The more I hear the Sex Pistols, the more I hear a British band. In many ways, the reason Punk didn’t work around the world is because the rest of the world just didn’t have that Britishness (see the American invention called “punk pop” for one example) …

This song has been called one of the most conservative songs of all time, but not quite … It couldn’t have been made in this way somewhere else. If it had been an American band, it would have had specific politics and the band’s look and public life would have matched those politics; and it would have all been sold in one neat package to those who share those politics. And it would have been just another a product, just another political statement, and the art would be lost, and it would be just another loud song, with a single loud “message”, by just another loud band.

“A girl from Birmingham used to bother the hell out of me, turn up at the doorstep one night with a see-through, clear, handbag that had a fetus in it … That song is not anti-abortion, it’s not pro-abortion … Don’t be callous like that with a human being but don’t be limited to such a thing as ‘morals’ either, because it’s immoral to bring a kid into this world and not give a toss about it.”

Johnny Rotten

• Sex Pistols – Bodies