Rise

The first single from Album came out on Virgin on 20 January 1986 and peaked at number 11 in the UK. Lydon and Bill Laswell wrote it, and Lydon said in a 2013 Glastonbury interview that it was about apartheid in South Africa and specifically Nelson Mandela. He called it a song of rebellion meant as a rebuke of violence. The phrase may the road rise with you translates an Irish blessing, and anger is an energy became the title of his 2014 autobiography.

It was recorded at Power Station in New York with Steve Vai and Nicky Skopelitis on guitar, Tony Williams on drums, Laswell on fretless bass, L. Shankar on violin, Ryuichi Sakamoto on a Fairlight and Bernard Fowler on backing vocals. Engineer Jason Corsaro had Williams record at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Laswell wanted drones of Indian music and Irish fiddle, hence the violin. On Top of the Pops, Lydon was joined by Don Letts, Kevin Armstrong and Hugo Burnham, among others. Smash Hits called it powerful stuff.