Songs of Protest: “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” and the Continued Fight for Liberation

Poly Styrene and her band X-Ray Spex made history with the 1977 single “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!,” inspiring countless other women to protest their own experiences.

Music is one of society’s best teachers. In Songs of Protest, writers analyze some of music’s greatest hits, using their findings to make sense of the world around them.

Written by Victoria Canales

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

“Some people think little girls should be seen and not heard, but I think…,” followed by a roaring “Oh, bondage! Up yours!” Rapid-fire drums shoot and guitar sounds explode as the saxophone solo slices through the air. It’s everything punk should be: bold, hungry, and completely unapologetic. So begins the first single from X-Ray Spex, the 1970s punk band that frontwoman Poly Styrene made legendary.

Styrene, whose real name is Marianne Joan Elliott-Said, was born to a Somali father and Scottish/Irish mother. Growing up multiracial in 1970s London proved to be difficult for the singer, who spoke about experiencing racism from both sides. She ran away from home at age 15 and immersed herself in hippie culture, hitchhiking around the country and attending countless music festivals. Upon her return home, she decided that she wanted to be a musician, recording a pop single on Donna Summer’s record label.

After attending a Sex Pistols concert on her 19th birthday, Styrene switched directions and formed her own punk rock band. She recruited members Jak Airport, Paul Dean, BP Hurding, and Lora Logic to form X-Ray Spex. Naming the band after the cheap toy sold on the back of comic books, Styrene chose X-Ray Spex because it’s a “disposable lightweight product,” reflecting her idea that a pop star is closer to a figurine than a person. Whether it be through the frontwoman’s aesthetic or her lyrics, cheap plastic would become a recurring theme in X-Ray Spex iconography. Styrene was far from a typical pop star, though. Her unique style stood out from every other celebrity, with her clunky braces and homemade neon outfits, ranging from a space suit to a bacon and egg costume. These fashion choices make sense considering she once said that she never wanted to be a sex symbol, and that if she ever did become one, she would shave her hair off (which she actually did one day at Johnny Rotten’s apartment). As if she wasn’t punk enough already, Styrene even had her own kiosk on King’s Road, which is often heralded as the mecca of England’s punk fashion scene. Even at the beginning of her career, she knew exactly the sort of public persona she wanted to have, and it was her own brand of protest against the constraints that women were expected to conform to.

Photo courtesy of Falcon Stuart

After performing at the West Hollywood nightclub the Roxy, X-Ray Spex got a record deal with Virgin Records for one single, in which they recorded the iconic “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” and changed the course of punk forever. With its references to feelings of social bondage and lyrics such as “bind me, tie me, chain me to the wall / I wanna be a slave to you all,” it’s easy to see how the song’s meaning was originally confused to be related to BDSM. However, the song draws from Styrene’s own experiences as a woman of color in the scene. She first declares her right to be there and then adds her own contribution to the conversation surrounding oppression.

In a 2008 interview with MOJO Magazine, the singer explained, “I come from a religious background, and in the scripture, the whole idea of being liberated is to break free from bondage.” The song specifically refers to the ways consumerism and materialism keep society captive. For example, the second verse (“Chain-store chainsmoke, I consume you all / chain-gang chainmail, I don’t think at all”) refers back to these issues of consumerism and a culture of disposability. Styrene herself has stated that these lines mean society is “tied to these activities for someone else’s profit.” In the third verse, she snarls, “I wanna be a victim for you all,” again switching back to the feminist themes expressed at the beginning of the song, before the song repeats the first verse again and ends with the repetitive rallying cry of “oh bondage, up yours!” X-Ray Spex famously included a saxophone solo in this song, creating a unique distinction between other punk bands of the time.

The song didn’t make the UK Top 40 Chart, since the BBC generally didn’t play punk music on the radio, but it quickly became critically acclaimed and an essential track for any punk record collection. Even Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols said that X-Ray Spex had intense energy in their music and attitude, praising them for their “superb” sound. Soon after, Styrene and her band became legends around the scene and even found themselves on the covers of teen magazines.

Sadly, the rebellious magic of X-Ray Spex would not last very long. Poly Styrene experienced  mental health issues, and after several breakdowns and hallucinations, she was institutionalized in a mental hospital. She received diagnoses of schizophrenia and — more accurately — bipolar disorder, and she was told she would never be able to work again at the age of 21. X-Ray Spex disbanded in 1979, and Styrene quickly fell out of the public eye.

However, the band’s legacy continues to live on. Though Poly Styrene set out to make a protest song on consumerism, she ultimately also created a feminist anthem. According to punk historian Vivien Goldman, the sound of Styrene’s voice “cut through a sort of glass ceiling of what women singers could do with their voice.” Nearly 20 years later, riot grrrl bands like Bikini Kill and The Gits would blend punk rock with outwardly feminist messages, and singers like Skin from Skunk Anansie would pave the way for Black women and women of color in rock music. Even stars like FKA twigs find inspiration from Styrene; she has said that her favorite album is X-Ray Spex’s Germfree Adolescents.

Loud, brash, and fearless women in all genres are forever indebted to the ferociousness of Poly Styrene and her banshee wail. Though her comments on disposability and consumerism remain relevant as ever, the true legacy of “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” is its influence on angry women escaping their bondage.