Warning: may contain swearing, my precious...
A snotty, cocky 13 year old walks into Mere Green Records and Tapes.
Me (thinking: they'll never have this in stock): 'Hey mister, have you got "Too Drunk To Fuck" by the Dead Kennedys?'
Record Shop Owner: 'Yes'.
Me: _____!
99p later, with unedited picture sleeve (no F**k asterisks required, thanks) and inner lyric sheet, this 7" slice of rebellion hardly left my little record player for weeks. Well, at least whenever my parents were out...
Despite the sheer punk rock infused adrenalin rush of TDTF, it was the Dead Kennedy's second single "Holiday in Cambodia" that has stayed with me to an age where I really should know better. Yes, OK, OK I know everyone thinks the album version is the best ("Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables", side 2, track 6, Pop-Pickers!) but it will always be the 7" (shorter) version for me.
Check out the start: East Bay Ray's super-reverb space-out surf-riffs soar over Klaus Flouride's echo dripping bass - you just know you're not in for the usual punk rock intro.
Looking back now, it is hard to imagine how incendiary the lyrics were at the time - the "n-word" - let alone the subject matter....and in the charts??? Although not on the Beeb, of course. Could you actually sing these things?? Were you, uh, even allowed??? The cruel sarcastic social satire of the lyrics coupled with the sheer in-your-face audacity of Jello's mocking vocals... what's not to like for any snotty 13 year old?
In years to come, I was often troubled by the record's subject matter and whether it (and I, in my ignorance) had trivialised the war in Cambodia and the horrors of Pol Pot's regime... but like the apologist subject caricatured in the song, maybe that's just my ethnicky snazz getting the better of me.
The Dead Kennedy's were my first experience of US punk, before then my horizons only extended to the home-grown UK variety (see Day 1) but this was like nothing I'd ever heard before. I was sold!
As I type this, listening again to the record (after far too long a lay off) here comes Ray's soaring guitar slide punctuated by Jello's metronome "Pol Pot... Pol Pot... Pol Pot... Pol Pot..." delivered with more measured spite than the album version - it still makes the hairs on my neck stand up!
I'm not sure I have ever resolved my conflicted feelings over the content and imagery of this amazing record. From Guernicato the poems of Wilfred Owen, maybe the art we make because of war is the most powerful?
"Pol Pot!"
P.S. The B-Side "Police Truck" is a blast too, enjoy! (with or without a five-grand stereo)
The rules:
- Choose one song from your high-school/college years.
- Write a few words about who made you listen to this song for the first time, what this song means to you (was it a breakup song? you blasted it at 100% on your audio system when you were partying with your friends?) whatever you want.
- Write your text while listening to the song. As soon as the song ends, wrap up what you where writing and submit it.
- Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated
- Mention one person who should do this on each day.
- Tag it with #musicwaybackchallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post
I think its fine to have difficult subject matter in a pop record, I mean look at 13 you didnt appreciate its significance, but then who would have expected you to?
Look at Black Flag's White Minority, it has been hugely mis-understood as some kind of racist record, but its being sarcastic. Perhaps some kids didnt get it, but they probably do now.
As for rude lyrics, check out my day 5 pick, which I felt was worthy of a NSFW tag , haha.
Downvoting a post can decrease pending rewards and make it less visible. Common reasons:
Submit