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Kill the Poor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Kill the Poor" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Dead Kennedys | ||
| B-side(s) | "Insight" | |
| Released | October 1980 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | 1980 | |
| Genre | Hardcore punk | |
| Length | 3:02 | |
| Label | Alternative Tentacles | |
| Writer(s) | Jello Biafra | |
| Dead Kennedys singles chronology | ||
| "Holiday in Cambodia" (1979) |
"Kill the Poor" (1980) |
"Too Drunk to Fuck" (1980) |
"Kill the Poor" was the third single by the Dead Kennedys. The record was released in October 1980 on Alternative Tentacles with "Insight" as the b-side. The title track was re-recorded for the band's first album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980), although the single and album versions are not very different. The b-side for this single is available on the rarities album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death (1987).
The song is from the point of view of government officials, who want to use the neutron bomb to rid the country of its poorest inhabitants. One could infer that the government officials in the song are conservatives, as the song's storyline mentions at one point that Jane Fonda "convinced the liberals it's okay", hinting that the officials are not liberals. When "Kill the Poor" got a surprising amount of play in some third world countries, the band wondered if the government took the song literally and were actively promoting it.
A live version of the song was released later, but the lyrics "neutron bomb" were replaced with the lyrics "satellite-bomb", and the guitar solo reverted to the pre-1980s type.
Musically, the song mixed the early hardcore punk aesthetic (hard, distorted chords and a basic musical assault) with post-Ramones rockabilly riffs and an outrageous and ingenious chorus (based around the Ramones "You're Gonna Kill that Girl," and probably meant as a parody of that song). "Kill the Poor" was the lead track to the 1980s classic Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables and is considered a classic of the early punk era and one of the Kennedys' best-known and most-loved songs.
"Kill the Poor" reached #49 in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks on the chart.
| Dead Kennedys |
| Ted | East Bay Ray | Klaus Flouride | D.H. Peligro |
| Former members: Jello Biafra | 6025 | Brandon Cruz | Jeff Penalty |
| Discography |
| Albums and EPs: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables | In God We Trust, Inc. | Plastic Surgery Disasters | Frankenchrist | Bedtime for Democracy | Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death |
| Live albums: A Skateboard Party | Mutiny on the Bay | Live at the Deaf Club |
| Singles: "California Über Alles" | "Holiday in Cambodia" | "Kill the Poor" | "Too Drunk to Fuck" | "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" | "Bleed for Me" | "Halloween" |
| Related articles |
| Hardcore punk | Manifesto Records | Alternative Tentacles | Penis Landscape |