See Public Image Ltd.’s Toilet Drama Come to Life in New Video
John Lydon balks at having to fix a broken toilet at the beginning of his band Public Image Ltd.‘s latest single, “Double Trouble,” and he and his bandmates bring that idea to life in the song’s video. But rather than film a potty-themed production, the group made a lighthearted clip for the tune, which will appear on the band’s upcoming LP What the World Needs Now…, out September 4th.
Imagery of the former Sex Pistol singing the tune interspersed with shots of his bandmates goofing off in a vacant house shows how much fun they had recording the album. A sign on a door reads, “To the Nudist Colony,” and Lydon plays around with a measuring tape in a particularly ribald way after singing, “don’t want to be feeling small.” The clip, which also features some animations of Lydon’s artwork, was made by the singer’s manager and lifelong friend John “Rambo” Stevens.
“Even a toilet repair can bring world peace, or peace off,” Lydon tells Rolling Stone of the clip.
The song’s content is based on a true story, with the singer previously telling Rolling Stone that he wrote the song after having an argument with his wife about a broken toilet. He’d fixed one in the past and said that was his “fatal mistake.” “It was presumed from there on in that I would repair it every single time, every toilet I came in sight of…. I’m not Johnny Perfecto in the toilet department,” he said. “I know how to break them.” He also added that his wife loves the song.
The group recorded the album at Steve Winwood’s Wincraft Studio in the U.K. last year. PiL have lined up numerous U.K. and European dates to follow the LP’s release, with U.S. dates to be announced in the future.