed second after
Rod Stewart’s single. The chart had been rigged to prevent a spectacle as a lot of people
believed the record had actually qualified for the top spot. Later on, the exceptional directive
was issued by the British Phonographic Institute, which oversaw the chart-compiling bureau.
After that, the band members were terrorized with threats even some of them were assaulted,
beaten up by some gangs.

6. The Lyric
God save the queen
The fascist regime
They made you a moron
Potential H-bomb
God save the queen
She ain't no human being
There is no future
In England's dreaming
Don't be told what you want
Don't be told what you need
There's no future, no future,
No future for you
God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves
God save the queen
'Cause tourists are money
And our figurehead
Is not what she seems
Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
All crimes are paid
When there's no future
How can there be sin
We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine
We're the future, your future
God save the queen
We mean it man
We love our queen
God saves
God save the queen
We mean it man
And there is no future
In England's dreaming
No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future,
No future for me
No future, no future,
No future for you
No future, no future
For you
Basically this song was intentionally dedicated to satirize the Silver’s Jubilee of Queen
Elizabeth II. The economy and social conditions were portrayed in contrast with the
celebration. Thus, it made Rotten to critically mock this condition through this song. It was
partially made due to the freedom, which a subculture possessed as feature, as long as they do
not counter the government.

7. CULTURAL STUDIES
Definition
It is not easy to talk about culture. Culture is considered as a discipline, which is
becoming more and more global. Everyone has it in one form or another. It is diverse and
rapidly changes from time to time. Why does it change so fast? It is because of the
globalization effect as people in the world are drawn to each other’s culture when they trade
goods as well as information. Thus, the marriage between different cultures creates another
new one.
Cultural studies as one of literary criticisms analyses a range of different theoretical
and methodological perspectives and practices, as well as contemporary cultures in order to
derive meaning from them. In addition, cultural studies also discusses and observes some of
culture’s exclusions, injustices, and prejudices like racial and gender oppressions.
It also aims to enhance and highlight cultural experiences, so that there is a chance to
enjoy culture through analyzing it and its social meaning. By exploring a wide range of
institutions developed by cultural experiences like media, television, and cultural heritage, it
is easier then to understand the society who lives with all of that. This is why cultural studies
deals more with culture as a part of everyday life. It is indeed, an evolving field that changes
and develops within the culture itself. It shapes everything related to cultural society.
To limit the topic, here are 5 characteristics of cultural studies found by Ziauddin
Sardar, a cultural critic, through his book, Introducing Cultural Studies (1994):
1. The aim of cultural studies is to examine cultural practices and their relation to
power. For example, a study of a subculture (such as white working class youth in
London) would consider their social practices against those of the dominant culture
(in this example, the middle and upper classes in London who control the political
and financial sectors that create policies affecting the well-being of white working
class youth in London).
2. The objective of cultural studies includes understanding culture in all its complex
forms and analyzing the social and political context in which culture manifests itself.

8. 3. Cultural Studies is both the object of study and the location of political criticism and
action. (For example, not only would a cultural studies scholar study an object, but
s/he would connect this study to a larger, progressive political project.)
4. Cultural Studies attempts to expose and reconcile the division of knowledge, to
overcome the split between tacit forms of knowledge (cultural) and objective forms
of knowledge (universal).
5. Cultural Studies has a commitment to an ethical evaluation of modern society and to
a radical line of political action.
Cultural studies also investigate the existence of subculture. Why? It is definitely
because of the reason a certain subculture decides to live against the grain, which also means
against any ruling hegemony in society. There must be an issue lie between them. It can be
seen from punk subculture, which can be decoded using ‘myth’ theory from Roland Barthes.
What makes punk subculture different is all started from the style, ideology, dance, music,
and other literary works. The most important thing from this subculture is the style, which
becomes a source of intentional communication of it. How come? How does style signify
contestation and rebellion against dominant orders?
Especially in semiotic approach, besides of words and images, objects can function
also as signifiers in the production of meaning. For example, if an advertisement of Pizza
Restaurant displays a picture or poster with the dominance of red, green and white colors.
Then there is implicit meaning that tries to deliver, and it is related to Italian food. Just like
style, punk subculture also expresses everything towards their decision to alienate themselves
from mainstream society through music. Music, style, and ideology then become signifiers of
their dislikes.
Subculture
The word ‘sub’ in the beginning of subculture means the opposite identity of
dominant culture. There are also some experts in linguistics consider the word ‘sub’ as
differences or distinctiveness. Especially in sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a
subculture is a group of people with a culture (whether distinct or hidden) which
differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.

