Sex Pistols - Substitute Lyrics






You think we look pretty good together
You think my shoes are made of leather

But I'm a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but I'm just back-dated, yeah

Substitute your lies for fact
I can see right through your plastic mac
I look all white, but my dad was black
My fine looking suit is really made out of sack

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
It's a genuine problem, you won't try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by

Substitute me for him
Substitute my coke for gin
Substitute you for my mum
At least I'll get my washing done





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Sex Pistols Substitute Comments
  1. A.... B....

    Forever live Sex Postpls

  2. j.... R....

    Wake up

    j.... R....

    https://youtu.be/wHiGR0iuTUo

  3. I.... H....

    Pete Townsend is my favourite guitarist of 60's & 70's era. Prefer original however Sex Pistols bringing a fresh Punk take on song.

  4. G.... B....

    The Who were Punk Rock before Punk Rock was even born.

  5. F.... A....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqOdCOwnl00&list=RDyqOdCOwnl00&start_radio=1

  6. F.... A....

    Donde esta? El subtitulado. Where is the fkn Substitute. ?

  7. 7.... ....

    Vivienne Westwood has the typical art student twats face!

  8. P.... ....

    If mom only knew some of the fun I had

  9. M.... H....

    Music that makes me feel human.

  10. �.... �....

    Обожаю!!!

  11. R.... E....

    Oh the innocence from this time period...it looked ruffntuff..but it really was the coolest scene ...everyone actually got along and played nice...unlike today..

  12. B.... M....

    Imagine footy of Keith moon playing on this.

  13. R.... ....

    **sEXx---PiStolS** original 77!!! Cant beat um join em

  14. f.... ....

    Aw, look, they were still little kids, so cute.

  15. M.... U....

    you don't need permission for anything !

  16. D.... H....

    Would love to see the both faces of Roger Daltery & Pete Townsend remix of their classic song .

  17. D.... H....

    A kick ass verison of The Who Substitute .

  18. B.... ....

    Pete Townsend probably thought the solo was a good even though they wrecked the song.

    B.... ....

    He actually said that he preferred the Pistols' to the Who's.

  19. M.... F....

    Hail to Sex Pistols, the godfather of Punk rock

  20. A.... T....

    Excuse me, where it was the location?

  21. L.... M....

    1.14 minnz SID

  22. z.... t....

    Fleetin Moment of Punk Perfection

  23. C.... A....

    The intro sounds a little like Capital Radio outro....

  24. A.... C....

    this cover 's choice is no hazard , the who is obviously their biggest influence !!!

  25. A.... X....

    Foi bem no migué.

  26. G.... g....

    What were the Who thinking giving them this

  27. k.... j....

    "You don't need permission for anything ". Yeah, that about sums it up.

  28. A.... D....

    How can I break this to my son, let alone my mom?

  29. A.... X....

    Foi cruel na reduzida de migué.

  30. J.... M....

    This has to be the happiest punk video ever. Seriously, I watch it to cheer myself up sometimes. The Pistols, Siouxsie Sioux, Vivienne Westwood and Shane MacGowan all wrestling and jumping around in sheer musical energy, just having a good time.

  31. m.... ....

    1:13 Sid Vicious?

    m.... ....

    Yes, he was a fan and friend of Johnny's before joining the band, there were always a few faces popping up in these clips from the Don Letts archive, Siouxsie, Vivian Westwood, and Shane MacGowan are just three who appear in this video alone..

  32. R.... ....

    Prefer the original pistols-much better raw sound, Sid turned it in to a farce and ultimately it cost him (and his bird) his 21 year old life

  33. P.... P....

    nice to see Shane MacGowan in the audience goin for it, a star.

    P.... P....

    Peebles Pete

    Shane Macgowan Is An IRA Terrorist Supporting Cunt.

  34. P.... C....

    Glen Matlock is to the SexPistols what Lemmy K. was at Motorhead: his soul !! Sid Vicious always counted for butter !!!!

  35. E.... S....

    Sex Pistols estragou essa música do The Who. A única versão respeitável foi do Ramones.

  36. k.... J....

    The Who gave birth to punk

    k.... J....

    Rubbish

    k.... J....

    agreed punk before it was punk

  37. G.... B....

    Most overrated band of all times.

  38. m.... k....

    Decent heavy metal.

