“Public Image” by Public Image Ltd.

"Public Image" was the first shot fired by Public Image Ltd. in 1978, and it's John Lydon settling scores with the group he used to front. He wrote the words while still in the Sex Pistols, and the target is Malcolm McLaren and a press that treated him as a product. Lydon later insisted it had nothing to do with the fans: the song is about bandmates who never listened to what he was singing, who saw him as a haircut and a sneer rather than a voice.

The music is a jagged, ringing churn that sounds nothing like a punk band's victory lap. The band produced it themselves, and all four members, Lydon, Keith Levene, Jah Wobble and Jim Walker, share the writing credit. It went to No. 9 in Britain in November 1978, and it also turned up on the debut album, First Issue.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.