I feel very sorry for them. A gilded birdcage. He wrote anarchy in the u. K. [singing] i am an antichrist, i am an anarchist. However, lydon is now an american citizen, who says the people have an obligation to vote but. Dont be voting in billionaires. Just dont be doing that, because that would be nothing but bad news for all of ya. Lydon grew up poor in north london. As a child he had meningitis, he survived with the virus shaping his life, but erasing his memory. When i came out of that coma, i could not remember. Not only my own name or how to speak, move, walk or talk. But, i did not recognize my parents. In anger is an energy, lydon says he wants to set the record straight about his life. Its a second book following one with a contentious title. They did not want no irish, no blacks and no dogs. And thats blatant racism but that in the 60s and 70s that was. You know, normal behavior. Lydon is still at it. He was writing a new album for his band Public Image Limited when i sat down with him in new york. Anger is an energy my life uncensored. Tell me why you titled it that way, and i know it its linked to your childhood, isnt it . Its linked to an illness i had called meningitis which i contacted sic at age seven. The result of that was i was rushed to hospital and then i was in a coma for quite a few months. When i came out of that coma, i could not remember not only my own name, or how to speak, move, walk, or talk, but i did not kn recognize my parents. I did not know where i was. They were telling you, hey, im im your mom. Im yeah, it doesnt matter. You dont know them. You dont know nothing. Your mind is wiped for and that took four years to really recover from that. But in that period, the doctors were told told my parents, sorry, to keep me angry because that would spur my memories back. The doctor tells your parents to keep you angry . Yeah. Wha why would the doctor, such was National Health medicine at laugh the time. No, this was true because i had no memories or recollections of anything at all. And they thought that would be a good way to spur me back into some kind of awareness. It took it took a long time. A long time. I was in hospital for a year. Released at eight. And i still didnt recognize them, and and i felt i was bein taken home by complete strangers. But i had to learn to trust them. And and that that helped, no end. Now, the whole idea of keepin me angry was really so that i it it never allowed me to go into selfpity where i would like you know oh yeah. Become comfortable with the situation. At a certain point, do you have to let anger go in order to sort of live oh, no. And breathe and be does it still fuel . Anger is one of those delicious energies that you can use, laugh delicious. It is. Its absolutely it spurs great things in your mind. It its a most Excellent Way of dealing with a situation honestly and openly because that way you remove the possibility of violence, which i think is negative thinking. I wonder what you see in the world today that that fuels that unease, that that angst, that anger within you. Pain. Suffering. The disenfranchised. Unnecessary poverty. Class warfare. All of these issues bother me greatly. Well, theres plenty of that in the world today. Yes, there is. And i come from an extremely poor background. So im well aware of that. Im well aware of the Education System cutting some of us off, what what they view as ghetto children. Well, im fully one of them. I dont think im in any way stupid or dumb, and yet still outside of the system. And no matter what i achieve in my life, i dont think the the British Class system will really ever make space for me. Ive said far too much thats been contentious to the powers that be. And yet and it nothing ive said has been wrong. But sometimes we know that governments dont like to be corrected, let alone religious geniuses. Expand on that thought, sir. I had a great deal of problems returning to school. When i was four, i could read and write. Thats right. Your mom taught ya . Yeah, but i was lefthanded. And they sent me to catholic school. And the nuns seen that as a sign of the devil. And so i was ostracized, really, even though had to wait f really for the other kids to catch up. What did music represent for you then in those ive always loved music. Yeah, yeah. And ive always loved reading and writing and all of these things. My my two Favorite Places in life are libraries and Record Stores. But sadly record s, sadly record, sadly, Record Stores have gone missing. But theres still secondhand Record Stores, which i love. And i love ol old bookstores too, secondhand books. Love all that. I didnt naturally go into music. In fact, i did my utmost really to prove that i was tone deaf to the school because it was catholic school. And if you could sing in any way, shape, or form, it meant the priests had access to you. And i dont like child molesters. So i practiced being tone deaf, which was my op they wanted you to sing in the choir. Yeah, laugh but the priests would be touching you. Unacceptable. I think, for me, thats a perfect introduction to becoming a sex pistol. And from there on, the king of punk was born. laugh was it just a catchy title . Was it provocative . The name, what did it really