Belsen Was A Gas by Sex Pistols

Album: The Great Rock And Roll Swindle (1979)

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Songfacts®:

This song is about Bergen-Belsen, a German concentration camp that was liberated by British troops in 1945. Even by Sex Pistols standards, it's a controversial song. >>
Suggestion credit:
Jakob - Edmonton, Canada
The Canadian phone company Bell Canada took some heat when they commissioned a wall-size subway ad showing a girl using one of their phones and wearing a Sex Pistol's pin that read "Belsen was a gas." They apologized for the ad, as many people took offense at a phone company using the line to promote a product. >>
Suggestion credit:
Bertrand - Paris, France
Lead singer Johnny Rotten credits bass player Sid Vicious with coming up with the title, originally "Belsen Was A Gag." Rotten changed it to "Belsen Was A Gas" as a nod to one of his favorite pop songs, T. Rex's "Life's A Gas."
In Daniel Rachel's book The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters, Rotten (real name John Lydon) calls this "an absurd song. It's over the top. It's an ironical song. It's so completely, clearly not pro that at all."

Comments: 3

Anonymous"There were no gas chambers at Bergen-Belsen. In fact, only 7 Nazi camps had them out of the hundreds. The deaths at Bergen-Belsen were mostly due to a massive epidemic of typhus, starvation, other diseases, exhaustion and other forms of execution (beating, gunshot, etc.)"

And? That somehow makes Bergen-Belsen better?
Mike from Clinton, MaThere were no gas chambers at Bergen-Belsen. In fact, only 7 Nazi camps had them out of the hundreds. The deaths at Bergen-Belsen were mostly due to a massive epidemic of typhus, starvation, other diseases, exhaustion and other forms of execution (beating, gunshot, etc.)
Frank from Morenci , Aznot one of my favorite Sex Pistol Songs...Never Mind the Bollocks is one of my favorite albums of all time.

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