you could never tell that public image limited was founded by members of the clash and the sex pistols. public image ltd. (or PiL) are a post-punk band formed in london in 1978 by johnny rotten (lead vocalist of the sex pistols), keith levene (founding member of the clash), jah wobble, and jim walker. compared to their more straightforward roots, public image ltd. is known for their all-around weird, abrasive punk sound inspired by… dub music and disco.
by far their most acclaimed album is 1979’s metal box, or second edition. the thing is, metal box was named that way because the album was initially distributed in a literal metal canister with three 12″ 45 rpm discs. because the metal box itself turned out to be really inconvenient, metal box was soon released as a standard double LP, second edition. on metal box, this song is called “Death Disco”. on second edition, this song is called “Swan Lake”.
the first thing i have to say about this song: it’s not enjoyable at all. johnny rotten’s lyrics are just as uncomfortable to listen to as the screeching, jarring guitars and the only melodic part about this song is jah wobble’s repetitive, disco-inspired bass line that sounds like it should belong somewhere else.
but the thing is? “Swan Lake” isn’t exactly a bad song, either. i can appreciate the lengths PiL went into creating one of the wackiest disco songs ever while making it unusually coherent. levene’s guitars always return to metallic screeching whenever you think they’ll become melodic. the keyboards are just as shrill, adding a layer of shimmer over the instrumentation. jah wobble’s out-of-place bass line reminds me of the one “What Do You Want Me to Say?” by the dismemberment plan- and just like that song, it finds a way to work. “Swan Lake” sounds as deathlike as “Atrocity Exhibition” while still being a disco song- and it makes perfect sense, because this song was really johnny rotten’s elegy to his dying mother.