  39. b.... ....

    sex pistols were rock and roll heroes !!!! totally !!!! the Who is pure rubbish !!!!! only The Ramones were good, too........but only Sex Pistols were genius !!!! the ramones is good.....but sex pistols attitude is so much better than the ramones and others bands !!!! sex pistols is rock and roll fantastic, genius, gods !!!!!!!

    b.... ....

    That's true if you are a homosexual~

    b.... ....

    Without The Who, no Sex Pistols, how much I love the Sex Pistols, Stranglers, The Damned, Rich Kids, New York Dolls, Iggy Pop etc...

  40. F.... A....

    glen matlock sounds really sweet

  41. C.... F....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYFS3iXIWR4

    the original "substitute"...THE WHO RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  42. M.... C....

    the bass is the better...

  43. R.... B....

    There's a certain kind of creative anarchy/wildness in the English bands that is just not there with the Americans. Something from their literary history, Byron and Keats and those guys, maybe. Add that to gutbucket American black music and you have something really extraordinary. Of course, the Americans are also great, for different reasons.

    R.... B....

    i gotta disagree punk rock in general just had the anarchy/wildness no matter where it was at like the germs

    R.... B....

    Moronic comments. So The Stooges and MC5 weren't wild enough for you? Oh that must be why the Sex Pistols covered them.

    R.... B....

    bollocks

  44. R.... B....

    There's a certain kind of creative anarchy/wildness in the English bands that is just not there with the Americans. Something from their literary history, Byron and Keats and those guys, maybe. Add that to gutbucket American black music and you have something really extraordinary. Of course, the Americans are also great, for different reasons.

  45. J.... A....

    ewwww the back is this the who's version is better.

  46. C.... S....

    <3 love

  47. D.... O....

    How it was, back in the day.

  48. 1.... ....

    Glenn was such a good bass player

    1.... ....

    1967PONTIACGTO SID wass a substitute...#5 $$$!

    1.... ....

    yes but he washed his feet a lot

    1.... ....

    Yeah he was pretty bassist Glen what is full name?

    1.... ....

    David Hernandez Glenn Matlock

    1.... ....

    Sid Vicious was so much better

  49. P.... C....

    Johnny is so fiercely beautiful. A gorgeous wild boy, what a beautiful boy, and how passionate he is!
    Take a look at a video of the original Who version of "Substitute from 1965, and compare it to the Pistols version -
    the Pistols infuse so much mad energy into it, especially with Johnny's very heartfelt vocal stylings! : )
    I love The Sex Pistols and I love Johnny Rotten Lydon FOR-EVER!

    P.... C....

    +Willem Is punk they love the who... They were a sixties band and the who hate the sex pistols unfortunately. I like the pistols but it's ugly rock and Pete townshend likes to think it's an art form

    P.... C....

    @Jake Tomkinson the Sex PisTOLs aren't rock

    P.... C....

    +Willem Is punk where do you think punk came from? You're just being difficult because you are wrong

    P.... C....

    @Jake Tomkinson well yeah punk came from rock but punk is a different genera then rock sorry I don't know any thing

    P.... C....

    +Roy Cropper early rock n roll Roy.

  50. I.... M....

    De puta madre , pero me quedo con Roger Daltrey

  51. M.... O....

    Glen's bass makes this fucking go!

  52. H.... ....

    I heard this one before the original one, and when I finally listened to the Who's version I wondered why it was so flat. It didn't have the anger or passion this cover has. Brilliant work, usually covers suck.

  53. j.... r....

    666 likes 

  54. f.... o....

    we don't need permission for anything !

  55. d.... ....

    Awesome!

  56. S.... H....

    hated it in its day, now 40 yrs on, fookin love it

  57. b.... ....

    Didn't the Ramones sing this as well?  Who sang this first?

    b.... ....

    +bigfuzzydog yeah, I think it's a The Who song. The Ramones have their own version as well. Sid is just taking the piss, tho :)

    b.... ....

    +bigfuzzydog yes and better than this version.

    b.... ....

    +bigfuzzydog It was first covered by The Litter in 1967 --
    /watch?v=QUTSKioryyc

    Perhaps not as exciting as The Sex Pistols version, but have a listen to their 1967 song 'Action Woman' --
    /watch?v=h2dCjHcfDpo

    b.... ....

