They Did Him Their Way
In 2014, Audi launched a car commercial for their new ACURA TLX. I still had cable back then, and I couldn’t even tell you what I was watching when the commercial caught my attention. Normally, I wouldn’t even notice a car commercial during advertisement breaks. I really couldn’t care less about them most of the time. But this one, was different.
This one had a series of quick cuts, depicting the new car being created from concept to finish. And in the background, was the song, “I Did it My Way”, sung by Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols fame. I was absolutely flabbergasted. I can’t tell you what I was doing before that commercial, but I can tell you what I was doing when I witnessed it. I flew into a rage and screamed at the television, “You BASTARDS!” I was completely floored by the audacity of it all.
For some of you out there, you may not see an issue with it. It is after all an edgy version of the Frank Sinatra tune. Screaming guitars accompany Sid’s brand of very British vocalization. It shreds. And you may say to yourself, what’s the deal? Why wouldn’t they want to use it? It gets the blood pumping. It screams a sort of rebellion. It says, I’m different. I’m not like the others. And, if you’re not a punk listener, or don’t know the history of Sid or the Sex Pistols, I can see why you might not understand my reaction. But hear me out.
I grew up a skate punk in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The Sex Pistols had long disbanded before my era, and Sid had passed away tragically way before my exploration of the music. The punk scene, at least how most people remember it, had already collapsed. But what had not, was the enduring idea of punk and its influence on the bands I followed. Some groups from the actual heyday of punk were still going. Groups like Dirty Rotten Imbeciles were still playing and were on heavy rotation at the houses I hung out at. The Ramones were still making music. And above all, some of the concepts of punk were still influencing some in the metal scenes. The heart of punk was still living on in youth who saw no future, and we looked to these icons like Sid as a sort of fuck you symbol to any kind of establishments or societal norms.
Why was Sid such a symbol? I can tell you it was not because of his ability to play the bass. He was a mediocre musician at best. But what he brought to the table for the scene was his image. And many out there in the scene also hated him for the image he represented, make no mistake about it. But I do know for my group of friends, he was the ultimate in rebellion.
Sid was a known heroin addict. He would cut himself up on stage with a broken beer bottle and spit blood at the audience. He would get into fights with people in the front row. Sometimes, he was so fucked up, that the Sex Pistols would unplug his bass for shows, and he didn’t even notice. And despite all of the violence, he was a sex symbol to many of the females I grew up with. They loved his heroin skinny and pale look, his black spiked hair, and his almost boyish puppy dog face.
And then there was his infamous relationship with his girlfriend Nancy. Many believe she was the spark that started his inferno of demise, along with the band manager Malcolm who encouraged his destructive behavior. Nancy was a junkie already by the time Sid met her. And once Sid was on the juice, Malcolm would keep him on the stuff because he knew what a train wreck they were. Malcolm didn’t care about the music, it was the image he was interested in. A sort of explosive in your face reflection of a nihilistic generation who had no delusions of ever having the opportunities their parents had. He was willing to push it as far as he could with Sid all for the sake of newspaper headlines. It was these elements that forced Johnny Rotten to leave the Sex Pistols as the lead singer, and for Malcolm to shortly place Sid as the lead. Malcolm, still catering to Sid’s destructive behavior and ego. In the end, Sid would be arrested for the murder of Nancy at the Chelsea Hotel, and soon after died from a heroin overdose.
Because of these things, Sid became a symbol of ultimate fuck you to the point of self destruction for many of us. He literally lived fast and died young. Something of which was a mantra I know many of us at the time lived by.
So when I saw that commercial, with its quite literally mass produced product, using Sid as its voice, I was furious. It reminded me of a time not too long ago when, if you listened to that music, looked the way we did, or if you were poor with no future, you were scum to all of the product image minded dimwits of the 80’s. For them, what mattered most was having the perfect hair and the latest brand clothing, the cars, the credit, the money, and the vacations in Aspen. All of these symbols of capitalism that we were not able to participate in, were God to these plastic representations of human existence. All we had was our middle fingers and a lot of rage.
But even your middle finger, no matter how well you use it, means nothing after you're dead if the corporations own the residuals to that finger. You’ll become a parody of yourself, ineffective and safe for public consumption. Relegated to nostalgia, Impotent. A Halloween costume.
As an artist, make sure that no corporation or entity owns your middle finger after you die. Don't let them profit off of your spirit. Don’t let them make you a car commercial. Make sure, your middle finger lives on.