The song was released in an alternative shorter version as "Swan Lake" on the group's second album, Metal Box, with slight changes at the end.

The title change reflects the quote from Tchaikovsky's ballet score that surfaces in Keith Levene's guitar part.

In his autobiography, Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, Lydon stated that the song was written for his mother, who had died of cancer not long before.

"[5] According to AllMusic, "the song is built on a dense groove informed equally by dub and disco" and features both "Lydon at his most desperate and stark" and Keith Levene "dishing out shards of guitar that complement the rhythm one moment and then shift into horrific riffing the next.

[6] Paul Lester of The Guardian wrote that "Death Disco" was "the biggest hit with a load of rhythmical dissonance [...] until the dosser disco of Happy Mondays' "Hallelujah" ten years later.