Pol Pot, the name he repeats over and over near the end of the song, was the leader in Cambodia and responsible for the genocide of 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians between 1977 and 1979, which is when this song was written (released in 1980), so when he is referencing a "Holiday in Cambodia" there was a lot more going on other than poverty that made the reference a pretty serious thing. As time passes most people forget about this and so that part of the message, which gave the song some political weight at the time by bringing attention to what was going on in Cambodia, is lost and it is a testament to their talent that the song still sounds great 40 years later on the "music" alone with the message lost with time. "California Uber Alles" is another politically charges song from that era with its focus on California's Governor Jerry Brown and his political aspirations and tactics at that time. One of my favorite bands all time. Good stuff!
People forgot about it so well and so quickly that nobody really worried when the US and Great Britain spent the 1980's financially and politically supporting the Khmer Rouge simply because it was Vietnam who had the temerity to invade and end the killing fields. Look up Thatcher on Blue Peter (a UK kid's TV program) nattering on to the children about engaging with the "reasonable" Khmer Rouge. It's the most perverse instance of "enemy of my enemy" that the cold war gave us.
The message was comparing western privilege to the horrors of the kmir rouges killing fields. This song was written not long after the details of those horrors were released to the public. Jello Biafra was brave and bold enough to address the issue.
@@chrisakarazor9612 Since you're an American republican, Jello is probably a socialist commie antifa member to you. Like you realise who dead kennedys were right?
@@DeezN1892 You missed the point of this song . DKs speak against dictatorship.They talk about modern left (rich kids) who yell socialism/communism but dont really know the meaning of it (see Pol Pots Cambodia) . DKs are anarchists and antifa , not socialist/commie. But too late for you Americans two party system killed your soul
@@Mr12blabla12 you misunderstand my comment. The American right will and have called jello and DK ‘commies’ ‘Anarchist’ is soon going to be unusable anyway because it’s being poisoned by libertarians
He explained it years back and the short form is that “ You can’t come from a place of privilege and bitch about how bad you have it, when other places are so much worse”
It's the false solidarity put on by champagne socialists specifically in this song. They view poverty as a culture, not a condition. It's extremely prevalent today, perhaps even moreso today than when it was written because it's gone more mainstream. We see how attempts to lift areas out of poverty are met with calls of gentrification, and thus, destroying the 'culture' of an area, when all that 'culture' typically consists of is drug abuse, violence, destitution, unemployment, and general misery. That, for some reason, is what liberals point to as culture. Another person's actual culture (enthicky jazz), is worn as a fad for them. Just something to cherry pick from the malaise like someone putting together a bouquet of flowers grown out of the hellscape of a genocidal warzone and claiming, "ain't they pretty?" One could apply that to the right wing as well to some degree when you see the rich and wealthy pretending to roll up their sleeves when they hit the campaign trail come election time. The lifestyle so many people are trying to work themselves out of or at least into more stable positions is a tourist spot for the elites (of all political brands) to dip their toes into when they want to feel like they're even remotely still part of this world.
If you know the Dead Kennedy’s, you’ll realize they are definitely not skewering socialism. He’s Skewering liberal middle of the roaders who go to university for a few years and think they know how the poor actually live. Try “Love me, I’m a liberal” by the Dead Kennedy’s if you want a clearer message. It’s a cover of a Phil Ochs folk song from the 60s
@@LordEriolTolkien Jello is a corporate shell? The guy who tried to stop his former band mates from licensing their music to corporations is a corporate shell of his former self? The guy who's not cashing in and doing the reunion circuit with one of the greatest bands ever is a.corporate shell of his former self? Really?
I would say this is mocking 'poverty tourism' and mocking the 'gap year kids' who talk about how they're better people for going abroad for a year or two to 'help out' when they're basically exporting their own shallow selves for kodak opportunities and nothing more. It's basically saying - you act like you're deep and you understand but you're only out there to try and give the illusion of depth to the shallow vacuous person you are. If you really had to live like a child soldier or work in the killing fields under Pol Pot then, maybe, you'd actually understand. Maybe then it wouldn't just be for the social acceptance and peer respect that it is for alot of folk who only go out there to pay lip service to the notion of 'doing good'. Maybe then you'd understand the horror of poverty and oppression that you've been so blissfully ignorant of your whole life. Fair to say its worth bearing in mind that any Dead Kennedys song comes with a more than healthy dose of cynicism and sarcasm lyrically speaking.
@@GothDuck how many did Stalin kill? And how many did hitler kill? Are you aware of general pattons quote after defeating the nazis? If so what are your thoughts on it..
Man, skating in the 80s was so great. Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, Black Flag, B52s, Violent Fems.... all on tapes you booted from your friends.
I think the more Lex hears the Dead Kennedys and punk rock from this era, the more she is going to love it. Lex loving them pickles, not for everybody, but very satisfying when you have a taste for them.
@@ronnienoneyabusiness2844 sucks that DK sold out and Jello of course being the badass he was didn’t want any part of it. Now they’re just a glorified cover band. DK with Jello is always going to be my favorite band of all time.
@@ronnienoneyabusiness2844 I hate the element (BOTH fans and detractors) that thinks there's no room for musicianship in punk rock. Go see X and tell me Billy Zoom is not one of the greatest guitarists ever.
The message of this song is... 'if you think u have it tough here... go experience someplace worse...' Cambodia went thru a terrible communist regime under Pol Pot... he ordered all the intellectuals be murdered en-masse... then demanded the entire population strip to a basic uniform clothing and work in agriculture & industry.
@@emilianosintarias7337 that is not true in the slightest bit. Pol Pot was NOT backed by the USA. Its both ignorant and stupid to believe that buddy, since pol pot openly hated most of the things america represented in that time period
@@metalmonk3775 it doesn't matter what you think, it already happened, it is in the public record. Literal votes in the UN and diplomatic cables. Pick up a book. The US and China both saw supporting Khmer rouge as a way to oppose the vietnamese, the US just hid it from its population better
@@metalmonk3775 not a communist. You have much to learn about America and the horrific and disgusting things this government has done to uphold capitalism around the globe, buddy
Hitler tried ethnic cleansing, Stalin and Mao tried to purge their "undesirables", but Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge pretty much tried to kill almost everyone in their borders. The Kim's in NK are rational in comparison.
