Wiki
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Length
4:39
While the band released their EP "III" with the intention of “reflecting joy,” “Loyal Like Sid And Nancy,” the first single from "Sacred Hearts Club" after "III" immediately conveys a more dire message concerning the frightening conditions of the world.
The Sid and Nancy in the song’s title refer to the infamous couple Sid Vicious, bassist of the punk band The Sex Pistols, and Nancy Spungen, his girlfriend. The two had an intense and destructive relationship in which the two were infatuated with each other, but ended up contributing to each other’s deaths.
Although “loyal” connotes something positive, in this instance, it is meant more of a word of caution. While the couple’s history communicates intense loyalty, this was on a backdrop of dangerous behavior and heavy drug addiction; Nancy got Sid addicted to heroin. When Nancy was murdered in 1978, their dynamic was far from over. While Sid was the prime suspect, showing just how complex and problematic their relationship was, Sid was rumored to have constantly been attempting to overdose and kill himself in order to “be with his Nancy”. He finally did die of heroin overdose in early ‘79.
Thus, their loyalty was ultimately self-destructive.
The track features many references to people and events with similarly tragic circumstances- both past and present.
There is an overall emphasis on the lyrics of this track because its official video on the band’s YouTube channel is a lyric video (and the first LV of the album).
Instrumentally, “Loyal Like Sid & Nancy” is a loosely hip-hop-inducing track with trap-flavored beats. Mark takes a rap-style approach—with verse three falling into spoken-word—to the verses of the song while experimenting with transitions between the heavy beats and lighter chorus.
Mark Foster said this song was the longest track to finish on the album:
"The music went through a lot of iterations before we finally settled on a three act play sort of format. But I went particularly insane writing the lyrics to that one. Also, it was important to me that the vocal delivery was right. The vocal needed to be sensual to offset the aggression of the lyrical message and the beat."
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