Sex Is Not The Enemy - Song Profile

Song Profile

"Sex Is Not the Enemy" was first written in 2003 at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. On August 15, singer Shirley Manson wrote on her online journal that it sounded "like old school Garbage".

"Sex Is Not the Enemy" was influenced by the February 1, 2004 Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, which led to a censorship row in the media after singer Janet Jackson's bare breast was exposed by Justin Timberlake in what was referred to as a "wardrobe malfunction". Manson noticed that the incident was featured on the USA Today cover for three days in a row with no mention of the Iraq war. Manson felt the media "was only focusing on Janet’s beautiful tit, which I thought was bizarre". The singer declared that there are "a lot worse things to have your children see on TV that parents are happily plopping their kids down in front of", and thus she wrote a song "sort of dealing with that and dealing with the idea that this administration is really clamping down on reproductive rights and stuff like that. So it's sort of heavy, but it's coated in this really anthemic, upbeat party song."

Over time, Manson would work on the lyrics to the song, writing in her view that the Bush administration had clamped down on gay rights, reproductive rights and people's civil liberties. Later, she recalled "'Sex Is Not the Enemy' is sort of a manifesto in a way. I had no idea it was until I looked back and thought, ‘This really is an anthem to my sexual politics'". Guitarist Steve Marker added: "At first it wasn't supposed to be anything other than a party song."

Musically, "Sex Is Not the Enemy" was mutated a number of times during writing; after some changes the band went back to the song's original verse melody, Manson writing on her journal there was "at least three different versions of this song".

On May 25, Garbage confirmed a list of 14 songs being worked on for the record, including "Sex Is Not the Enemy", and on December 14 confirmed that the song would be included on the finished album Bleed Like Me.

On March 28, 2005, Garbage performed the track on Canal+ Album de la semaine before debuting the song live on stage at the Paris Olympia the following day.