Totally agree, but I wish they were watching some live footage too. I think the theatrics of Jello and his strange body movement and mock police brutality along with H.R. doing flips on stage. Both of those bands at least to me are very visual not to mention hugely important.
The fact you picked up on and referenced Dick Dale makes this my favorite comment via this video. Much respect. Dick Dale is the most underrated guitar player of all-time, in my opinion.
More about rich kids thinking they can relate to poor blacks & whites cause they hung out in the ghetto a few times, listen to jazz (now rap) music & speak out in favor of ‘social awareness.’ This is basically an 80’s message to the Harvard SJWs of their time.
Dead Kennedys and the Clash were my two favorite Punk rock bands, more the Clash but the Kennedy's were so good,lol.I liked Police Truck, Let's Lynch the Landlord, Come on Bleed.Pol Pot was responsible for an attempted Genocide in that country.
Love the Dead Kennedy's love the reaction, please also try 'Kill the poor', 'California Uber Alles' and 'Let's lynch the landlord'. Very sarcastic band with a political foundation. PS the song 'Nazi Punks' is also good. This group are very much left wing, but this song is about the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's brutal dictatorial rule in Cambodia.
I wouldn't say they are left wing because this song more bashes on the left that think communists is the answer. They are definitely more progressive centrist
@@BoneGoddess Pol Pot was a dictator, he left left-wing ideology and communism behind when he became an authoritarian dictator, both features of far-right fascism... It's about ideology, he and Stalin abused power, Stalin was called a Red Fascist and so was Pol Pot. When you stop the following left ideology and become a murderous megalomaniac you can no longer claim that you follow that ideology, corruption is a fault in human beings and not ideology.
This was and is punk. DK was a huge part of the west coast scene. The lyrics of their songs are meant to bring attention to the separation of people by class, the horrors of war, racism, etc. You should buy every piece of vinyl they ever put out and open your eyes to what our country truly is, because they are every bit as relevant today as they were when they first formed.
Can't get enough of Lex hearing something new and challenging but bearing down to really *hear* it; then seeing her open up and embrace it and letting it take her along. Why is that so satisfying?
The Dead Kennedys were part of my life growing up in San Francisco, along the whole punk mentality/scene. Most of those views in their lyrics, in all of their songs, I agree with to this day. Nothing like 70's and early 80's punk.
I'm only halfway through the video and I have to stop and say holy shit, Lex you are incredibly intuitive! I'm constantly shocked by it! This song is a critique of pseudo-intellectuals in the west who promote communist ideologies while nightmares like Cambodia unfold in part due to that same idealogy.
Lex is creepy the way she hones in. This comment should be pinned because it nails not only her uncanny intuitiveness, but a succinct summation of what the song conveys.
@@TheLargino Specifically by Vietnamese communists who abhorred the way Pol Pot pretended to have communist ideals to gain power, then abandoned them to simply rule as a tyrant.
You'll definitely want to hear a track from a group the lead singer, Jello Biafra, created with the members of Ministry after the Dead Kennedys dissolved. The track is called "War Pimp Rennaissance" by Lard. You won't be disappointed one bit!
First time I heard this song I happened to have a teacher’s aid that visited the The Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. He got to show us pictures from his trip and he described everything that happen. I felt thankful to know this piece of history but at the same time it killed me inside knowing it happen.
It’s definitely a sobering experience.. i went there as well as what they call the killing fields . I was there after a big rain and from the ground where up to 10000 were murdered ,bones and teeth came to the surface. They had boxes place about for us to put these fragments which were once people. Pure evil happened at this place. The song is accurate that you don’t know what bad is until you visit Cambodia and see genocide up close.
When I went there, one of the 8 people who survived was there, selling copies of his book. He only survived because he could draw so well. They also had one of the ex guards there, and you could ask him questions about it all.
You two are coming at this from a new perspective - and that might sound like condescending drivel, except for the fact that I did too. You gotta start somewhere... and you aren't taking easy paths or softball songs. This is why I subscribed - not to feel good about "somebody appreciates what I like," but more "someone is digging into this,and I want to see if they reach the same conclusions that I did, or possibly reached better ones." And this is why I am staying subscribed - because I hope to get jolted out of my own complacency by your observations. Hold hard!
WOW!! That pickles thing was awesome!!! What a way to describe it. Sometimes punk doesn't even have to technically sound good and a lot of it is political or social commentary. Love that you guys are doing genres nobody else has
Or when you point out his views they’ll say “Yeah, punk is definitely dead”, yet they themselves were never actually punk nor understand what punk is about
When I first got the single, I didn't know it was a 45 because it was a regular sized album. So, I played it on 33rpm after we smoked a joint and thought the song was awesome. When we put it in the correct speed our minds exploded.
I love DK, satire is the perfect word to describe them. They used satire in all of there work, like their debut albums opening track "Kill the Poor" has a similar message that obviously not to be taken literally. Jello Biafra even ran political campaigns with similarly satirical and wacky platforms and their music is just an amazing, defining sound of punk for me.
Mad respect for you guys even daring to come into my world here! Its NOT comfortable, but its welcoming, always, and we're happy to see ya stop by for a minute! 😎
Jello Biafra just threw it all out there for the world to see, his lyrics can insult, shock, enrage, enlighten or inspire. He is real punk rock at its most raw. Love the Dead Kennedys. This is not the kind of music a safe commercial band would do. He's still out there and still in your face.
Cambodia nowadays is still poor, but it aint the terrifying place it was during the reign of pol pot. I think he killed something over quarter of the population during his reign. Seriously effed regime that made north korea look tame.
The concept of taking a whole society back to a year zero and then trying to rebuild it on his and his henchmens warped concept of a pure agrarian society. All literate and academic qualified people were executed or killed by starving and torture, forced labour. You wore glasses 👓 you were executed all doctors nurses any one thought capable of questioning. It only came to an end when the Vietnamese army invaded and captured Pol pot and his cronies .. wether its political or religious some people seem to gladly swallow the ideology pill whole and forget real humanity ... If they do then they can go either way, they become perpetrator's or the next set of victims.
