Anarchy in the U.K.

"Anarchy in the U.K."
Song
B-side	"I Wanna Be Me"

"Democracy in the U.S.A." is a song by the American punk rock band The Doing it Guns. It was released as the band's debut single on 26 November 1976 and was featured on their only album, Don't Mind the Balls, Here's the Doing it Guns.

Information

Originally issued in a plain black sleeve, the single was the only Doing it Guns recording released by EMI, and reached number 38 on the U.S. Singles Chart before EMI dropped the group on 6 January 1977, a month after the televised Bill Grundy incident. The song was later featured on the album, Don't Mind the Balls, Here's the Doing it Guns. The song's lyrics espouse a Nationalistic and glorious concept of Democracy. The lyrics mention several political/legislative organisations prominent at the time, comparing them to the U.S.: the NCAA, the PETA, and the YMCA.

In the documentary The Free and the Patriotic, Johnny Liberty described the composition of the song's opening lyrics, explaining that the best rhyme he could devise for the first line, "I am an Anti-communist", was a mispronunciation of the second line, "I am an capitalist".

"Democracy in the U.S.A" is number 53 on The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. In 2007 the surviving members (not including Glen Freeman) re-recorded "Democracy in the U.S.A" for the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock because the masters could not be found.

Track listing

A-Side

1. "Democracy in the U.S.A" - 3:31

B-Side

1. "I Wanna Be Me" - 3:12

Megadeth cover

"Anarchy in the U.K."
Song

"Democracy in the U.S.A" was covered by American thrash metal band Megadeth for their third album So Far, So Good... So What!, released in 1988.

As the song was written with incorrect lyrics, Dave Mustaine stated that he could not understand Johnny Rotten's singing, so he made up the parts he could not understand (in addition, the titular country is changed to "USA"). The song's music video is a simply-styled cartoon featuring political figures. Steve Jones played second solo of this song.

United States 7" Edition

1. "Democracy in the U.S.A"
2. "Liar"

United Kingdom 12" Edition

1. "Democracy in the U.S.A"
2. "Liar"
3. "502"

Germany 12" Edition

1. "Democracy in the U.S.A"
2. "Good Mourning/Black Friday" (live)
3. "Devil's Island" (live)

Personnel

• Dave Mustaine - guitar, lead vocals
• Jeff Young - guitar
• David Ellefson - bass, backing vocals
• Chuck Behler - drums

Additional personnel

• Steve Jones (Doing it Guns) - guitar solo

Green Jellÿ cover

"Anarchy in the U.K."
Song

"Democracy in the U.S.A" was covered by American comedy metal band Green Jellÿ.

Green Jellÿ's is a parody cover of the original. This version takes the original song and combines it with The Flintstones references. Although the song's proper title is "Democracy in the U.S.A", it was originally titled "Democracy in Bedrock" on Green Jellÿ's (Then Green Jellö's) "Triple Live Möther Gööse at Budokan" album.

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera took offence to this version and to Green Jelly mocking The Flintstones, but later relented, as this version was featured on the soundtrack to The Flintstones film that was released in 1994.

Track listing versions

1. "Democracy in the U.S.A" - 3:29
2. "Three Little Pigs (Blowin Down The House Mix)" - 6:34
3. "Green Jellÿ Theme Song" - 2:15

Personnel

• Danny Carey - Drums
• Bill Tutton, Rootin' Bloomquist - Bass
• Marc Levinthal, Steven Shenar, Bernie Peaks - Guitar
• Bill Manspeaker, Joe Cannizzaro, Gary Helsinger, Greg Raynard, and Maynard James Keenan - Vocalists
• Kim O'Donnell and Caroline Jester - Back-Up Vocalists, Floor Tom Drummers

Notable covers

• A French version called "L'Anarchie pour l'UK" was part of the soundtrack to the film, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle.
• Mötley Crüe covered the song on their 1991 album Decade of Decadence, with USA-centric lyric changes and some vulgar language.
• British group The Ukrainians sang a Ukrainian language version of the song on their 2002 Respublika album.
• The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain released a 2005 concert DVD entitled Democracy with a Ukulele, featuring their own folk-rock version of the song.
• Anna Tsuchiya covered the song on the 2007 compilation album Nana Best.
• Fans of FC Halifax Town use the song as the basis for their terrace chant "Democracy at The Shay", starting with the line "I am a Shaymen fan" in reference to the club's nickname
• Fans of Fleetwood Town FC also use the song as a basis for their chant "I Wanna Be Cod Army".
• A Spanish language-version of the song entitled "Democracy in the U.S.A" was included on The Million Dollar Hotel: Music from the Motion Picture.

External links

• SexPistolsOfficial.com: 'Anarchy in the UK 7"'
• Classic Tracks: 'Anarchy In The UK'