The Sex Pistols - Belsen Was A Gas - 1/14/1978 - Winterland (Official)

[@mertustun5442]

Very surprising that Sid wrote the one of the best and harshest songs of Pistols.He also played it very well in this one.

[@Mika-rd7xb]

It is a nazi song ?

[@yroach]

Severus Snape It is to be a cynical view of someone sending postcards in a peachy nature from a concentration camp/nazi Germany, if I remember right

[@monkeyliver1986]

@@niclawson1520 of course someone who thinks that doesn't know how to spell holocaust

[@caydencayuga7876]

@@niclawson1520 You're a fucking hoax.

[@raymondnoodels7775]

sid always had a 50s style even in his playing...in this song he did it..his way.

[@scottpfen]

Paul Cook is a truly lethal secret drumming weapon.

[@tolvana]

Totally underrated. Paul Cook should have way more credit for his awesome work over all.

[@4578a]

Great backbeat

[@scotty193]

Yeah ok.....You guys have never heard Dave Lombardo then have you?, thought not. Cook is an adequate drummer for what was the Pistols sound, along with fatboy on guitar. Never mind Sid but amazingly on that version of Belsen he actually played something.

[@barfcoswill]

Cooks drumming has great clarity and definition at 1:47 mark, filling in the gaps, great choices, and carrying Sid.

[@lahaug]

@@scotty193 I'm a true Slayer fan and love Lombardo but this comparison is just plain stupid.

[@fanboy2015]

Sid's bass playing here is really good. I'll give him that.

[@sexobscura]

he's sure no Matlock, though

[@Britton_Thompson]

That's because he thought they were playing a different song....

[@d_berkut7493]

Maybe is because this song is easy to play on bass

[@mrknowalltellall572]

this has to be overdubbed

[@tds2117]

You have an interesting definition of “good”, considering he’s fucking up constantly 3/4ths into the song and it’s the simplest bass line imaginable.

[@bleakforecast9906]

Definitely my favorite Pistols tune. The melody and main riff is just too, too cool. Very dark.

[@scotty193]

It is with dark meaning and now Lydon lightens it to conform with "Hitler is Queer"...It never started out that way as punk was all about shock and I agree with that. i don't of course sit right with millions that died but the song has a place in history...And as you say it is just the most awesome riff from the Pistols back then and the lyrics are unforgettable.

[@mattstrathis4328]

@@scotty193 It's an anti war song.

[@scotty193]

@@mattstrathis4328 Sid Vicious wrote the song and it never started out as that, please don't insult my intelligence.

[@mattstrathis4328]

@@scotty193 The song is anti you...

[@sexobscura]

@@scotty193 the Pistols certainly do NOT need apologists like you to blunt their BITE they whole-heatedly detested the jewish race

[@chadbot0129]

This performance of this song is such an anomaly in that everyone's at the top of their game whereas the songs before and after, they're all out of it

[@doom_81]

Well said. This is the one bright, shining (yet dark) moment of the show. The rest is a mess. #Carry-on-Sex-Pistols

[@itwontcomeout5678]

I wonder, from a casual fan’s perspective, if their increased attitude was due to the subject manner... The Holocaust, which had killed people only 30 years before this time, not 90 years ago like now....

[@h.i.m3646]

Harsh, this is one of the Pistols best shows.

[@monkeyballs512]

@@itwontcomeout5678 great math, but this recording isn’t 60 years old.

[@DS-qu2rs]

yeah, even Sid Vicious got his 3 notes right!

[@KINGMONKEY1989]

Sad to know this was the end. I dont care how bad people thought they sounded to me they were thee greatest Rock n Roll band ever and always will be. There isnt a band that came after them that doesnt site them as a massive influence and that's for good reason.

[@toiletpaper5556]

Johnny always had style but at this concert he was perhaps the coolest looking guy in the world.

[@duane8829]

I do get annoyed with his shtick sometimes but I’d have to agree with you

[@E.C.2]

All 4 looked cool,each w their own style. Damn shame it imploded right as they were cresting.

[@winnipegperfectcircleflyin7859]

Thank God we have this on video

[@markgreet3543]

@@winnipegperfectcircleflyin7859 get the vhs tape winterland that came out in 1996, better if you get bluray it would look amazing 4k, good to hear from take care.

[@xwsftassell]

What a great bunch of lads.