The song was written shortly after the genocidal dictatorship of the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot and his Communist Party of Kampuchea, which is estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of roughly a quarter of the Cambodian population between 1975 and 1979. The lyrics are critical of disingenuous college-aged students in the Western world, contrasting their lifestyle with that of those under the Cambodian regime. The official video-clip shows American soldiers in helicopter, some chased by crowd, bombings including U.S. Air force napalm bombing, and people burned by napalm, in reference to Operation Menu.[1]
The DKs are an amazingly influential band. Jello (the vocalist) is iconic. The whole Fresh Fruits For Rotting Vegetables release is great. You need to check out The Violent Femmes. Oh... and Lex... your mind is amazing. I mean... to immediately come up with the pickle analogy. I love the way your mind works.
This song is a critique of rich white kids "slumming it". DK's have SO MANY amazing classic songs, you gotta do more! Please do "Terminal Preppie", it's hilarious. "Well Paid Scientist" and "Trust Your Mechanic" are also amazing. "Riot" and "Police Truck" are so on the nose to today's problems that you would think they were written yesterday and not in the early 80s. DK's probably have the most insightful and biting social commentary in all of punk rock.
This is one of the foundations for metal hard rock and thrash. Even early rap/fast talk in punk metal hybrids. Congrats on tapping into the early British punk wave. It’s a good place to start.
I can't see California Über Ales put forward as the next track of theirs to check out? Considering the modern youngsters and their views, and your opinions on that... CUA is an absolute must!
One of the best aspects of punk is that they were outsiders in the rock world so they were free to experiment musically in the way that mainstream rock couldn't. Some bands took great advantage of that freedom.
I thought i loved watching Lex discover metal and classic rock....then i saw her get into punk rock. Im in love! She gets it and she can explain and disect for Brad.
First time seeing you guys. I've been a fan of the Kennedys since about 87. I'm a conservative politically, but have always loved their music and how they deliver their message. Lex was on the money with the Dead Kennedys using satire to get a message across. Jello is still an interesting character to listen to. He was always more of an anarchist than a socialist, tho socialism was high on is values list. He even ran for mayor of San Francisco back in the early 80s. Love it, and I'm gonna subscribe based on this alone. Check out Soup Is Good Food from the album Frankenchrist. It's a social commentary on unions, workers and robotic innovation. Great stuff. Or, the Stars And Stripes of Corruption from the same album. Punk like this is great because it's not just screaming like a lot of hardcore punk back then was. Thanks for the reaction!
Now you're talking!!! 😁 Foo Fighters and Serj Tankien did a great version of this! It's on RUclips. Another great one by Dead Kennedys is Police Truck. It was the B side to this.
@@AsukaLangleyS02 There's a time and a place mate. Without context and an unawareness of the songs origins it has to be done. It doesn't make you some kind of a badass to not censor derogatory lyrics. I double checked and I didn't see Iggy Pop anywhere!? 🤷♂️🤔
my daughter and I do 'spinning art time' i spin records from my youth and we do art. She is four - I am forty-eight... i have videos of her dancing to DK and looking at me telling me how she is growing up listening to the Specials and Skinny Puppy like her daddy... parenting done right. I talk at great length about the bands, music, and the whys and hows of it. I understand that she will gleem very little of the details, but it always amazes me how much she does truly absorb. Just have to love it when your daughter shows up and asks to hear The Clash or The Cramps...
Black Flag - Swinging Man & I love You Hank 3 - Pills I Took & Getting Drunk and Falling Down Rolling Stones - Mother's Little Helper Fugazi - Last Chance For a Slow Dance
This is a song about society pushing the poor and underprivileged down until they join the military and then get used as fodder in war. Cambodia is referring to the Viet-nam war era.
Punk is usually crazy, silly, political 😆 . Not a racist song. They were poking fun at rich, white kids who grew up in racist environment, visiting an urban poor minority ghetto and country. Also about the Cambodia genocide back then. Good observation, guys! Also, Dead Kennedys has a black drummer. The surf rock, punk vibe is correct. Typical of punk bands from the Westcoast, California.
Pnom Penh Cambodia is a beautiful these days! From it's walkable riverfront, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, to the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, displaying artifacts from around the country. At the city’s heart is the massive, art deco Central Market. Don't judge a country by its history.
Just by reacting to this you are my favourite reaction channel,I think the Dead Kennedys are one of the greatest American bands Up there with the Doors and the all time greats.
They have a song called "Life Sentence" that's one of my favorite songs. You should check it out. Also the song "'Merica" by Descendants. Brad will enjoy the lyrics. (I think)
Jello Biafra and Zach Del A Rocha are two lyricists with the most intense and biting satire and critique The lyrics in this song are talking largely about the Khmer Rouge which took power of Cambodia from 1975-79 and led to the murder and starvation of around two million people. It's also mocking yuppies and the sort of do-gooders of the day who only really spoke out about issues when they thought it would make them look good, but often they didn't know what was actually going on. It talks about ghettos in poorer regions of America, sex trafficking in South East Asia. So much different stuff in a four minute song. Incredible. That and the haunting music.
I just discovered this channel and already loving seeing Lex figure out and break down shit. Punk rock is my favorite music genre so def looking for more of this. Have you guys reacted to Bad Brains? If not definitely should give them a shot. Especially their song Big Takeover
The song pokes fun at rich kids who think they understand poverty because they’ve got a couple years of college courses under their belt and like jazz music. So DK suggests that they take a holiday in Cambodia, which at the time was run by genocidal dictator Pol Pot. His regime forced city dwellers out to rural labor camps, where they were subject to starvation, abuse, and mass executions. DK songs are often filled with acerbic political and social commentary delivered with a heavy dose of sarcasm. Their entire discography (even their name) is an epic work of satire. For more examples check out a few of these songs - Soup is Good Food Police Truck Cesspools in Eden Kill the Poor And for some not so satirical political commentary try something like Stars and Stripes of Corruption Also - that fun 007 vibe has a lot to do with the influence of surf rock and psychedelia on their guitar player. If you want to explore that rabbit hole, check out someone like Dick Dale or the Ventures.