    The Who

    b.... ....

    Sid?....Sid is nowhere to be found on this recording!

  58. N.... ....

    I wish they'd done MORE of these brilliant covers in '76.

  59. O.... ....

    Probably going to make the first positive comment on this video now after scrolling through the comments. I love The Who, I love the Sex Pistols - I love this cover! I grew up listening to both because my parents listened to both bands, as they were teens when punk came out, and when The Who's later albums were released... so, I have a lot of respect for both bands. This is amazing - thank you for uploading, and a big thanks to my parents who brought me up on this, rather than the 90s pop crap!

    O.... ....

    My parents were kids too, my dad liked The Who but they don't know who the Pistols are, my mom asked me the other day "Who are The Bollocks?" 🤣

  60. P.... O....

    The Sex Pistols were the only fucking Punk band EVER, everything else after 1976 is everyone else emulating what the Pistols created.

    P.... O....

    There was also the Saints, not as energetic but similar style.

    P.... O....

    Dead kenneyds?

    P.... O....

    Fucking damn right mate

    P.... O....

    Psah. You want to be like that, it's all been emulation since the Stooges. There's been a few varieties since 1976.

    P.... O....

    Also would like to point out the Ramones played their first gig in 1974, so....

  61. a.... ....

    The Who was a punk band, you know !

    a.... ....

    "Proto-Punk"

    a.... ....

    Fuck off.

    a.... ....

    No maybe punk attitude they don't sound like punk music

    a.... ....

    Nah,being in a band with an expletive on the front cover and behaving like cunts getting banned everywhere with your songs withdrawn from compiliation lists THAT WAS THE FIRST PUNK BAND.The Who played at Woodstock lol.

    a.... ....

    Its not sort of,they weren't fullstop

  62. m.... ....

    Awful shite pistols, lydon is no talent.
    The Who - amazing good.

    m.... ....

    Christ, there are trolls everywhere aren't there?  

    m.... ....

    the who were a good rock band, but rock has nothing on punk rock and the sex pistols created it

    m.... ....

    mahatmacote Lydon/ Rotten is one of the best vocalists of all time.

    m.... ....

    also the best lyricist , never forget that part

    m.... ....

    mahatmacote stupid user name for a proper pratt

  63. P.... W....

    to je ale vošklivá nálada

  64. P.... W....

    JOHNNY ROTTEN VE TRANZU LZE NA CO CUMET NA ROCK N ROLL NEJLEPE SKURVENEJ A JAK JE TO V OBRACU TEHDY JEJICH NALADE ZYGY

  65. D.... L....

    F#*king Awesome.

  66. E.... B....

    I love you Sex Pistols......

  67. L.... G....

    Superb!!!

  68. m.... m....

    punk  n roll a nie jakies guwno  !

  69. Q.... ....

    epic glen´s entry initially

  70. P.... C....

    call this punk, it shit, just another garage band

    P.... C....

    The term punk rock was coined in 1972,by Lenny Kaye. Google it.

    P.... C....

    Phillip cook, suicide, new York dolls, the stooges, even little Richard, and Eddie Cochran was rebels, fuck terns, but please I hate discuss music with people who have to use Google, Google Taste, and Google if it's time to smoke a spliff??

    P.... C....

    Coined the name punk??? Do you mean who owns it??????????? Ohhh god! Ramones then, what does Google tell u about them??

    P.... C....

    @Philip Cook who gives a fucking?Nancy, maybe???

    P.... C....

    @Philip Cook Punk was a New York fanzine, whose founders were big fans of the Dictators first record..and the NY Dolls, Iggy& The Stooges etc. They had posters up around CBGB and other places saying "Punk is coming", which kind of made it easy to label the bands that played at CBGB as punk bands. Don't think Lenny Kaye had any shares in that history, possibly except in his own mind...or maybe he had! Sex Pistols didn't invent anything, except wearing a straightjacket outside an asylum, but if there is one real punk band and only one, then they are a strong contender for that title with the Ramones, the Dead Boys, NY Dolls, Iggy & the Stooges, Suicide and the Dictators as serious contenders too.

  71. B.... S....

    Nice one. My favourite of Pistols covers, along with No Fun. So much NRG

  72. E.... ....

    Long live the sex pistols

  73. R.... ....

    Well I'm an Iron maiden fan and their Mascot is called "Eddie" because he was based on a picture of the severed head, so at first they said "The 'ead" which then became "'Eddie the 'ead" before it settled on "Eddie"

  74. r.... ....

