> BTW when did punk become left-wing? The Sex Pistols
> certainly weren't
Sure they were. "Never Mind the Bollocks" is sheer musical genius. The lyrics aren't perfect - as workingclass kids from London, they had lots of internalized sexism and homophobia, but surprisingly little racism. Documentaries of the band noted the only music they could stand to listen to on their tour bus was reggae - they were big Bob Marley fans.
"Bodies" isn't about abortion, it's a somewhat sexist rant about how punk is the illegitimate child of flower-power. And "Holidays in the Sun" is just brilliant, a savage burn on the tourist industry and much else besides:
"Sensurround sound in a two-inch wall / well I was waiting for the communist call / I didn't ask for sunshine, and I got World War Three / I'm looking over the wall..." [Lydon's voice erupts into primal scream] "AND THEY'RE LOOKING AT MEEEEE"...
Pure 1970s Hamletmachine-style subversion: East and West have converged into twin jailhouses of the total system, the monstrous backlash of Thatcherism is on its way... but there's hope in the global proletariat: "I'm going to go... under the Berlin Wall"... Deep underground, where we communist moles are wont to burrow.
-- DRR