The only tattoo I have is the DK symbol on my left forearm I got in the mid-80's. Carved it in with a razor blade and poured india ink in it while tripping listening to The Dead Kennedys. Don't suggest it for everyone, but hey, the 80's were crazy lmao....
The Cambodian (Khmer) people, and Cambodia are so beautiful! What an unspeakable Hell it was turned into for so many years! May G-d bless and keep Cambodia and the Khmer people! May they know nothing but peace and prosperity from here onward! 🙏 ❤️
Here is some 90's hardcore/pop punk(the best type punk imo): Rancid- Bloodclot, Roots Radicals, 11th hour, lock step gone, Hyena, young al capone MxPx- Do your feet hurt, Your problem is my emergency, falling down, want ad Hi standard- Fighting fists, My heart feels so free the Queers- Tamara is a punk rocker, punk rock girls Dropkick Murphy's- Do or die, Pipebomb, Hang em high misfits-Saturday night, Helena
Pol Pot, the name he repeats over and over near the end of the song, was the leader in Cambodia and responsible for the genocide of 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians between 1977 and 1979, which is when this song was written (released in 1980), so when he is referencing a "Holiday in Cambodia" there was a lot more going on other than poverty that made the reference a pretty serious thing. As time passes most people forget about this and so that part of the message, which gave the song some political weight at the time by bringing attention to what was going on in Cambodia, is lost and it is a testament to their talent that the song still sounds great 40 years later on the "music" alone with the message lost with time. "California Uber Alles" is another politically charges song from that era with its focus on California's Governor Jerry Brown and his political aspirations and tactics at that time. One of my favorite bands all time. Good stuff!
Unfortunately, you are absolutely 100% correct. If anyone doughts what he is saying, research it....
@@Elric2171 Thx.👍
I was about to jump in and say the same thing. But you beat me to it. We must learn history so we don't repeat it.
@@jons.4918 Like minds think alike. Cheers!
People forgot about it so well and so quickly that nobody really worried when the US and Great Britain spent the 1980's financially and politically supporting the Khmer Rouge simply because it was Vietnam who had the temerity to invade and end the killing fields. Look up Thatcher on Blue Peter (a UK kid's TV program) nattering on to the children about engaging with the "reasonable" Khmer Rouge. It's the most perverse instance of "enemy of my enemy" that the cold war gave us.
The message was comparing western privilege to the horrors of the kmir rouges killing fields. This song was written not long after the details of those horrors were released to the public. Jello Biafra was brave and bold enough to address the issue.
The main message is Communism sucks
@@chrisakarazor9612 Not really. The main message was "comparing western privilege to the horrors of the kmir rouges killing fields".
@@chrisakarazor9612 Since you're an American republican, Jello is probably a socialist commie antifa member to you.
Like you realise who dead kennedys were right?
@@DeezN1892 You missed the point of this song . DKs speak against dictatorship.They talk about modern left (rich kids) who yell socialism/communism but dont really know the meaning of it (see Pol Pots Cambodia) . DKs are anarchists and antifa , not socialist/commie. But too late for you Americans two party system killed your soul
@@Mr12blabla12 you misunderstand my comment. The American right will and have called jello and DK ‘commies’
‘Anarchist’ is soon going to be unusable anyway because it’s being poisoned by libertarians
He explained it years back and the short form is that “ You can’t come from a place of privilege and bitch about how bad you have it, when other places are so much worse”
It's the false solidarity put on by champagne socialists specifically in this song. They view poverty as a culture, not a condition. It's extremely prevalent today, perhaps even moreso today than when it was written because it's gone more mainstream. We see how attempts to lift areas out of poverty are met with calls of gentrification, and thus, destroying the 'culture' of an area, when all that 'culture' typically consists of is drug abuse, violence, destitution, unemployment, and general misery. That, for some reason, is what liberals point to as culture. Another person's actual culture (enthicky jazz), is worn as a fad for them. Just something to cherry pick from the malaise like someone putting together a bouquet of flowers grown out of the hellscape of a genocidal warzone and claiming, "ain't they pretty?"
One could apply that to the right wing as well to some degree when you see the rich and wealthy pretending to roll up their sleeves when they hit the campaign trail come election time. The lifestyle so many people are trying to work themselves out of or at least into more stable positions is a tourist spot for the elites (of all political brands) to dip their toes into when they want to feel like they're even remotely still part of this world.
If you know the Dead Kennedy’s, you’ll realize they are definitely not skewering socialism. He’s Skewering liberal middle of the roaders who go to university for a few years and think they know how the poor actually live. Try “Love me, I’m a liberal” by the Dead Kennedy’s if you want a clearer message. It’s a cover of a Phil Ochs folk song from the 60s
Correction, it’s a solo track by the lead singer of the Dead Kennedy’s, Jello Biafra. Here’s a link
ruclips.net/video/OQ8ERBr9yKI/видео.html
@@747Cone Correction to the correction. That's a cover of a Phil Ochs tune.
@@lucidloon Not a cover exactly. The lyrics are all different and updated for Jello's time period. The thrust of the song is the same nonetheless.
@@747Cone Jello Biafra and Moxo Nixon album they made together.
Yeah, their in your face socialism is why I could never get into them.
Dead Kennedy’s are really political, the lyrics that Jello Biafra throws at you are supposed to shock and make you think.
He's a corporate shell of his former self nowadays, as are most boomer celebs
@@LordEriolTolkien Jello is a corporate shell? The guy who tried to stop his former band mates from licensing their music to corporations is a corporate shell of his former self? The guy who's not cashing in and doing the reunion circuit with one of the greatest bands ever is a.corporate shell of his former self?
Really?
@@davidtingley9978 have you heard him spout off recently. utterly corporate
@@LordEriolTolkien Dunno about corporate shell but definitely one of the worst people I've ever met. Notorious prick
@@shenanigans3710 last I heard he was spouting the corporate line as if he was some sort of political philosopher....