9. Therefore, subcultures are social. They can seem self-absorbed and blend with the
society, although they would be alienated. They resist the dominant culture with their own
shared conventions, values, and rituals. It is another feature that distinguishes them from
countercultures, which work oppositely. There are six key ways in which subcultures can be
understood easily. They have negative relations to work (as 'idle', 'parasitic', at play or at
leisure, etc.), they are not class-conscious and do not conform traditional class definitions,
they gang up by associating with territory like street, club, hood, alley, etc., rather than
property, they mostly move out from their homes into non-domestic forms of belonging like
social groups, they share the sameness towards style, and they refuse the banalities of
ordinary life.
A subculture then can be perceived as negative due to the nature of criticism to the
dominant societal standard. In essence, subcultures bring together like-minded individuals
who feel neglected by societal standards and allow them to develop a sense of identity.
Identifying subculture is through fashion, styles and fashion. Members of a subculture often
signal their membership through a distinctive and symbolic use of style, which includes
fashions, mannerisms, and language.
History of Punk Subculture
It involves the history of punk rock, ideology, fashion, visual art, literature, dance,
and film. The punk subculture has spread around the globe and evolved into a number of
different forms ever since emerging in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia
in the mid-1970s. It plays important part in the history of subcultures in the 20th century.
Dissatisfaction with the economic recession, including a garbage strike life among
the youth of industrial Britain (working-class), became the trigger of the forming of this
subculture. It is also coincided with the end of the era of post-war consensus politics. It
preceded the rise of Thatcherism (Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom from 1979 to 1990). Nearly all British punk bands expressed an attitude of angry
social alienation. The social alienation was directed to Thatcher’s decision for she objected
the growth of minorities and the number of Asian immigrants. The incident when Vietnamese
boats were disallowed to settle in the UK, adding more hatred towards the ruling hegemony.

10. ANALYSIS
From the underlined lines of the lyric, those lines actually represent the social
condition of Britain. This is why this study focuses on social setting of a literary work.
Through analyzing the song’s social setting, the connection between a literary work and its
social life can be found easily. Since social life contains a lot of problems contain such scope
like habits, economy, politic, tradition, custom, ideology, faith and so on, the ability to
inspect the elements of subculture in the selected song can be done fairly.
The lines represented the social condition at the time this song was made and
released are then found, as follow:
Findings
1. God save the Queen, the fascist regime.
The highlighted words refer to an ideology, which is kind of right-wing government. A
country with fascism ideology is putting the country more important than the people. This
country is usually run by a dictator, who has the right of total control over the government
and people. Imagine a group of people sticks together resulting in unbreakable kind of thing.
Fascists think that if a lot of people follow the same leader, it will make the country remains
strong.
Facts:
This line was not made intentionally as insult. Insulting was not a new thing, and that is what
makes this single banned all over Britain. This song was released during Queen Elizabeth’s
Silver Jubilee in 1977. Although Rotten did not claim this song as mockery, people as the
real judges can see whether this line was true or not. If we connect it to the social condition,
the word fascist was intended to evoke English working class under the regime of what they
claimed as fascist. It was for a reason; there was no place for uneducated people in Britain
but in factories. They ended up as working class (labors) employees. They had got no other
option to earn a lot of money. Rotten also said that this song was made intentionally as a
general resentment for the monarchy.
2. They made you a moron, potential H-bomb.
The word ‘they’ here refers to the government which suppressed the ability of working class.
They only got chance to follow the rules made by the government which did not give any
chance for the working class members to use their intelligence. Thus, it makes them pointed
as potential H-bomb, because they were not worth anything. The H-bomb here means

