Oh, Johnny Lydon...

For those of you that may not be hip to the Punk scene, there was a group ages ago named "The Sex Pistols." They were widely heralded as the definitive punk rock band, even only having released one studio album before the demise of their Bassist, Sid Vicious. The whole saga of the band is incredible, a sordid tale of anarchy, chaos, debauchery, misery and betrayal. It was in 1978 that this band broke up and Johnny Rotten, who went back to his surname Lydon, created Public Image Limited.

Public Image Limited, better known as PiL, went on to become a successful post-punk band, experimenting with different sounds and different styles (when they weren't drunk or high, actually). Their 1990 studio album The Greatest Hits, so Far turned up a surprising hit with the song "Don't Ask Me." The song is a diatribe against the inanities and the ills of the world, from mass packaging, to politics to one's own feeble mindset.

The song is interesting, to say the least. Musically, it's pretty simple. Synthesized drum machine, poppy beat and high-pitched vocals. I can't listen to it too many times, but I have to come back to the song every once in a while. For the sobering realization that sometimes, bad music can be combined with good lyrics to make for an interesting song.


Cya tomorrow... double song Friday!
-om