When Queen Elizabeth II died at age 96 on Thursday (Sept. 8), she left behind a substantial legacy in terms of politics, culture and media. But if you rule a country for 70 years, you’re never going to make everyone happy, and while she was certainly beloved by millions, she inspired her fair share of critics and detractors, too.
That much is clear just by looking at the music inspired by the long-running matriarch of the royal family. For every positive or neutral tune about the Queen (such as the Beatles’ quickie “Her Majesty,” where Paul McCartney sings, “Her Majesty’s a pretty nice girl but she doesn’t have a lot to say”), there’s a sneering “God Save the Queen” from Sex Pistols or a hostile “The Queen Is Dead” by the Smiths (both all-time rock classics).
Primal Scream’s “Insect Royalty” is, unsurprisingly, not terribly flattering; The Stone Roses’ “Elizabeth My Dear” may sound more kindly upon first glance, but with lyrics like “Tear me apart and boil my bones / I’ll not rest ’til she’s lost her throne,” it really isn’t much more positive.
Some songs just reference her in passing, such as Madonna’s Rebel Heart track “Illuminati,” where she declares the so-called secret society isn’t “Queen Elizabeth or Kanye.” Others, like Pet Shop Boys’ “Dreaming of the Queen,” are more impressionistic: “Dreaming of the Queen / Visiting for tea / You and her and I / And Lady Di.”
Take a listen to seven of these songs below and see what each artist has said about Queen Elizabeth II over the years.
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“Her Majesty,” The Beatles (1969)
While John Lennon returned his Order of the British Empire MBE in protest of Britain’s involvement in various conflicts and wars, Paul McCartney has had kinder things to say about Elizabeth over the years. On the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee in early 2022, he said, “70 beautiful years of Queen Elizabeth the second. Congrats ma’ am!” Listen here.
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“God Save the Queen,” Sex Pistols (1977)
While the Sex Pistols’ 1977 single is savagely anti-royal, singer John Lydon later clarified that he’s got nothing against her personally. “God bless the Queen. She’s put up with a lot,” he wrote in the U.K. paper The Times. “I’ve got no animosity against any one of the royal family. Never did. It’s the institution of it that bothers me and the assumption that I’m to pay for that.” Listen here.
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“The Queen Is Dead,” The Smiths (1986)
Morrissey has been slagging Queen Elizabeth for decades, almost too many times to count. Hell, it was even the name of the Smiths’ third studio album. Explaining what motivates his hatred for the royals to an Australian outlet in 2016, he said, “Monarchy represents an unequal and inequitable social system. There is no such thing as a royal person. You either buy into the silliness or else you are intelligent enough to realize that it is all human greed and arrogance.” Listen here.
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“Elizabeth My Dear,” The Stone Roses (1989)
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“Dreaming of the Queen,” Pet Shop Boys (1993)
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“Insect Royalty,” Primal Scream (1998)
Speaking to Pitchfork in 2020, frontman Bobby Gillespie explained what motivated his royal antipathy. “In 1977, we had the Silver Jubilee and all this crazy patriotism. People wore Union Jacks and worshipped the royal family. As a kid, I f–king hated the royal family — I still do — so buying [Sex Pistols’] ‘God Save the Queen’ really felt like a real anti-authoritarian gesture.” Listen here.
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“Illuminati,” Madonna (2016)
After meeting the Queen in 2002, the Queen of Pop reportedly burst out laughing (not to her face) when it became clear to Madge that the British monarch had no idea who she or Die Another Day co-star John Cleese were. Listen here.