represent for you at the time . Has it come to mean Something Different over the years . The name was awful. I mean, it you know, v it just sounded like the worst loser name a band could ever have. Just unacceptable in every way. Just put, does it look does it look like part of the genius now . No. Its laugh just happenchance. Tell me what it was, in your mind, today, looking back, that made the band such a sensation. When you write a song called god save the yeah. laugh queen and its about the downfall of the monarchy and then that song is openly discussed in the houses of parliament under the traitors and treasons act, which carried a Death Penalty at the time, that kinda helps. There was a ground movement, m maybe not openly, about questioning these institutions. And finally, like finding answers to whether they should exist or not. And to my mind, from a very early age, ive seen them as a financial drain on a country thats really economically collapsing. Y you see that as being the case today, you think . Yeah, even then, today, yeah. Then, most yes. To my eyes, that was very clear. That wasnt how most people viewed it at the time. laugh and then of course id i mean, id wrap other songs around like that called, like, anarchy in the u. K. And you know. Its like, you know, my idea of a fun night out, bit of anarchy. laugh god save the queen. The fascist regime, they made you a moron. Right . A potential hbomb. Yes, i know my own words. laugh yes you do i just want you to reflect on em today, as you hear when theres no future . How can there be sin . We are the flowers in the dustbin. Were the poison in your human machine. Yep. What were you feeling . What were you channeling . Thats the voice of the disenfranchised, those left out. Those given no hope. Those pushed aside. When any society does that to any element of its population, there will be trouble. My weapons are words, not bullets and bombs. And my words have had a very powerful and positive effect, i think. And people now openly discuss issues like, should there be a royal family . Should there be this, should there be that . I think the word is transparency, and thats what i seek in all things. Maybe you paid attention to whats happening here in the United States over the last seven, eights months, close to a year now in communities throughout the United States, baltimore, maryland, most recently. Ive been aware and im glad obama won the election because it its bringing all of the racial tension thats riddled in this country to the forefront. Ive watched the Republican Party absolutely make make a mockery of themselves with the hatred and the hidden racism thats now absolutely bubbling over. And ive only just recently become an american citizen myself, and this is a very fine introduction to the future. And lets hope it is no future, but a future. But, again, transparency in all of these issues. There is obviously a Police Problem here. And whenever your situation like that is developed, its coming from s way up top. Thats not ground roots stuff. Somebodys manipulating that. You believe that . Y oh yeah. Im an obama man. And and you you recognize the frustration that young people are feeling as they complain about an education. Yeah. System that you would right . Yeah. You would understand what theyre talking about. So then, were being segregated. And and yet, we all dont want segregation, but we are being segregated. And and certain elements of us are being absolutely victimized. Do you believe in voting . In england, in particular, theres a g a bunch of people that advising you, dont vote. And and and its the same nonsense here in the states. Its not so long ago that none of us actually had the right to vote at all. Right. Right . Why would you want to throw that away . Saying that corporations are people too and they should have the right to oh, that was a Supreme Court decision. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What hes meaning by that is really that the corporation then votes on your behalf. Its all to take away your individuality and the right to vote. Now, yes, there isnt an awful lot of choice in politicians. There really isnt. But that is better than nothing. And the reason those idiots are there in the first place is because you all didnt contribute in where you should have, right from participatory democracy yes, so please do vote. cause if you dont, youre making it worse for the rest of us. Dont be voting in billionaires. Just dont be doing that because that would be nothing but bad news for all of ya. And thats about as much as i can say, because if i say much more on this ill be telling you who ill be actually voting for. Which you wouldnt wanna do. Which i would not want to do. I dont want to influence people to which side to pick. But at least well, celebrities do that all the time. I know, and i resent them bitterly for it. You do . Yes, i do, because theyre theyre taking a moral high ground there that really doesnt belong to them. I think mostly celebrities are the dumbest people on earth. W w but theyre theyre theyre people. They get to participate too. And they get to to im all for that, but they should not be telling us what to do. Lydon has twice faced death. In addition to having