[@xxRafaelProductions]

This particular song was performed MUCH better than the other songs during this live concert

[@CullyBenson]

My favorite pistols song. Sid and Dee Dee Ramoe wrote some great songs even though they were down in the gutters of heroin. I love this song.

[@miisu]

Dee Dee wrote songs for many albums. Sid did not write even this one, Keith Levene did. Sid did the lyrics.

[@charleshall3372]

Best played song of their last show.

[@yellowjackboots2624]

They say this was the Pistols worst performance, that makes it their best.

[@joeyrb4509]

When the howling guitar tone starts sends cold shivers down my spine.

[@lettoreentusiasta9374]

It is true. The first two chords have a residual distortion that makes them extremely sinister. And it was pure chance.

[@barfcoswill]

1:14, Steve Jones does a balletic loll on the riff, despite everything they were still rising above the BS for the performance.

[@bloodbarage]

This is one of their best songs!

[@olivermitchell8372]

Sid at :50 is awesome.

[@sexobscura]

little hip wobble

[@winnipegperfectcircleflyin7859]

Sid destination wasnt just merly to be a bass player, his destiny was to be the biggest punk icon in the world. Which he accomplished in spades!!

[@little1wing]

Truth finally revealed!

[@deanosborn8437]

Fukin loved the pistols r.i.p.sid

[@mrknowalltellall572]

Johnny's hahaha HaHaHa still makes me laugh after all these years

[@albertvitela4379]

Both bassists were badass in their own way

[@draxlerchronicles5851]

Especially the original one who knew how to play

[@HGSolberg]

Sid was badass in everything except playing bass.

[@philshine3388]

Sid was miming

[@barrysax2109]

​@@philshine3388yeah John Entwistle was playing the real bass behind the curtain.

[@Kelly14UK]

Started listening to them in 1984. Heard this on the Swindle in '85. Have the Winterland CD. But i'd no idea up till recently the gig was actually filmed.

[@handsomejack5787]

Never Mind The Bollocks is the best album they made in my opinion

[@josephblaint777]

What do you mean 1984?

[@markgreet3543]

It only got a proper release 1996 on vhs tape winterland gig. Live and loud bootleg is winterland gig, but there is extra cheers and its speeded up its amazing bootleg, i first bought the swindle album 1988, i was 14 then, seen pistols six times on comeback tours, met glen and john, and have a huge sex pistols collection. They are the best band in the world quote sid dallas gig.

[@markgreet3543]

Live version of belsen at winterland, and dallas are both amazing. Check belsen demo out, sid plays well on that, john vocals are mellow as well.

[@beltranhernandezdelatorre1131]

Best pistols song. Wrote and composed by Sid Vicious ☠️☠️☠️

[@marcosdgonzalez5270]

Nop levene

[@markgreet3543]

Sid wrote the song handwritten lyrics, however verse 2 was written by john, the early version handwritten by sid was a bit different check out england dreaming jon savage book, has these handwritten words by sid, check out belsen demo as well, words again are different, and sid plays bass very well on the track.

[@marcosdgonzalez5270]

@@markgreet3543 keith levene made the music

[@marcosdgonzalez5270]

@@markgreet3543 keith levene was the conpuser of the music of this song ..

[@markgreet3543]

@@marcosdgonzalez5270 changed it, to the original version which was steve jones guitar riff, keith solo was different and riff was more fast pace that keith played,listen no more comments please im trying to make lots of money in las vegas bye.

[@frxnchh]

Sid's playing wasn't too bad in this

[@Sadowsky1965]

+thehappyhacker0101 Probably because this is one of the last songs of the concert and the heroin in his body is less than in the first songs.

[@disgruntledvet4849]

Your having a bubble mate

[@eugenecanavan8144]

Sid couldn't play bass,or any other instrument,Steve Jones ,or some session musician filled in,Lemmy showed him how to play,to no avail.Sid was chosen as Glen Matlock's replacement purely on image.R.I.P Sid

[@WarthDader74]

Sid was always a very good and entertaining musician

[@guitarofdestiny]

@@Sadowsky1965 stupid theory. Lol

[@gega27tt]

This shows how Sid would play if he just got the bass part! Getting the tracks listening to the records from 70s times sure was hard, and obviously Steve giving them was never happening :/

[@E.C.2]

SPUNK LP is better than "Never mind..."