I would say this is mocking 'poverty tourism' and mocking the 'gap year kids' who talk about how they're better people for going abroad for a year or two to 'help out' when they're basically exporting their own shallow selves for kodak opportunities and nothing more.
It's basically saying - you act like you're deep and you understand but you're only out there to try and give the illusion of depth to the shallow vacuous person you are. If you really had to live like a child soldier or work in the killing fields under Pol Pot then, maybe, you'd actually understand. Maybe then it wouldn't just be for the social acceptance and peer respect that it is for alot of folk who only go out there to pay lip service to the notion of 'doing good'. Maybe then you'd understand the horror of poverty and oppression that you've been so blissfully ignorant of your whole life.
Fair to say its worth bearing in mind that any Dead Kennedys song comes with a more than healthy dose of cynicism and sarcasm lyrically speaking.
You nailed it, spot on there.
Cynicism and Sarcasm. No one did it better than DK.
Yup...and it's just gotten worse as the years have gone on. Virtue signaling is a full-time job for some.
Yup that’s exactly what it was. 😎👌
Exactly and well written.
Lex sorta got it. Also, Pol Pot was Cambodia's Hitler/Stalin.
yep
@@neilcroft9020 perfect description of the song meaning
“You know, like Hitler and the guy that beat Hitler in a World War….” … 🤔
@@GothDuck which one would you have rather lived under?
@@GothDuck how many did Stalin kill? And how many did hitler kill?
Are you aware of general pattons quote after defeating the nazis? If so what are your thoughts on it..
Lex might not have nailed the point of the song perfectly, but I'm impressed how quickly she got to a close understanding of it.
Dead Kennedys were the defining band of the formative years of American hardcore punk. Social commentary was their specialty
One of the few American punk bands that got it just right. The wrong Jello is a household name.
Man, skating in the 80s was so great. Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, Black Flag, B52s, Violent Fems.... all on tapes you booted from your friends.
I remember sending empty big envelopes across country then some person in a different city would send tapes back full of bands we never heard our way.
I had a DK symbol on my board. I sure as hell didn't know anything about Pol Pot at the time though, lol.
My Dad had tapes like that, they got me into punk rock.
And music is so piss weak these days, people think swearing is controversy
you REALLY need context (about pol pot, and cambodia) to fully appreciate this song. cambodia is a pretty sweet place now, 42 years later.
I think the more Lex hears the Dead Kennedys and punk rock from this era, the more she is going to love it. Lex loving them pickles, not for everybody, but very satisfying when you have a taste for them.
I dont want to project too hard, but she made the face of someone who just heard music for the first time...
i hated them til i realized they jam on their insturments. and jello well he just kicks ass, old school punk before the sellouts invaded.
@@ronnienoneyabusiness2844 sucks that DK sold out and Jello of course being the badass he was didn’t want any part of it. Now they’re just a glorified cover band. DK with Jello is always going to be my favorite band of all time.
@@ronnienoneyabusiness2844 I hate the element (BOTH fans and detractors) that thinks there's no room for musicianship in punk rock. Go see X and tell me Billy Zoom is not one of the greatest guitarists ever.
Best do analogy pickles haha
It will never fail to surprise me how early punk music had such a surf sound.
The message of this song is... 'if you think u have it tough here... go experience someplace worse...'
Cambodia went thru a terrible communist regime under Pol Pot... he ordered all the intellectuals be murdered en-masse... then demanded the entire population strip to a basic uniform clothing and work in agriculture & industry.
actually they weren't communist, and were backed by the US, they cancelled industry and forced everyone back to the land.
@@emilianosintarias7337 that is not true in the slightest bit. Pol Pot was NOT backed by the USA. Its both ignorant and stupid to believe that buddy, since pol pot openly hated most of the things america represented in that time period
@@metalmonk3775 it doesn't matter what you think, it already happened, it is in the public record. Literal votes in the UN and diplomatic cables. Pick up a book. The US and China both saw supporting Khmer rouge as a way to oppose the vietnamese, the US just hid it from its population better
@@metalmonk3775 not a communist. You have much to learn about America and the horrific and disgusting things this government has done to uphold capitalism around the globe, buddy
@@Humanistic_ didnt say communist, but i can tell that any opinion other than yours is wrong, huh?
The song is about the upper class trying to relate to the lower class. Also look up Pol Pot one of the worse dictators.
Hitler tried ethnic cleansing, Stalin and Mao tried to purge their "undesirables", but Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge pretty much tried to kill almost everyone in their borders. The Kim's in NK are rational in comparison.
Try Bad Brains and more Dead Kennedy’s, you’ll love the sound and the message is more realistic than you’d imagine
Totally agree, but I wish they were watching some live footage too. I think the theatrics of Jello and his strange body movement and mock police brutality along with H.R. doing flips on stage. Both of those bands at least to me are very visual not to mention hugely important.
Bad Brains really underrated!
@@anthonyv6962 definitely. Bands like DK, Bad Brains and The Screamers all have very visual elements to them.
That sound can be best described as California Surf music from the 60's (Dick Dale) with a punk twist to it. Great song.
The fact you picked up on and referenced Dick Dale makes this my favorite comment via this video. Much respect. Dick Dale is the most underrated guitar player of all-time, in my opinion.
YES!
Surf punk 😎
East Bay Ray rules!
Its about rich college kids thinking they know everything (IMO) :)
More about rich kids thinking they can relate to poor blacks & whites cause they hung out in the ghetto a few times, listen to jazz (now rap) music & speak out in favor of ‘social awareness.’
This is basically an 80’s message to the Harvard SJWs of their time.
Lex on point, super political lyrics
Dead Kennedys and the Clash were my two favorite Punk rock bands, more the Clash but the Kennedy's were so good,lol.I liked Police Truck, Let's Lynch the Landlord, Come on Bleed.Pol Pot was responsible for an attempted Genocide in that country.
