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Bodies Lyrics

She was a girl from Birmingham
She just had an abortion
She was a case of insanity
Her name was Pauline she lived in a tree
She was a no one who killed her baby
She sent her letters from the country
She was an animal
She was a bloody disgrace !

Body I'm not an animal !

Dragged on a table in a factory
Illegitimate place to be
In a packet in a lavatory
die little baby SCREAMING !

Body screamin fucking bloody mess
it's not an animal
it's an abortion

Body I'm not an animal
Mummy I'm not an abortion !

Throbbing squirm gurgling bloody mess
I'm not a discharge
I'm not a loss in protein
I'm not a throbbing squirm

Fuck this and fuck that
Fuck it all and fuck
the fucking brat
She don't wanna baby that looks like that
I don't wanna baby that looks like that
Body I'm not an animal
Body I'm not an abortion

I'm not an animal Mummy !
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Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

Sorry to everyone who thinks this song is anti-abortion: You're wrong. Johnny had this to say in an interview when asked if Bodies was anti-abortion:

"No. Quite the opposite. No, no. Early on I had an acceptance of what life really is. We lived in two rooms and we had an outdoor toilet. My mum had a miscarriage. And this isn't against my mum, but - this could have been a brother or a sister for me to play with and I had to flush it down the toilet. I mean, that strikes you. And that's like an abortion. I'm not anti- or pro-abortion. Every woman should have the choice when they face it. But that was a grim Steptoe & Son world. My mum was heartbroken. And if you construe that as being anti-abortion, then you're a silly cu... sausage."

So, he's pro-choice and has a special message to those who construe.

Song Meaning

@CVReynolds

"So, he's pro-choice and has a special message to those who construe." Are you fucking kidding me? He just said in that quote he's not pro choice or pro life, you just determined for him what he is.

@Nesman1995 hopefully the poster hasn’t edited his post retroactively but, provided he didn’t: you need to read closer, nesman1995, you dik.

@CVReynolds Good christ is this bullshit.This is revisionist history by Lydon. Look at the lyrics, they don't match this fantasy at all.

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

this song is a true story about a crazy girl that stalked johnny, her name was pauline and she "lived" in a treehouse in the back yard of the mental instution in johnny's neighborhood, and one day she showed up at johnny's door, completely naked holding a plastic garbage bag that had a dead fetus in it, and then proceeded to tell him that she gave herself a coat-hanger abortion because she didn't want to have anyone else's child but his. johnny was nither pro or anti abortion he writes lyrics that he knows are going to piss all the right people off.... hence god save the queen, and Anarchy for the U.K., promoting anarchy in the uk at the time was the equivent of putting out a death threat for the president today, and also in 1970's england it was a crime against the crown (federal crime/felony) to make any public statement that was considered "bad-mouthing" or mocking the queen

@LastCaress - good post - I didn't know that .....

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

on the program Classic Album's, johnny rotten says it's a true story, this crazy girl came to his house with a foetus in a clear plastic handbag, so he decided to write a song about it. he also says it's neither pro- or anti-abortion, just thought provoking.

@petethefool maybe he did, but it's always best to take anything he claims with just a dash of salt

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

John said that it's not for or against abortion. Pauline was a mad fan who used to turn up everywhere. She had a funny way of knowing where the band was.

@Whatsername1251 she probably read the playing 'notices'

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

What an amazing song! I don't think it's anti abortion (she don't want a baby that look like that, I don't want a baby that looks like that!), I think it's more about the fact that abortion is nasty, and unpleasant, regardless of your opinions as to whether a woman should have the right or not. And yeah, it's also designed to shock.....but I think it's genius.

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

abortion is a womens right so SHUT UP.

Dissecting REALITY

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

its wkd man!!!!! never mind the bollocks is the best album eva. this is real punk, not this new sappy stuff!

????????????

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

this is the greatest sex pisotls song.. rottens voice is amazing and so powerful (as always) but ESPECIALLY on this song which is my favorite of many pistols songs

@empty_satire it's definitely VERY forceful. I've also heard the opinion that this particular song 'started' UK hardcore. As this song IS their best, I checked out a few of the bands records it supposedly influenced: GBH, Exploited et al, and found them, while not atrocious, a massive disappointment

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

pretty daring for its day..."fuck this and fuck that, fuck it all and fuck the fucking brat" you don't even find lyrics like that much nowadays let alone the 70s. bet it was all censored

@Cherub Rock have you listened to any hip-hop lately - because it makes this look like 'mary had a little lamb'

Cover art for Bodies lyrics by Sex Pistols

Johnny Rotten's lyrics and songs are very meaningful. They tend to piss people off because they have what most people lack, integrity.

@montresor funny