So What? (Anti-Nowhere League song)

"So What?" is a song written by the British punk band the Anti-Nowhere League. The song first appeared as the B-side of the band's debut 7" single "Streets of London", in 1981.

History and controversy

The song was written, according to the band, after sitting in a pub one night and hearing two men try to out do each other with stories of past experiences. The song is therefore a retort to people who tell embellished stories to make themselves appear better than the other person they are in conversation with.

The obscene lyrical content of the song caused the British police to seize all copies of the single from the band's distributors under the Obscene Publications Act and remove all copies from sale . The word "fuck" appeared in the first line of the song. The song has subsequently been appended to various CD reissues of the We Are... The League album and has become somewhat of an anthem for the band. Lyrics in the song include references to bestiality (I fucked a sheep/I fucked a goat...) and acquiring sexually transmitted diseases (I've had the crabs, I've had the lice/I've had the clap...).

Cover

The song was famously covered by Metallica and released as a B-side to the "Sad But True" single and later included on the Garage Inc. album; it is also a bonus track on the Asian version of Metallica. "So What?" would go on to become an in-concert standard for the band. During the 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards, the band performed the song immediately after 'Last Caress' instead of 'King Nothing', which was off of their then-new album 'Load'. Their entire performance was aired live and uncensored. Sum 41 often use the Metallica version as outro music played over the sound system at their concerts.

References