Love the Dead Kennedy's love the reaction, please also try 'Kill the poor', 'California Uber Alles' and 'Let's lynch the landlord'. Very sarcastic band with a political foundation. PS the song 'Nazi Punks' is also good. This group are very much left wing, but this song is about the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's brutal dictatorial rule in Cambodia.
I wouldn't say they are left wing because this song more bashes on the left that think communists is the answer. They are definitely more progressive centrist
@@BoneGoddess Pol Pot was a dictator, he left left-wing ideology and communism behind when he became an authoritarian dictator, both features of far-right fascism... It's about ideology, he and Stalin abused power, Stalin was called a Red Fascist and so was Pol Pot. When you stop the following left ideology and become a murderous megalomaniac you can no longer claim that you follow that ideology, corruption is a fault in human beings and not ideology.
The first concert I went to was The Dead Kennedys 1982 Newcastle Australia and it was a great show
mate, i was in our town then too, but still at school, so i missed the concert :(
Newcastle in the 80s, good memories
@@tt756 yeah I was 17 and in year 11 but me and my mates had to go . It was at the bel air at kotara and The Johnnie's supported them
I saw them in a barn here in California and it turned into a riot...cops busting heads, fire hoses, etc.
First time watching. Lex is one smart cookie.
This was and is punk. DK was a huge part of the west coast scene. The lyrics of their songs are meant to bring attention to the separation of people by class, the horrors of war, racism, etc. You should buy every piece of vinyl they ever put out and open your eyes to what our country truly is, because they are every bit as relevant today as they were when they first formed.
Best thing about punk rock is they have something to say, no matter if you want to hear it or not.
Being poor in America is nothing like being poor in another country that has no rights.
Yeah! Suck it up poor people
Lex is always on point analyzing the sound and lyrics as Brad is aaaaalways confused and not getting it 😁
Can't get enough of Lex hearing something new and challenging but bearing down to really *hear* it; then seeing her open up and embrace it and letting it take her along. Why is that so satisfying?
I hope these people went back and read the comments by those who know what this song was addressing
The Dead Kennedys were part of my life growing up in San Francisco, along the whole punk mentality/scene. Most of those views in their lyrics, in all of their songs, I agree with to this day.
Nothing like 70's and early 80's punk.
I'm only halfway through the video and I have to stop and say holy shit, Lex you are incredibly intuitive! I'm constantly shocked by it! This song is a critique of pseudo-intellectuals in the west who promote communist ideologies while nightmares like Cambodia unfold in part due to that same idealogy.
They need to keep in mind that this song was wriiten within 2 years of the Khmer Rouge being ousted from power in Cambodia by Vietnam.
Great clarification.
Lex is creepy the way she hones in. This comment should be pinned because it nails not only her uncanny intuitiveness, but a succinct summation of what the song conveys.
@@TheLargino Specifically by Vietnamese communists who abhorred the way Pol Pot pretended to have communist ideals to gain power, then abandoned them to simply rule as a tyrant.
Yes - I was worried that the whole point of the lyrics were going to slide right by - but Lex started to catch on.
YOOOO 3:20 , Lex nailed the message first shot!!! Nice job :)
Please react to The Dead Milkmen: Punk Rock Girl.
This! Yes!
Everyone needs to like jack Kelly's comment so they can react to Dead Milkmen.
YES! PLEASE do this one. Great, funny song with plenty of points to react to and talk about.
Okay, the important thing here is that, uh, you ask me what kinda car I've got
@@platinumspider7859 Uh uh, what kind of car you got?
You'll definitely want to hear a track from a group the lead singer, Jello Biafra, created with the members of Ministry after the Dead Kennedys dissolved. The track is called "War Pimp Rennaissance" by Lard. You won't be disappointed one bit!
Dead Kennedys are ledgend! I grew up in Southern cal...California... plenty of their concerts. Good people!! Thanks for sharing!!!!✌️🤙🤙
I saw them in the mid 80's with a bunch of other bands and it turned into a riot with billy clubs, fire hoses, whole 9 yards.
Sub! Love your content! DKs have another song called Police Truck. Written in the 1980s with lyrics that are super heavy and relevant today.
Definitely got to do Police Truck!
Police Truck is so good and it also sounds very similar to this in that it's very dissonant.
First time I heard this song I happened to have a teacher’s aid that visited the The Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. He got to show us pictures from his trip and he described everything that happen. I felt thankful to know this piece of history but at the same time it killed me inside knowing it happen.
It’s definitely a sobering experience.. i went there as well as what they call the killing fields . I was there after a big rain and from the ground where up to 10000 were murdered ,bones and teeth came to the surface. They had boxes place about for us to put these fragments which were once people. Pure evil happened at this place. The song is accurate that you don’t know what bad is until you visit Cambodia and see genocide up close.
When I went there, one of the 8 people who survived was there, selling copies of his book. He only survived because he could draw so well. They also had one of the ex guards there, and you could ask him questions about it all.
You two are coming at this from a new perspective - and that might sound like condescending drivel, except for the fact that I did too. You gotta start somewhere... and you aren't taking easy paths or softball songs.
This is why I subscribed - not to feel good about "somebody appreciates what I like," but more "someone is digging into this,and I want to see if they reach the same conclusions that I did, or possibly reached better ones."
And this is why I am staying subscribed - because I hope to get jolted out of my own complacency by your observations.
Hold hard!
Love that you guys are going down the punk rabbit hole. The Dead Kennedys were one of the best (if that even means anything to a punk band)
WOW!! That pickles thing was awesome!!! What a way to describe it. Sometimes punk doesn't even have to technically sound good and a lot of it is political or social commentary. Love that you guys are doing genres nobody else has
Would like to see some reactions to Crass haha
I really enjoy it when people who don't know jello thinks he is a right-wing guy. The man literally believes in a "maximum salary".
Or when you point out his views they’ll say “Yeah, punk is definitely dead”, yet they themselves were never actually punk nor understand what punk is about
One of my favs!! Love the Dead Kennedys!!they are one of the staples in old school California punk rock!! Thanks for the reactions!!😄
When I first got the single, I didn't know it was a 45 because it was a regular sized album. So, I played it on 33rpm after we smoked a joint and thought the song was awesome. When we put it in the correct speed our minds exploded.