meningitis as a child, he was booked on the Panam Lockerbie flight. Why he wasnt on the plane, next. [crowd chanting] hell no gmo. Theyre slamming a technology that could be used to solve problems for people who desperately need it. They get exited about technology whether its in their phone or in their car, so why is it so weird on their plate . Somethings going into food that shouldnt really be there. Techknow investigates. You could not pay me to fake data. Youre watching talk to al jazeera. Im tony harris, our guest this week is sex pistols lead singer and rock icon, john lydon. So give us a lesson from your life. From from being rebellious, and having folks call you all kinds of names in parliament, whatever. To to take a strong stand against a big institution, whether its the monarchy, whether its the government in general, what comes back at you as a result from being that vocal . Well, pr, what do you receive . Precisely what you expect trouble. But you must analyze all of the details before you get yourself involved. I dont think, for instance, rioting and throwing bricks through shop windows solves anything at all. What youve done there is youve youve doubled your victimization role. And youve allowed yourself to look ridiculous and chaotic. Me, i look at whats really going on and i get involved. I get involved mentally. I Read Everything i can. I want to know the names of all the players involved. And tear it apart very deliberately, slowly and surely. And know that, at some point as ive experienced in my own life in growing up in britain, that this will come to trouble my way. Thats fine. Im fully prepared to meet it. Because if there really is such a thing called democracy existing here, as i had to face in britain years ago. Then it really cannot continue so openly. Transparency will will end it. Sex pistols. The the legacy of that band. When you look back on those years, what are you proudest of . For me, being given the opportunity to be able to write songs and ive always wanted to be a writer. But i fou i found writing alone not not really quite good enough. To be able to write songs with music was an exceptional gift that landed in my lap. And when the pistols for me, emotionally, became too too predictable, i went on and formed public image ltd, and there i i was fully armored at that point. What does that mean . And so aware of how to put things together. To understand instrumentation, how to really fully achieve the exploration of emotions that i i wanted to indulge in. Lovely. It it was the most brilliant training ground, the sex pistols. It was boot camp. laugh and public image ltd. You see yourself continuing to make music . Yeah. In fact, weve been writing a new album all the way through this book. Yeah. And that appropriately is going to be called what the world needs now. , any thoughts on that, what the world needs now . Well, certainly more transparency, you mentioned that. Put your favorite word in there. Anything you like, but the world needs a lotta things, doesnt it . Why did you want to write this . You had written a book already. An awful lots been written about me. Yes, i did a book, but i wasnt quite happy with the first one. It was called no irish, no blacks, no dogs. Again, a contentious title. But when i was young, that thats what was put on hotel and beds bedsi places that they they did not want no irish, no blacks, and no dogs. And thats blatant racism, but that in in the 60s and the 70s, that was, you know, normal behavior. Changed that by using the title, and and made a positive out of a negative the same as ive done with anger is an energy. This book, though, rather than just dealing with the sex pistols kind of period, ive gone back into my childhood to explain why it is the way i am, and it is all related to childhood experiences. And in particular, the disease of meningitis. You know, i im curious, d do you feel you must there was a moment, obviously, where you must have felt, maybe im close to death here, right, with meningitis . Oh yeah. You know, twice in my life, actually. Twice in your life does that give you we hear folks often say that gives them a freedom to fully express, to fully live, to have survived a neardeath experience not once but twice. You y you could have hindsight about that, yeah. And i and i would understand that. I mean, when i was seven, i didnt know it was a neardeath experience. It was just absolute torture to not know who i was or know anybody or anything around me, to be so completely in isolation. To this day, that is the worst torture that ive ever, ever endured, ever. And i still find it hard to sleep at night because im still its back in the back of my head worrying that ill wake up and not remember who i am. I never wanna go through that again. