Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Belsen Was A Gas

This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record.
The result of the debate was keep. Joyous 16:37, Feb 5, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Belsen Was A Gas

Original research. Somebody's personal interpretation of the meaning of the song. RickK 22:34, Jan 29, 2005 (UTC)

• Keep. It's a controversial song so I tried to address the controversy. If it wanders a bit into original research then parts can be rewritten. The original author didn't address the controversy at all, which made it flawed, so I tried to fix it, while explaining the views of those who see it as anti-semitic and those who don't. -R. fiend 23:09, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)
• Keep. Cleanup, if necessary. Mikkalai 23:36, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)
• Keep, cleanup and expand, notable song by the Sex Pistols. Megan1967 03:31, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)
• I say delete. Lester Bangs wrote about it in one of his essays, the most common version was recorded live, there was a second version recorded with Ronnie Biggs and some more words, it emerged at a time when the band were severely pissed-off, and the title is a pun. That's about all you can write about 'Belsen was a Gas' in an encyclopaedic context without rambling. As an interesting paragraph in the entry for The Great Rock and Roll Swindle a mention would be fine, but this isn't it. Although I was only a kid at the time, the analysis seems badly flawed, unaware of the contemporary context, both social and personal; people were a lot less touchy about swastikas and Nazis at the time, Johnny Rotten enjoyed shocking people, and the song's notoriety came more from the trivial pun in the title than any accusations of anti-semitism, which itself was much less of a sin in the late 1970s. The lyrics seem to be a spew of disgust and self-hate, and the article's assertations are couched in the kind of 'some people argue that' weakness which disgusts me. -Ashley Pomeroy 22:34, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)
  • If it was less controversial at the time then that's probably worth mentioning in the article. However the song, having been recorded, still exists today, and remains controversial in present context (with the Sex Pistols still very popular today). I was a little uncomfortable with the "original researchishness" of it, but I attempted to address the song based on what I know of it and whatever information I could get off google as I waded through hundreds of pages, mostly of lyrics and tabs. If the song is seen mocking the holocaust, or as advocating killing Jews, I can't see it being not a big deal, even in the '70s. Anyway, I took out a couple lines and added a bit on the pun, which I thought too obvious to mention before, but it may not be. I wouldn't have written an article on the song myself, but the stub that was written really didn't say anything so I tried to improve it. As you seem to know a bit about it, can you confirm the article's assertion (by the original author), that the song's only studio recording is lost? It seems that the Ronnie Biggs version would have to be a studio recording, as I can't see a guy who was on the lam performing at a live concert. -R. fiend 00:01, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)
• Keep. Notable song by notable band. Good work, R. fiend! - David Gerard 23:10, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)
• Keep. I don't think this is what was intended to be covered under "original research". Of course, documentation of the controversy would be very helpful. Nevertheless, the article overall was very informative, and the balance was factual. Agree with David Gerard. Meelar (talk) 06:58, Jan 31, 2005 (UTC)
• Clear keep in current form. More on the controversy would be helpful. -- Jmabel | Talk 19:15, Jan 31, 2005 (UTC)
• Keep. There's lots to be said about this song; it's just as deserving of its own article as the many Beatles songs already on Wikipedia. I'm pleased to see that someone has created an article about "Belsen" and I'll probably end up contributing to it. Psychonaut 21:17, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
• Keep. quercus robur 14:16, 5 Feb 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.