God save the queen (with the safety pin through her nose)

(This was written when Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating 50 years on the throne, back in 2002).

This image, couresty of graphic artist Jamie Reid remains deeply iconic.



Now, no disrespect to the head of what remains of the British empire, but being an Yank (and one of Irish descent at that, not to mention a left winger), I must admit that it's hard for me to be too reverential toward royal traditions. I tend to see these Buckingham Palace dwellers as little more than a curious carryover from a bygone era, and probably not really worth the care and feeing costs involved. But, as an American, I also recognize that it's ultimately none of my business whether or not the British want to keep their Royals.


However, as an amateur, but passionate, pop historian and punk fan, the thought of the Queen celebrating an anniversary will always call to mind something else for me. The great punk year 1977 was 25 years ago. It was in this year that Johnny Rotten/Lydon got his face slashed by some nationalistic street thugs in retaliation for the symbolic slashing by him of the Queen. She was for him, and for many, an empty meaningless signifier, and so he, with his sense of ironic black humor, called her a "moron" and a "potential H-Bomb." With this, the punk poster/t-shirt of Elizabeth with a safety pin through her nose became one of punk's (and thus rock's) great signifiers - a thing of beauty (in the postmodern sense of beauty). It was a gesture, an act of toppling an apple cart or the throwing of a tomato at some revered object. The punks like Johnny Rotten instinctively knew that which I always tell my students in my sociology classes, namely to recognize what the norms are,
one might go about breaching them. And breach the norms the punks certainly did.


As I reminisce about this time, it occurs to me that, like myself, Johnny Lydon, Steve Jones, Ari Up, Jimmy Pursey, Joe Strummer, Rat Scabies, Mark P, Siouxsie Sioux, and whoever's left of the Bromley Contingent are all getting older, if not mellower. Hopefully, they have some contentment in their lives today, given the likelihood of their memories of an exciting and meaningful time in their youth. Hopefully, for them, as for me, the "official" celebrations of the Queen calls to mind the great punk safety-pin signifier and that this gives them some satisfaction and puts a little smile on their faces. Hopefully, they can hear the words, sung in that expressive Johnny Rotten voice:

...GOD SAVE THE QUEEN
SHE AIN'T NO HUMAN BEING
THERE IS NO FUTURE
AND ENGLAND'S DREAMING....