Sunday Song Lyric:

The Dead Kennedys were always an amusing and outrageous band. From the pointed humor of their lyrics and their raucous shows to Jello Biafra’s semi-serious run for mayor of San Francisco and the allegedly obscene H.R. Giger poster distributed with the Frankchrist album, the DKs were always worth some attention, even when their music was inconsistent.



With all the talk about whether John Kerry did or did not spend Christmas in 1968 in Cambodia (his campaign admits he didn’t), it just seems appropriate to post the DKs 1980 classic “Holiday in Cambodia.” (Thanks to a reader for the suggestion, as it hadn’t yet crossed my mind.) I won’t pretend for a moment that I share the Dead Kennedys’ politics but I’ve hardly made that the basis for my musical tastes (or lyric selections). In any event, here it is.

So you been to school for a year or two

And you know you’ve seen it all

In daddy’s car, thinkin’ you’ll go far

Back east your type don’t crawl

Play ethnincky jazz to parade you snazzy

On your five grand stereo

Braggin’ that you know how the n*****s feel the cold

And the slum’s got so much soul

It’s time to taste what you most fear

Right Guard will not help you here

Brace yourself, my dear…



It’s a holiday in Cambodia

It’s tough, kid, but it’s life

It’s a holiday in Cambodia

Don’t forget to pack a wife



You’re a star-belly sneech, you suck like a leech

You want everyone to act like you

Kiss ass while you bitch so you can get rich

While your boss gets richer off you

Well you’ll work harder with a gun in your back

For a bowl of rice a day

Slave for soldiers `til you starve

Then your head is skewered on a stake

Now you can go where people are one

Now you go where they get things done

What you need, my son…



Is a holiday in Cambodia

Where people dress in black

A holiday in Cambodia

Where you’ll kiss ass or crack



Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot, Pol Pot, ….



And it’s a holiday in Cambodia

Where you’ll do what you’re told

A holiday in Cambodia

Where the slums got so much soul




Update:Earlier this month Michele Catalano presented her own take on this song and Senator Kerry

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