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. All right. And the second near death the experience of the lockerbie flight, the the lockerbie flight, yes. So me and my wife, nora, we were booked on the the Panam Lockerbie flight and but for my missus being really slow and unable to pack a suitcase in time, we decided to change the flight, but we didnt tell any of our friends and relatives. And so everybody presumed we were dead. And that was a terrifically emotional phone call, when my brother f finally rang through, just in the hope we might not have made it, sigh and to be told all that. And so its its quite bad. The a disease can can take your life away, but another human being, misguided though they are, can also take your life away. And and you innocently enough have not asked for any of this. And so there is life. For me, life is the most precious thing i have. Everything about m human beings, m my peoples, i loves ya. And i cannot comprehend war, hate, kill, and destruction. Heres what i w for me, a political hero is gandhi. Passive resistance. This i fully comprehend. Which might sound a little strange to people, given the the fire, the brimstone in your lyrical attack, right yeah. Those yeah. My words are my bullets. Yeah. And theres no need for real bullets. Youve said fame is a monster. Oh yeah. What do you mean by that . Because it you lose control. Your your whole image of yourself is shapeshifted int into a beast, a fake thing. Anything to sell records. An industry puppet. And you become just a figure of ridicule, really. And i a lot of people i know in in the Music Industry have turned into they dont even realize that theyre figures of mock, right . I dont want dont want that. I dont want that at all. Id rather be contentious and happy. laugh y youve said you feel lucky to have survived it, wanting to wanting to be loved so completely. This is what fame does. And you fool yourself into believing people love you because you just sang that last love tune. No, they dont love you, they hate you, really. Theyre jealous of your money. And come to grips with it, and see it clearly, and then fame is very bad thing. You said you feel lucky to have survived it. Im lucky to be alive. And i think each and every one of us are. My greatest gift life has given me is the chance to write songs. And so im not gonna make a fool in that department, not at all. Ive still got my mom and dad living in my head. Theyre both dead, but theyre still up there. And in my particular weird way, i suppose, but i can talk to them up in my head. And i will never let them down. I will not tell a lie. I will not join the snakes in the garden. Youre watching talk to al jazeera. Still ahead on the program does john lydon think the Music Industry respects him. Ill ask him just ahead. Stay with us. Get excited for the 1989 world tour with exclusive behind the scenes footage, all of taylor swifts music videos, interviews, and more. Xfinity is the destination for all things taylor swift. Im tony harris, this is talk to al jazeera. With us this week, sex pistols punk rock legend john lydon. You feel the the industry respects what yve done, what you, the bands youve been a part of created its ver it yeah does the industry respect its very likely some people in it do. And it its more than likely that a lot of people dont. But either way, ive never done any of this for any kind of awards. I dont want that. And theres been rumors of mbes and obes floating around. Im sorry i dont want it. Really . Ive never done it for that. And thats not because i i hate, loathe, and despise the royal family, for instance. Its its because i despise the institution, not the human beings in it. Whats your issue, and i will not accept any, with the institution . I will not accept anything that puts me above another human being. I live in a level playing field. And such an award would do that. And it cuts to your real issue with the monarchy, which is what . Superiority. I cant accept it. Itstheyre an accident of birth. They were born in a birdcage, and i feel very sorry for them. A gilded birdcage. I was born in a slum and i feel very sorry for myself. But were human beings trapped in systems not of our own liking. Im not advocating here some extreme form of communism, cause i dont believe in communism either. I think people should be allowed to strive for whatever it is they want to strive for. But for me, mentally, no, i cant have that superiority thats based on nonsense. No, i get it. Whats the where do you see yourself do you see yourself sort of making music over the next five, ten years . I know this is probably for you till about 100 and whenever i kick the bucket and die. Because i do not view my life as like a 20minute pop star. This is why i can say to me, folk music, thats thats what i would connect to mostly because theres no theres no limit on that. As long as you enjoy writing songs about your life and the life of those around you, continue. You know . I dont do it for the money. But if youve got any, ill have it. Okay, all right. laughter johnny, a pleasure. Peace. May the road rise and your enemies always be behind you. May they scatter, flatter, batter, and shatter peace. Let it be written, let it be done. laugh johnny, thank you. I lived that character. Go one on one with americas movers and shakers. We will be able to see change. Gripping. Inspiring. Entertaining. No topic off limits. cause im like, dad, there are hookers in this house. Exclusive conversations you wont find anywhere else. These are very vivid, human stories. If you have an agenda with people, you sometimes dont see the truth. Talk to al jazeera. Only on al jazeera america. In a country scarred by the