Best comment ever posted on RUclips! You win the internet!
How the hell did Lex nail it 1st listen...it took me years to get past the noise and hear these lyrics :D
I love DK, satire is the perfect word to describe them. They used satire in all of there work, like their debut albums opening track "Kill the Poor" has a similar message that obviously not to be taken literally. Jello Biafra even ran political campaigns with similarly satirical and wacky platforms and their music is just an amazing, defining sound of punk for me.
The dead Kennedy's rocked. Fantastic stuff live. Jello Biafra was very socially conscious.... Long before it was cool.
He still is, check out his What Would Jello Do? videos. Also the Guantanamo School of Medicine for a continuation of his social commentary.
Pure classic punk rock! Jello Biafra!
Ruby Soho by Rancid
We Called It America by NOFX
No Cigar by Millencolin
Mad respect for you guys even daring to come into my world here! Its NOT comfortable, but its welcoming, always, and we're happy to see ya stop by for a minute! 😎
Jello Biafra just threw it all out there for the world to see, his lyrics can insult, shock, enrage, enlighten or inspire. He is real punk rock at its most raw. Love the Dead Kennedys. This is not the kind of music a safe commercial band would do. He's still out there and still in your face.
Great stuff! Roads by Portishead would be awesome 🤞
I'd vote for "All Mine".
Would love to see them dig into some Portishead
you should google Pol Pot
Cambodia nowadays is still poor, but it aint the terrifying place it was during the reign of pol pot. I think he killed something over quarter of the population during his reign. Seriously effed regime that made north korea look tame.
The concept of taking a whole society back to a year zero and then trying to rebuild it on his and his henchmens warped concept of a pure agrarian society. All literate and academic qualified people were executed or killed by starving and torture, forced labour.
You wore glasses 👓 you were executed all doctors nurses any one thought capable of questioning. It only came to an end when the Vietnamese army invaded and captured Pol pot and his cronies .. wether its political or religious some people seem to gladly swallow the ideology pill whole and forget real humanity ... If they do then they can go either way, they become perpetrator's or the next set of victims.
No. It's not about vacationing in Cambodia. 😭
The song was written shortly after the genocidal dictatorship of the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot and his Communist Party of Kampuchea, which is estimated to have been responsible for the deaths of roughly a quarter of the Cambodian population between 1975 and 1979. The lyrics are critical of disingenuous college-aged students in the Western world, contrasting their lifestyle with that of those under the Cambodian regime. The official video-clip shows American soldiers in helicopter, some chased by crowd, bombings including U.S. Air force napalm bombing, and people burned by napalm, in reference to Operation Menu.[1]
The DKs are an amazingly influential band. Jello (the vocalist) is iconic. The whole Fresh Fruits For Rotting Vegetables release is great. You need to check out The Violent Femmes. Oh... and Lex... your mind is amazing. I mean... to immediately come up with the pickle analogy. I love the way your mind works.
Some Violent Femmes reactions would be dope. And not “Blister”
Needs to be “Add It Up” or “Kiss Off”
+1 for Violent Femmes
This song is a critique of rich white kids "slumming it". DK's have SO MANY amazing classic songs, you gotta do more! Please do "Terminal Preppie", it's hilarious. "Well Paid Scientist" and "Trust Your Mechanic" are also amazing. "Riot" and "Police Truck" are so on the nose to today's problems that you would think they were written yesterday and not in the early 80s. DK's probably have the most insightful and biting social commentary in all of punk rock.
thank you. so many idiots here think it is an anti-communist song, as if DK were big into taking sides in the cold war
This is one of the foundations for metal hard rock and thrash. Even early rap/fast talk in punk metal hybrids.
Congrats on tapping into the early British punk wave. It’s a good place to start.
The DK are from Cali.
I can't see California Über Ales put forward as the next track of theirs to check out?
Considering the modern youngsters and their views, and your opinions on that... CUA is an absolute must!
THE DEAD MILKMEN "PUNK ROCK GIRL"...CLASSIC..TRUTH!!
+1 for Punk Rock Girl
One of the best aspects of punk is that they were outsiders in the rock world so they were free to experiment musically in the way that mainstream rock couldn't. Some bands took great advantage of that freedom.
I thought i loved watching Lex discover metal and classic rock....then i saw her get into punk rock. Im in love! She gets it and she can explain and disect for Brad.
I think you'd both like Devo, especially their early stuff
Yes! As long as they don't just react to "Whip It," and maybe check out something from their first album.
Nothing about this is anti socialism or communism.
The look on Lex's face when this starts.. just perfect.
First time seeing you guys. I've been a fan of the Kennedys since about 87. I'm a conservative politically, but have always loved their music and how they deliver their message. Lex was on the money with the Dead Kennedys using satire to get a message across. Jello is still an interesting character to listen to. He was always more of an anarchist than a socialist, tho socialism was high on is values list. He even ran for mayor of San Francisco back in the early 80s. Love it, and I'm gonna subscribe based on this alone. Check out Soup Is Good Food from the album Frankenchrist. It's a social commentary on unions, workers and robotic innovation. Great stuff. Or, the Stars And Stripes of Corruption from the same album. Punk like this is great because it's not just screaming like a lot of hardcore punk back then was. Thanks for the reaction!
YES!! Check out The Damned "new rose" for early punk! I like pickles too lol
+1 for the Damned
Now you're talking!!! 😁
Foo Fighters and Serj Tankien did a great version of this! It's on RUclips.
Another great one by Dead Kennedys is Police Truck. It was the B side to this.
I worked on a music video with SOAD and Darren (the bass player) told me that they were very influenced by DKs
Nah, they censored themselves like the stooges they are.
@@AsukaLangleyS02 There's a time and a place mate. Without context and an unawareness of the songs origins it has to be done. It doesn't make you some kind of a badass to not censor derogatory lyrics.
I double checked and I didn't see Iggy Pop anywhere!? 🤷♂️🤔
@@FrowningIke I think you are the one who has lost the plot. DO you even know the meaning on the song?