    Haha! Yeah that sounds about right, you've gotta laugh at the way all the different accents in the UK are always dropping letters from words when in coversation, i've always noticed here in Liverpool we do it in tons of words. I'm surprised anyone understands half the stuff we're saying... XD

  75. R.... ....

    Townshend once ran into Lydon and Cook and apologized for becoming the Dinosaur rocker the Pistols were rebelling against. But to his delight they said to him "No not at all, we really like the 'oo."

    R.... ....

    Apparently he was pals with Steve Jones and Paul Cook.

  76. r.... ....

    It is a top tune by The Who and I dig their version, but I do recall Pete Townsend to have said he loved this cover when he heard it.

  77. R.... J....

    "Fake book" sounds about right mush lol

  78. c.... ....

    i now its wrong ant it, i class the pistols more hardcore punk, more like dks,
    ramones and clash dont stand up to the pistols.

  79. M.... ....

    Rotten, ur the man

  80. T.... ....

    kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss

  81. N.... ....

    @Mixedia exactly.

  82. M.... ....

    @NoNoseProduction and some real ego, who else could rhyme the word "Antichrist" with "Anarchist" but Johnny Rotten? xD I wasn't that bothered about them until I started my research, but the more you look into what rotten was trying to make them be you realise they were actually a really amazing band that did a lot for society, even if it did just look all shocking and gross, it wasn't just about that.

  83. N.... ....

    @Mixedia mmm I'll take a look. But yeah they were pure attitude and just being as disgusting and degenerative as possible. But with some amazing lyrics.

  84. M.... ....

    @NoNoseProduction yeah hehe, me neither. But I have been warned to take anything McClaren says with a couple of table-spoons of salt, not just a pinch!! maybe I got the wrong source... I'm doing Sex Pistols for my dissertation so have recently watched the rock and roll swindle, filth and fury and Who killed Bill as well as reading a few sources. Who killed bill is probably best to watch as it's all real and not the fictional work of julie temple

  85. N.... ....

    @Mixedia didn't say I believed it. Just you listed that movie as a source. And clearly that source is terrible. Johnny Rotten didn't star in it and admittedly saw it as misinformation. Filth and the fury he supports, which is next on my watch list. But yeah, I'm just saying, its a decent movie for some punk culture but as a source, its terrible. OR extremely accurate. Who knows, I wasn't in the band or around in that era.

  86. M.... ....

    @NoNoseProduction Or so Malcolm McClaren would have you believe. they did a gig in huddersfield for the children of Firemen, got given a £600 cheque... that they never cashed in, they tore it up. Really sounds like they were just out to make money there. Don't take all your information from the Great Rock and Roll Swindle, watch them all.

  87. N.... ....

    @Mixedia Great rock and roll swindle taught me they were manufactured to make money.

  88. M.... ....

    @Rogginroll The difference is, the sex pistols weren't trying to be great. they achieved far more than any of the other punk bands did. Johnny Rotten's lyrics were brilliant even if his voice had much to be desired for. They weren't about making good music, they were about anger and changing the old system and that's exactly what they achieved. Watch "The filth and the fury", "the Great rock and roll swindle" and "Who killed bill?" might help you understand more what they were about

  89. V.... M....

    this cover sucks balls man. im honestly not even trolling or anything. its nothing compared to the who and really, the ramones could do better. the sex pistols were like the rolling stones. they're pretty much all image and a bit overrated. sid vicious is a very poor punk vocalist and i know its all about anarchy "they dont give a shit" all that. but come on. the clash were punk and stood for the same things, but were great at the music they made.
    personally, the pistols werent that great.

  90. t.... ....

    great cover

  91. D.... ....

    @rp61wasinnocentok jajajjajajajajajaaj go kids kill each other!!

  92. D.... F....

    fuckin good cover

  93. s.... ....

    woh, some people are fuckin dumb...

  94. K.... ....

    frena la moto

  95. t.... ....

    I'm always skeptical of Who covers (Behind Blue Eyes, Limp Bizkit etc.), but this is absolutely awesome!

  96. s.... ....

    @opheliadvinci youre a idiot.