Belsen Was a Gas
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"Belsen Was a Gas" is one of the most controversial songs by the British punk band the Sex Pistols. The song is about the concentration camps in Germany during World War II, specifically Bergen-Belsen, which was liberated by British troops in 1945, [1] and was consequently more well-known in that country than similar camps in Eastern Europe (Belsen is also mentioned in their song "Holidays in the Sun").
It is thought to have been written by bassist Sid Vicious while in his earlier band The Flowers of Romance. According to hearsay Sid wrote it as a joke. Its title is a pun on the Zyklon B gas used in many camps. "Belsen was a Gas", "a Gas" meaning popular.
The song is generally seen as being anti-semitic, and while it has been defended as not necessarily being blatantly so, the overall tone is not sympathetic to the plight of the Jews, and does not attack the Nazis. On the other hand, many of the lyrics can be read as a statement of fact, describing what happened in the holocaust, if in a somewhat dismissive tone. The opening lines are:
- Belsen was a gas, I heard the other day
- In the open graves where the Jews all lay
Sid Vicious was known to wear a swastika shirt just for the shock value, and it is likely that this song was another example of trying to be shocking and controversial.
The song appears in two versions on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle album, first in a live version from the Sex Pistols' last concert (San Francisco, January 14, 1978), then in an extended version with Ronnie Biggs on vocals, with two additional verses. The second verse describes some of the treatment Jews received, being stripped of their valuables and having their gold fillings extracted from their teeth. The final lines are highly problematic:
- When they find out what they've got,
- Line them up and shoot the lot.
If an implied "they" is put before the final line, the meaning is made merely a statement of fact. However, without such a word it reads as an encouragement or order.
On most versions of the album, the live version is listed in Gothic script as "Einmal Belsen war vortrefflich" and Biggs' version is "Einmal Belsen war wirklich vortrefflich"; these grammatically erroneous German titles translate more or less as "Once, Belsen was brilliant" and "Once, Belsen was really brilliant". The first UK sleeve gave the titles as "Belsen Was a Gas" and "Belsen wos a gassa".
For years it was thought that the Pistols had only played the song live, but it has recently been discovered that a studio version was recorded in late 1977. However, it has since been lost.
When the Sex Pistols reformed for a reunion tour of the U.S. in 2003, after the start of the Iraq War, they performed an adapted version of the song, called "Baghdad Was a Gas", as an attack on President Bush's policies in the region.
Many Sex Pistols fans think that if the band had stayed together, "Belsen" would have been their first single of 1978. It is rumored that another song, "Sod in Heaven", would have been the B-side. The song is said to have been played only once, used as a sound check when the Pistols were at the Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, January 10, 1978. However, technical personnel who were present at the soundcheck state that "Problems" was the song of choice. "Sod in Heaven" apparently became the song "Religion" by Johnny Rotten's Public Image Limited.
| Sex Pistols |
|---|
| Johnny Rotten | Steve Jones | Glen Matlock | Paul Cook | Sid Vicious |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Never Mind the Bollocks, 1977 |
| Singles: Anarchy in the UK, 1976 | God Save the Queen, 1977 | Pretty Vacant, 1977 | Holidays in the Sun, 1977 | No One Is Innocent, 1978 |
| Live and compilation releases: Some Product: Carri on Sex Pistols, 1979 | The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, 1980 | Flogging a Dead Horse, 1980 |
| Related articles |
| Public Image Ltd. | Malcolm McLaren | Jamie Reid | Ronnie Biggs | Edward Tudor-Pole | The Professionals | The Filth and the Fury | Punk rock |