@@AsukaLangleyS02 Yes.
Let's not give em too credit. They were reflective, talented and outspoken. Punk
He's singing about something so heavy that most people will never know.
rich whiteys wont
Maybe try some Stiff Little Fingers, like Alternative Ulster. Definitely the Ramones.
Rock, rock, rock'n'roll high school!
+1 for Stiff Little Fingers.
@@spangospanga3564 make that +2
I love watching normies listen to punk rock xD you two don't get it at all
The drummer you're listening to perform this song is D.H. Peligro, an African American man. Nothing about the Dead Kennedys was racist.
my daughter and I do 'spinning art time' i spin records from my youth and we do art. She is four - I am forty-eight... i have videos of her dancing to DK and looking at me telling me how she is growing up listening to the Specials and Skinny Puppy like her daddy... parenting done right. I talk at great length about the bands, music, and the whys and hows of it. I understand that she will gleem very little of the details, but it always amazes me how much she does truly absorb. Just have to love it when your daughter shows up and asks to hear The Clash or The Cramps...
R/Woosh on this one.
DK is one of my favorite bands by far. They're like the predecessors to Rage Against The Machine to me.
I mean RATM are LARPers.
@@AsukaLangleyS02 sure, music still good tho
"Riot" my fave DK tune. A plot twist to die for.
Black Flag - Swinging Man & I love You
Hank 3 - Pills I Took & Getting Drunk and Falling Down
Rolling Stones - Mother's Little Helper
Fugazi - Last Chance For a Slow Dance
I would like to see them try out a few Hank 3 songs for sure.
@@spangospanga3564 absolutely! Cheers
This is a song about society pushing the poor and underprivileged down until they join the military and then get used as fodder in war. Cambodia is referring to the Viet-nam war era.
As a black punkrocker from the 2000's this is very entertaining.
Their drummer was black he probably put that line in for the vocalist 😭
Punk is usually crazy, silly, political 😆 . Not a racist song. They were poking fun at rich, white kids who grew up in racist environment, visiting an urban poor minority ghetto and country. Also about the Cambodia genocide back then. Good observation, guys! Also, Dead Kennedys has a black drummer. The surf rock, punk vibe is correct. Typical of punk bands from the Westcoast, California.
East Bay Ray is an amazing guitarist
Pnom Penh Cambodia is a beautiful these days! From it's walkable riverfront, lined with parks, restaurants and bars, to the ornate Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda and the National Museum, displaying artifacts from around the country. At the city’s heart is the massive, art deco Central Market. Don't judge a country by its history.
Just by reacting to this you are my favourite reaction channel,I think the Dead Kennedys are one of the greatest American bands Up there with the Doors and the all time greats.
The doors are overrated lol
The Descendants and the Dead Milkmen are other great bands from this era.
I knew Milo in college.
They have a song called "Life Sentence" that's one of my favorite songs. You should check it out. Also the song "'Merica" by Descendants. Brad will enjoy the lyrics. (I think)
Lex is so insightful! Love your show! Hope y’all looked up Pol Pot and the disaster that was Cambodia in the 1970’s and ‘80’s!
Lex basically gets it. The message behind this song is still extremely relevant even in 2021.. Especially in 2021
Jello Biafra and Zach Del A Rocha are two lyricists with the most intense and biting satire and critique
The lyrics in this song are talking largely about the Khmer Rouge which took power of Cambodia from 1975-79 and led to the murder and starvation of around two million people. It's also mocking yuppies and the sort of do-gooders of the day who only really spoke out about issues when they thought it would make them look good, but often they didn't know what was actually going on.
It talks about ghettos in poorer regions of America, sex trafficking in South East Asia. So much different stuff in a four minute song. Incredible. That and the haunting music.
I just discovered this channel and already loving seeing Lex figure out and break down shit. Punk rock is my favorite music genre so def looking for more of this. Have you guys reacted to Bad Brains? If not definitely should give them a shot. Especially their song Big Takeover
Pickle Rick!!! Baby!!! Lex good job in figuring it out.
The song pokes fun at rich kids who think they understand poverty because they’ve got a couple years of college courses under their belt and like jazz music. So DK suggests that they take a holiday in Cambodia, which at the time was run by genocidal dictator Pol Pot. His regime forced city dwellers out to rural labor camps, where they were subject to starvation, abuse, and mass executions.
DK songs are often filled with acerbic political and social commentary delivered with a heavy dose of sarcasm. Their entire discography (even their name) is an epic work of satire. For more examples check out a few of these songs -
Soup is Good Food
Police Truck
Cesspools in Eden
Kill the Poor
And for some not so satirical political commentary try something like Stars and Stripes of Corruption
Also - that fun 007 vibe has a lot to do with the influence of surf rock and psychedelia on their guitar player. If you want to explore that rabbit hole, check out someone like Dick Dale or the Ventures.
The only tattoo I have is the DK symbol on my left forearm I got in the mid-80's. Carved it in with a razor blade and poured india ink in it while tripping listening to The Dead Kennedys. Don't suggest it for everyone, but hey, the 80's were crazy lmao....
The Cambodian (Khmer) people, and Cambodia are so beautiful! What an unspeakable Hell it was turned into for so many years! May G-d bless and keep Cambodia and the Khmer people! May they know nothing but peace and prosperity from here onward! 🙏 ❤️
It's punk. It's mean, nasty, and sarcastic. That's the vibe. The specific song is satire on the communist regime in Cambodia in the late 70s.
Omg had to click on this ❤ This is punk rock kids.
DK" kill the poor"... Love it
+1 for Kill The Poor
Here is some 90's hardcore/pop punk(the best type punk imo):
Rancid- Bloodclot, Roots Radicals, 11th hour, lock step gone, Hyena, young al capone
MxPx- Do your feet hurt, Your problem is my emergency, falling down, want ad
Hi standard- Fighting fists, My heart feels so free
the Queers- Tamara is a punk rocker, punk rock girls
Dropkick Murphy's- Do or die, Pipebomb, Hang em high
misfits-Saturday night, Helena