[@mywhychromosome]

Ever since reading the Lester Bangs account of this particular performance in "Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung", I've been transfixed by it

[@asinthedaysofnoahandlot4632]

Absolutely genius

[@doctorskull8197]

Sid played well enough for these songs. Fantastic guitar tone. ‼️🎶🎸🎼😍

[@ScottTwilson-y2p]

Sex pistols are such a vibe

[@afterchabonnnn]

el mejor tema de los pistols, lejos, melodia pesada y oscura, creepy, agresiva, la guitarra rompiendo todo, es buenísimo

[@vagabondvibes2578]

Jones can really play guitar!

[@bruceli457]

Sid played really well here, it was the drugs that diminished his playing...No other country tops English youth culture .. England forever 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@frankdiscussion2069]

this is my wedding song

[@markgreet3543]

Keith and john changed some words again in public image ltd, but sid wrote the first 2 verses,,and some different words, which john then changed.after that keith and john changed some words again during public image ltd era.

[@GriefTourist]

One of the greatest songs ever

[@LivWildStyle]

I love this song And if anyone misinterprets it... Well then. Sex Pistols Forever

[@handsomejack5787]

Well said . This bodies and holidays in the sun are my personal favorites.

[@johncrosley1]

There were no gas chambers at Belsen. The tens of thousands of deaths were mainly from starvation and typhus. If you are going to write a song it would make sense to know what you are singing about.

[@Marika__xoxo]

@@johncrosley1 something being “a gas” in British English means something being cool/fun.

[@johncrosley1]

@@Marika__xoxo If you are putting that meaning to the song that’s even sicker than what they meant. Even John Lydon or Sid Vicious wouldn’t consider Belsen to be fun. It’s a play on words regarding the gas chambers in the extermination camps of which Belsen wasn’t one. The majority of deaths there were from starvation and typhus. Do a little research and comment again.

[@GeeEm1313]

@@johncrosley1 Wow. Butthurt much?

[@whiterat1977]

Steve Jones - fantastic - this is the Pistols on fire

[@jefferysmith8466]

I love this song

[@juliomurillo2346]

Con este tema es el comienzo de todo lo extremo dentro del punkcore hardcore noisecore spedcore violencia etc.

[@sexobscura]

and a little munchkin madness thrown out for all lang sein

[@johniverson2161]

Greatest Punk song period.

[@tolvana]

This is a very nice song. I liked it.

[@edgarbanuelos6472]

1:00 - was that a flying hamburger?

[@sebastianciarfella3061]

Looked more like a bird

[@sexobscura]

A hambirder

[@manskullman6509]

And Sex Pistols was a Great Rock’n’Roll Band ! John Lydon a great singer! Steve Jones a brilliant guitarist. -

[@leedsboy64]

Great work Sidney

[@markgreet3543]

Ive got a big sex pistols 250 items, check out belsen demo, sid plays well on it, sid wrote the song, but only first 2 verses ive seen his handwritten lyrics, ive met glen and john, and seen them on comeback tours 6 times, amazing band,

[@michaelbruns449]

Vicious rock song, no pun intended...

[@steely666]

Brill song.

[@steely666]

+thevoice1969 be nice that

[@ralphgarcia1411]

Best punk rock song ever done, period!

[@kevinjohnston2936]

Rip Sid!!!!

[@reinofeliz]

☠️☠️☠️☠️!! Show!!🤘🤘🤘

[@locksley0]

Nice 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@Bolanboogie10]

Pure, unadulterated genius

[@johncrosley1]

The genius who didn’t know there were no gas chambers at Belsen.

[@dxs8]

@@johncrosley1 yea but saying something was a gas meant that it was “poppin” or “hip” in modern slang. So true there wasn’t gas chambers but they were using the 70s street slang of saying it was a gas

[@dxs8]

It also doesn’t mean that Jews still didn’t die at that camp. Majority of deaths that happened there were from starvation and Typhus

[@therockinguitarman]

GREAT LAST SHOW. I laugh my ass off. Also it was on my birthday.

[@colddarkness1798]

Nobody Sid Vicious: 1234 and starts playing and badass moves I love him rip Sid you live for ever punk rock LEGEND

[@handsomejack5787]

Same . He deserved a better life tho.

[@johnbalducci1502]

Jonesy wrote and played all the guitar on Nevermind the bollocks. Vicious could play bass at the end yeah but Matlock was a 10 better player. If they kept Glen they might have actually made a 2nd album.