11. alienation for working class people. It underlines the rage, fierce and frustration of alienation
towards them conducted by other upper classes.
3. God save the Queen, she ain’t no human being.
It is oxymoron. For mentioning ‘she ain’t no human being’ means satirically considered the
Queen as a ‘human’ lacking some features of humanity. She became no human being because
of the monarchy system at the time. She was fabricated into a human with ruthless heart. Her
decision to hold a Jubilee in condition where the poorer got poorer is intolerable to the band.
4. There is no future in England’s dreaming.
It refers to the condition of Britain which formerly had its glory times. By the time the song
was written, it represented the real condition when there were several sad things happened,
like the power-cuts where they only had 9 hours a day to use the electricity, riots caused by
some counter cultures, terrorism, the space hopper and the economic decline.
5. Don’t be told what you want, don’t be told what you need.
This line refers to a condition where the band wanted minorities to resist the power of
capitalism by its propaganda to make the people believe that they want and need the same
things, the things that drive people to do anything, money. It is pretty usual since during 70s,
Britain was not in its glory times. Economic decline became the reason of all of the problems,
especially with employees decrease all around Britain. Working class people became target,
while the upper and middle classes were doing well.
6. There’s no future, no future, no future for you.
This line represents nihilism, which is a belief that a society’s political and social institutions
are just so bad that they should be destroyed instead of being worshipped. Punk subculture
believed in nihilism. They became skeptical and all thanks to the social condition and
organization which were so bad as to make it destructed was allowed and the right thing to
do. This doctrine also became the reason of such subculture was becoming the cause of any
riots at that time. The repetition of ‘no future’ just sounds too ironic as it becomes such fear
for a lot of working class people will end up with no future under fascist regime.
7. God save the Queen, we mean it man.
This line just clearly describes so much hatred this band possessed towards the Queen, for
God (really) saves her. But actually it sounds depressed formed in hope, for the Queen to get
her sanity and fix everything.
8. We love our Queen, God saves.

12. This line sounds hyperbole. For everything that they had been through, there is no way for
them to love their Queen, especially for her decision to keep holding Jubilee even when her
people were so damn poor.
9. God save the Queen, ‘cause tourists are money.
This line shows how grand the Jubilee was for a lot of tourists from all over the world came
to see the celebration. This band thought it was such fortunate to hold this celebration,
because tourists are money. The Queen got a lot of profit, yet she didn’t change anything to
help the poorer.
10. And our figurehead is not what she seems
It is ironic for the figurehead here means a head without real power. This figurehead is
represented to the Queen. It also means the heads or existences of ‘our/working class people’.
The Queen did not see it as a big thing.
11. Oh God save history, oh God save your mad parade.
This line is like a request for God to save history through waking up the government to save
the mad parade conducted by the poorer. The use of history word here is meant for a future
the world would never have such history of Britain in the lowest condition almost in every
sector. This line is also intended to save the mad parade or Jubilee, for this contrast condition
between the Jubilee itself and the social condition should not be recorded in the history
(because of embarrassment).
12. Oh Lord God have mercy, all crimes are paid.
All of the crimes at that time were paid. The crimes, which were intentionally made to ruin
the poorer were arranged to be paid. The economic decline left people with any other options
to choose.
13. When there’s no future, how can there be sin?
It is a fact. It speaks literally the truth. Just go die and stop making anymore sin. Just go die
because there is no future. There is no hope. This line was satirically pointed to working class
for the better choice was dying. Dying was better than making sins.
14. We’re the flowers in the dustbin. We’re the poison in your human machine.
This line shows Johnny Rotten’s despair and hopelessness of being young living as a new
lost generation’s anger with unemployment and monarchy system. Working in largely low-
paid, inflexible and stressful jobs the system turned these young graduates and young adults
into flowers in the dustbin as Rotten so aptly described. Thus it makes them poisoned in the

13. human machine of monarchy system. It is like having these useless and unemployed young
generations only became such embarrassment for the country.
15. We’re the future, your future.
However, in the end of this song before it goes to repetition of verses, the word ‘we’ refers to
these working class young adults who (eventually) would become the future of this country.
They are the future, your future, anyway. So you had better treat them well.
These facts and findings are connected with the social condition in which the Silver Jubilee
became the main mockery’s target of this song. Living in economic decline where there was
no field job available, these young adults took some of their leisure time to share the burden
with each other in the same condition doing what they love to do. We think the findings and
facts are related with cultural studies where the social condition of a subculture becomes
main concern in analyzing.

14. CONCLUSION
The selected song represents greatly how this band was willing to take risk, making lyrics by
implicitly mocking the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. And it is because of the sickness of living on
the edge of the cliff that they could easily fall. Great power comes with great responsibility,
but the Queen did not seem understand it as she is just a figurehead after all. Punk subculture
then became a new way of life. The people in it worshipped nihilism as the protest that it was
easier to swallow nihilism than face the truth (actual social condition at that time). They did
not counter by being harsh. They showed it through keeping the alienation made by other
classes towards them. That only showed how they care less about what other classes would
say.

15. INTERNET REFERENCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies#Theory_of_hegemony
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punk_subculture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_punk_subculture
http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/punk.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_%28cultural_theorist%29#Encoding_and_decoding
_model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziauddin_Sardar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_Pistols#Origins_and_early_days
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Save_the_Queen_%28Sex_Pistols_song%29
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sexpistols/godsavethequeen.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Jubilee_of_Elizabeth_II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher