The Great Rock 'N' Swindle - The Sex Pistols (cover)

"The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle" is the title song of The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle movie soundtrack album.

The single was released on 12 September 1979 and featured vocals by Edward Tudor-Pole on both sides.

The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle is a 1980 British mockumentary film directed by Julien Temple and produced by Don Boyd and Jeremy Thomas. It centres on the British punk rock band Sex Pistols and, most prominently, their manager Malcolm McLaren.

Guitarist Steve Jones plays a shady private detective who - through a series of set piece acts - uncovers the truth about the band. Drummer Paul Cook and bass guitarist Sid Vicious play smaller roles, and the band's manager, Malcolm McLaren, is featured as "The Embezzler", the man who manipulates the Sex Pistols. Fugitive train robber Ronnie Biggs, performer Edward Tudor-Pole, sex film star Mary Millington, and actresses Irene Handl and Liz Fraser also make appearances. Singer and frontman Johnny Rotten refused to have anything to do with the film, stating that it was "a pile of rubbish" and "Malcolm's vision of what he believed and not true in any form."

The movie tells a stylised fictional account of the formation, rise and subsequent breakup of the band, from the point of view of their then-manager Malcolm McLaren. In the film, McLaren claims to create the Sex Pistols (In truth, they were already formed and Jones and Cook asked him to become their manager), and manipulate them to the top of the music business, using them as puppets to both further his own agenda (in his own words: "Cash from chaos"), and to claim the financial rewards from the various record labels the band were signed to during their brief history – EMI, A&M, Virgin, and Warner Bros. Records.

Lyrics:
People said we couldn't play, they called us foul-mouthed yobs
But the only notes that really count are the ones that come in wads
They all drowned when the air turned blue
But we didn't give a toss
Filthy lucre ain’t nothing new, but we all get cash from chaos

The time is right to do it now, the greatest rock and roll swindle
The time is right to do it now

E.M.I. said you out of hand, and they gave us the boot
But they couldn't sack us just like that without giving us the loot
Thank you kindly A&M, they said we were out of bounds
But that ain’t bad for two weeks work and 75,000 pounds

The time is right to fuck it up, the greatest rock and roll swindle
The time is right to do it now

I just wanna play with my band, are you good enough for me?
Hi ya boys I'm the chosen one, can't cha fucking see?
I'm a jealous God and I want everything, and I love you with a knife
I'll take you if you're ready for me, I'll give you my life

The time is right for Nickey's Special the greatest rock and roll star
The time is right for me now
I kill
Elvis Presley died in 1959
Chuck Berry you're a big ugly fucker
Ian Dury cockney fraud, Mick Jagger white nigga
Bob Dylan got parking ticket stuck to his asshole
David Bowie is a bloody cunt, Malcolm Mc
Rod Stewart‘s got a luggage label tied to his tonsils
Elton John hair transplant eh he he!, rock n roll!
Sid Vicious rock and roll cliché, Paul Cook bare bones, rock n roll
Johnny Rotten-ah his days are even numbered, rock n roll swindle
Rock and roll swindle, Rock and roll swindle, Rock and roll swindle
Swindle, it's a swindle!