[@WarthDader74]

Sid Vicious fitted much better in the band than that other guy. He was much more of a personality, more entertaining. And in a band like the Sex Pistols, no one is supposed to play their instrument perfectly

[@sexobscura]

Malcolm did it ALL in the studio

[@Monchi2006]

@@WarthDader74 you've been swindled

[@dxs8]

Jones didn’t want to do another album in fear that it would suck and diminish their whole legacy. Also there was no Pistols without Johnny!! I mean there was some good songs with just Cookie and Jones and a couple from the Swindle but the image wasn’t there anymore

[@themadmattster9647]

my theory is if sid would've lived, they would've reformed the Pistols with him as singer, just like the infamous "Sid Sings" concert kinda hints at. Matlock on bass and Sid on vocals, pretty crazy

[@FelipeMinhokinha3]

Last Sex Pistols gig in Winterland, Frisco, 1/14/1978

[@AmericanBulldogRocky]

Will the "Sid cant play bass" people can shut up now? Nope.

[@dimitriosparaskevopoulos-n2g]

He sings like a maniac.best live

[@daawedge9324]

...NEVER LOSING HIS COOL, SID DANCES " A JIGG ", AT THE CLOSE OF THE TUNE !!!!......THERE WAS ANOTHER GUY THAT DANCED " A JIG " AT THE FALL OOF PARIS, FRRANCE IN WW2. GO PISTOLS!

[@albertvitela4379]

This song is genius

[@janislyn4073]

Mi parte favorita: na na na na na!!! Ahhhhhhh ahhhhhhhh

[@BryanX64]

Sid was... competent on here. After all, it was (allegedly) his song.

[@sutatipwilliams6567]

Allediglyy who cares he went for it in life maybe it wasn't what he was looking for But famousfor2 or 3 0r more years fault that

[@handsomejack5787]

About the only time he was. Lol

[@fordcountry420]

Look for the soundcheck from this same Winterland show. Sid was playing surprisingly well there. Must have been before he shot up that day?

[@sexobscura]

He wrote it as a tribute for Nancy. He was missing her terribly

[@wimweender1306]

🤩😍

[@filipematias5127]

Sid's song!

[@joysboy6588]

Fucking Quality🇬🇧

[@evilsidsmonkey]

Great Ryth to it

[@bobmax67]

real genuine punkrock ever...SEX PISTOL...

[@mariangelatrifogli104]

❤

[@Bigphillyclarkinho]

It truly was a gas.

[@strunch]

Why didn't you go to the last show in San Francisco?

[@saiyeedaurangzebhussainmlm4575]

Fucking amazing godam

[@bryanmannypasillas8758]

Tea!

[@SADDANIEL]

fucking good

[@E.C.2]

Best S.P. song and Simon Ritchie wrote it!

[@newtoniansuper-villain.3258]

Kinda crazy Sid wrote anything at all like ever.

[@handsomejack5787]

Yeah i remember listening to sid sings. It was an album recorded in a pub and sid says ' Belsen was a gas by sid vicious' and every one starts giving him abuse. Then i learn he really did write it.

[@marcosdgonzalez5270]

Not levene did

[@ianwhitehead691]

Sex Pistols"WILL PLAY" 🎸🎤😁

[@franrodriguez9187]

0:55

[@martinmccullagh8894]

sid wrote this.

[@rainyday4970]

Yeah. I heard it was the only one he actually wrote. I like it. Despite the anti-Semitism.

[@superotterify]

Rainy Day I highly doubt sid wrote the final version. my guess is he wrote a rough draft and lydon added on. has his wit and snarkiness all over it

[@philipjones7372]

Speak with Keith Levene - it was a Flowers of Romance tune before the Pistols 😁

[@jpollackauthor]

@@superotterify He wrote the whole song years before joining the Pistols. His original handwritten lyrics sheet is online.

[@peterstayne3765]

No John lydon did alter some lyrics

[@froorocks100]

Here while the genocide is taking place in Gaza

[@CVGuitar]

1:31 -1:34 hilarious

[@archita5442]

👍

[@FenderBender5150]

Nanananananananananaanana Ahahhahahahahaha Ahahhahahahahaha Arhggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Best part of the song

[@bowlingstoned2113]

This tune would NOT fly today 😂 I've a feeling also this was a middle finger to McClaren as well, and if so... Good 😂

[@stevemitch7149]

You can see the Bongiovi family resemblance in Tommy the drummer

[@cosmicmacaque]

Best moment 1:29 na-na-na-nananananana a-a-a-AAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[@miisu]

Keith Levene wrote this, Sid did the lyrics.

