You’ve probably heard the riff. It’s jagged, chaotic, and carries that unmistakable stench of 1970s London rebellion. But when people talk about Who Killed Bambi, they aren't usually talking about a Disney character meeting a grim end in the woods. They’re talking about one of the most bizarre, fractured, and fascinating artifacts of the punk rock era. It is a song, yes. It was supposed to be a movie. Honestly, it ended up being a legal nightmare that basically signaled the beginning of the end for the Sex Pistols.
The story isn't just about a track on a soundtrack. It is a messy collision of Vivienne Westwood’s fashion, Malcolm McLaren’s ego, and a young Edward Tudor-Pole singing his heart out while the world around him smelled like burnt bridges.
The Song That Survived a Collapsing Empire
The track Who Killed Bambi is most famously associated with the 1979 mockumentary The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. If you listen to it now, it sounds weirdly orchestral compared to the sludge of Never Mind the Bollocks. That’s because it wasn't a standard Pistols garage jam. It was recorded after Johnny Rotten (John Lydon) had already bailed on the band in San Francisco, leaving McLaren to scramble for content to fill a feature-length film.
The vocals weren't even done by a Sex Pistol.
Enter Edward Tudor-Pole. He was this energetic, slightly manic figure who later fronted Tenpole Tudor. He famously performed the song in the film wearing a tuxedo, looking like a deranged conductor. The song itself was co-written by Vivienne Westwood and Tenpole Tudor. It’s catchy. It’s campy. It’s also deeply cynical. It was meant to be the title track for a massive cinematic project directed by none other than Russ Meyer, the king of "sexploitation" cinema.
Imagine that for a second. The Sex Pistols—the most dangerous band in England—teaming up with the guy who made Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. It sounds like a fever dream. That’s because it essentially was.
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Why the Meyer Movie Died
The movie Who Killed Bambi? was scripted by Roger Ebert. Yes, that Roger Ebert. The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic actually flew to London to work on the screenplay. He wrote a script that was essentially a surrealist take on the band's rise to infamy. But the production lasted exactly one and a half days.
Why? Money. Or rather, the lack of it.
20th Century Fox was supposed to cough up the budget, but when they actually saw what was happening—and realized the band was basically a walking PR disaster—they pulled the plug. Grace Kelly (yes, Princess Grace of Monaco) reportedly had a hand in the shutdown because she was on the board of Fox and found the whole punk thing utterly loathsome. So, the film died. All that remained was a few snippets of footage and the song Who Killed Bambi, which eventually got recycled into The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle.
Decoding the Lyrics: What Does It Actually Mean?
If you look at the lyrics to Who Killed Bambi, they aren't exactly Shakespeare. They’re repetitive. They’re punchy. But in the context of 1978, they were a middle finger to the establishment.
Who killed Bambi?
Who killed the little deer?
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On the surface, it’s a joke. It’s taking a symbol of childhood innocence and dragging it through the mud. But underneath, it was McLaren’s commentary on the "murder" of the band. He viewed himself as the puppet master who had created this beautiful, destructive thing, and now he was watching everyone scramble to take credit for its death. Or maybe he just liked the imagery. With Malcolm, it was usually 50% genius marketing and 50% whatever happened to be in the room at the time.
The song serves as a bridge. It connects the raw, angry punk of 1977 with the more theatrical, "new wave" weirdness that would follow in the early 80s. It’s a transition piece. It’s the sound of a band dissolving into a brand.
The Musical Structure
Musically, the song is a bit of an outlier. It features:
- A driving, almost military drum beat.
- Heavy orchestration that feels mock-grandose.
- Tudor-Pole’s distinctive, wavering vibrato.
- A frantic tempo that never quite lets up.
It doesn't sound like "Anarchy in the UK." It sounds like a theater production gone wrong. And that was exactly the point. By the time this was recorded, the Sex Pistols weren't a band anymore; they were a soundtrack to a movie about how they weren't a band anymore. It’s meta before people really used the word meta.
The Legacy of the "Bambi" Mythos
You can’t talk about Who Killed Bambi without mentioning the fashion. Vivienne Westwood used the title for her designs, and the "Bambi" graphic—the little deer with its throat cut—became an iconic piece of punk apparel. It’s the ultimate juxtaposition. The cute and the grotesque.
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Even today, the song pops up in unexpected places. It has been covered by various artists who want to tap into that specific vein of chaotic energy. It remains a staple of punk history because it represents the moment the movement stopped being a threat and started being a commodity.
Why People Still Search for It
Most people stumble upon the song because they’re looking for the "lost" Sex Pistols movie. They hear rumors of the Roger Ebert script. They want to know why there’s a song called Who Killed Bambi on a Sex Pistols album when Johnny Rotten isn't even singing on it.
It’s a mystery that leads down a rabbit hole of 70s grit, legal battles, and the weird reality that the most "anti-establishment" band in history was almost a Fox-funded movie project.
Honestly, the fact that the movie was never finished is probably the most punk rock thing about it. If it had been released, it probably would have been a bloated, messy flop that dated terribly. Instead, it exists as a myth. A few minutes of film, one frantic song, and a legendary "what if" in music history.
How to Experience the "Who Killed Bambi" Era Today
If you want to understand the vibe of this track and why it matters, you have to look past the streaming services. You have to look at the visual history.
- Watch The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle: Even though it’s largely McLaren’s revisionist history, the performance of Who Killed Bambi is a highlight. It captures the frantic, end-of-the-world energy of 1979 perfectly.
- Read the Ebert Script: You can find fragments of Roger Ebert’s screenplay online. It is wild. It reads like a surrealist fever dream and makes you realize just how insane the late 70s were for creative collaboration.
- Listen to Tenpole Tudor: If you like the vocal style, check out "Swords of a Thousand Men." It’s the logical conclusion of the sound Edward Tudor-Pole brought to the Pistols' wreckage.
- Check out the Westwood Archive: Look at the original "Bambi" shirts. They explain the aesthetic of the song better than any music critic ever could.
The song Who Killed Bambi is the ultimate eulogy for the first wave of British punk. It’s loud, it’s confusing, it’s a little bit fake, and it’s completely unforgettable. It marks the exact moment the safety pins came out and the sequins went on. It’s the death of the "little deer" of punk innocence, and the birth of the music industry’s ability to sell rebellion back to the masses in a shiny new package.
Actionable Takeaway for Collectors
If you're looking for the definitive version of the song, hunt down the original 7-inch vinyl or the Japanese pressings of the soundtrack. The mastering on the early vinyl captures the "trebly," tinny chaos of the recording much better than modern digital remasters, which tend to smooth out the jagged edges that made the song interesting in the first place. For the full experience, listen to it immediately after "Holidays in the Sun" to feel the jarring shift from a real band to a cinematic concept.