[@JormaX]

Where did you find out about that?

[@sexobscura]

And Levene is Jewish, too

[@charlessharbutt871]

Sid was writing from a pov about killing Jews not anti semantic more like writing letter from concentration camp ...letter or postcard and the Dallas longhorn ballroom show had better lyrics than this which said see them all starched white see us cleansed etc...this song is anti Hitler's just as a German group called CAN whose 1969 song called OUTSIDE MY DOOR is about a train trip to a concentration camp ...just listen to the words of both songs...you'll see ok ... also funny thing...john Lyndon is into the rock group ...CAN ok ???

[@sebastianciarfella3061]

It's like rape me from nirvana

[@mayavale4926]

sebastian ciarfella yeah or polly

[@kurtwaldheim4048]

The original lyrics are simple, indeed an imaginary letter from a concentration camp. However, it is Lydon's adlibbed parts which makes it into a sarcastic anti war song.

[@blumacho23]

1:32 when you lose in fortnite

[@DaveSmith-fg1zt]

Only bums play Fortnite

[@omito77]

Que + Pank !

[@andrewhitchens9299]

How is this not banned?

[@andchat6241]

Sid wrote the original lyrics pre- pistols . They included " when you're on the train it's Auf Wiedersehen" ..John changed parts so it's more of song of ugly-disgust ( like 'Bodies' ) rather than a seemingly gloating anti-Semitic number . No Belsen did not have a gas chamber..."the Gas" line is obviously a twist on a then current phrase as with 'we mean it Maaan ' ( see obvious reference 'Jumping Jack Flash' , T Rex 'life's a Gas) . Sid wasn't a great musician but is what musically powers this song .( & he could play a number of Ramones bass lines- read Viv Albertines book about how quickly he could pick up bass 'riff- lines') ...people seem to forget he wasn't a practiced musician , but a friend/ fan of the Pistols who had only casually tried some instruments inc' Saxaphone , Drums, Bass... PIL did play this at their early gigs ( e.g Rainbow 26th Dec '78' ) . If you listen to the uncompleted demo version the Pistols did record it surprisingly does sound like a PIL track .

[@shashaskowndrel5308]

If the new wave "punks" heard this song they'd cry and do it.

[@stereocil]

Am I the only one suspecting that a bass line was overdubbed onto this track and that Sid Vicious' bass can't be heard because they turned it down right at the source?

[@mrknowalltellall572]

Me too. Steve's guitar is also overdubbed some

[@dxs8]

It’s very possible. Jones admitted to having the session player play behind the curtains cause Sid couldn’t play (or at least any good lol) but this was also filmed in the late 70s. A lot of latency on these kind of videos so you may think Jonesys guitar is overdubbed but it isn’t. Now on the NMTB Jones did a lot of overdubbing himself

[@kurtwaldheim4048]

No, because the playing is extremely amateurish. If it was dubbed by a professional bassist, it would have been far better played. But in any case it was broadcast live, I used to have a bootleg of that broadcast, so it cannot possibly have been overdubbed later, as it sounded exactly like this, including the awful mixing at the beginning of the concert. .

[@Daniel24724]

I wait for an adaptation : "GAZA WAS A GAS" !

[@skawashers]

who is playing sids parts

[@itwontcomeout5678]

Sid himself. He just started getting good, and a little bit sober (?) RIP

[@themannen]

I'm terrified that Johnny Rotten will die, he is king and already 66 years old

[@judesheckelberg5135]

Everyone dies. Not everyone lives.

[@ronaldbelfortscott4273]

SID

[@yoanos]

"Belsen was a gas" is a fantastic song. Not a antisemitic song . a song that you can not do in this period time . u know why?

[@V1HAMMER]

Why wasn't this song on never mind the bollocks?

[@Monchi2006]

DavidThompsonV1 it was brand new

[@handsomejack5787]

@@Monchi2006 my version of 'never mind the bollocks' had it listed on the back cover but it wasn't on the album. However it was on 'the great rock n roll swindle'.

[@markgreet3543]

Li​@@handsomejack5787 live version on swindle album, but there is 2 demos, please check them out sid sounds great on them, they are on youtube belsen demo sex pistols.

[@markgreet3543]

​ y@@handsomejack5787 your never mind the bollocks is a mis print 1980s but it worth money and its rare.

[@albertvitela4379]

This song is as good as MY WAR by Black Flag

[@lithograph-yx2ds]

It’s way better