Dead Kennedys Songs Ranked
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining hardcore punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys’ lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing establishment political figures (liberal and conservative) and authority in general, as well as popular culture and even the punk movement itself. During their initial incarnation between 1978 and 1986, they attracted considerable controversy for their provocative lyrics and artwork. Several stores refused to stock their recordings, provoking debate about censorship in rock music; in the mid-1980s, vocalist and primary lyricist Jello Biafra became an active campaigner against the Parents Music Resource Center. This culminated in an obscenity trial between 1985 and 1986, which resulted in a hung jury. Here are all of the Dead Kennedys songs ranked.
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20. I Am the Owl (Plastic Surgery Disasters, 1982)
“This is one of their best songs as far as composition goes. The lyrics are disturbing in how topical they are. One of my favorites.”
19. When Ya Get Drafted (Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980)
“If you aren’t proactive and don’t take an interest as things are building up, it will come back to haunt you. A lot of kids won’t care that there’s a War until they’re forced into one.”
18. Pull My Strings (Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, 1987)
“My favorite DK song ever – A momentous occasion at the Bay Area awards. You can imagine the 80’s Hairbands, or even the Knack, that the song was eluding to… and ‘MTV get off the air’ is another jab at the industry”
17. Buzzbomb (Plastic Surgery Disasters, 1982)
“People live unfulfilled lives, which leads them to focus their attentions on the wrong things, such as cars, which leads to negative consequences.”
See more: Dead Kennedys Albums Ranked
16. Bleed for Me (Urgh! A Music War, 1982)
“The aggression’s all there, the bass guitar’s on-message, the vocals have that sardonic edge – so why doesn’t this DKs track work better? Hard to say. I’m guessing the main reason is quite simply that the song doesn’t cut it.”
15. Moral Majority (DK 40, 2019)
“Brilliant political and social commentary by Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys. This is basically centered around the Moral Majority (back in the eighties), a Christian organization that pushed its political agenda through a number of mediums, including televangelism.”
14. Halloween (Plastic Surgery Disasters, 1982)
“California is better I think, but this song has the best bass part I have ever heard and intro noise with Jello’s scream is great too”
13. We’ve Got a Bigger Problem Now (DK 40, 2019)
“A lot of punk fans today bashed Reagan and don’t even know why he deserves it. But there is a reason. He was an old man whose mind was going fast, who didn’t like to actively participate in his own decision-making, who completely ignored the poor thinking that they were all poor by their own choice, who covered up his own gaping blunders with anecdotes that didn’t actually happen, and whose administration made some of the most glaring oversights in the history of US politics”
12. I Fought the Law (Play New Rose For Me, 1986)
“This song is one of the best protest songs. It speaks about the specific event of Dan White but transcends its time because politics in the US is still so corrupt and corporate criminals still get light sentences despite hurting so many people.”
11. Riot (Plastic Surgery Disasters, 1982)
“What’s interesting is how the band separates themselves from all-out thrash punk and takes time to really establish atmosphere. Especially on track Riot where a subtle bass line carries the song as guitars zip by like the bullets firing off that Jello talks about. It slowly builds towards the climactic chorus making the payoff so worth the wait.”
10. Soup is Good Food (Frankenchrist, 1985)
“The main part of the song is just stating how bad the system is, that you can be fired, wiped from the system and ‘swept under the rug’, and institutionalised when you decide that this is wrong and you arent willing to take any more of it, all in the name of profit and ‘efficiency’. Then the song takes a bit of an surreal twist, with the ‘surplus rats’ and the people joking about how much you want to die around the water cooler.”
9. Moon Over Marin (Plastic Surgery Disasters, 1982)
“The song is about Marin county in California. It’s a VERY uppercrust area (I think the guy who made Star Wars has his little ranch there). The song is specifically criticizing the yuppie ex-hippies who no longer give a shit about the environment they were so adamantly in the defense of in their youth. They just ignore the slow decline of the world around them, but even when ignored it is still there.”
8. I Kill Children (Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980)
“Pretty straightforward…and also I saw an interview with Jello where he was saying how America produces people who have no outlet for their emotions until they commit some weird, carefully planned crime and that most of the song is just dark humor, but it’s also meant to ask what causes people to do weird shit like kill children”
7. Too Drunk to F*** (Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980)
“The first song I ever heard heard by DK, it started a trail that would eventually lead to DK being ranked high among my favorite bands. The song is fast, the lyrics are reatable and the name makes stupid music from today look like lullabies”
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6. Chemical Warfare (Live… The Old Waldorf, San Francisco. 25 Oct 79, 1979)
“I think chemical warfare deserves to be here. Amazing intro, fast paced, loud music, with a big touch of dark humor, that’s Jello all right. Every song from “Fresh fruit from rotting vegetables” deserves to be here. (Except Ill in the head, because lets face it, the lyrics are good but the music is boring) I honestly don’t know why Holiday in Cambodia is labelled as being from the album “Give me convenience or give me death” because it appeared in “Fresh Fruit for rotting vegetables, first. And ha! To you for not being able to put the “Penis landscape” as the album art for frankenchrist.”
5. Nazi Punks F**k Off (In God We Trust Inc., 1981)
“I can never stop laughing at this song as I can never tell if the Dead Kennedys are taking the piss by speeding thru this song at double their normal frenetic speed. Its really just the title being yelled over and over again, but don’t ask me why, I still like it.”
4. Police Truck (Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980)
“This song points out an interesting phenomenon in San Francisco (where the DKs are from): how a city world-renowned for its liberal leanings can have one of the most fucked-up retarded asshole conservative police forces around. Constant complaints of police brutality (maybe not as high profile as LA’s, but still a problem), corruption, cronyism, and generally arrogant behavior of cops, both on duty and off. We had Fajitagate (google it) out here last year and it shook the dept. to its foundation. Shit, Dan White (see the DKs parody of I Fought the Law) was a former cop, and look what he did.”
3. Kill the Poor (Live… The Old Waldorf, San Francisco. 25 Oct 79, 1979)
“The lyrics are all about the Neutron Bomb that the US was developing and which killed people leaving buildings intact. Jello is in fine form starting off in a kind of martial patriotic tone which quickly speeds up to his usual punk aggressiveness and the snark of the title. The guys really did know how to write politically thematic hard core biting lyrics.”
2. California Uber Alles (Live… The Old Waldorf, San Francisco. 25 Oct 79, 1979)
“Brilliant punk rock song. The hook is simply incredible shout fun, but the lyrics of the song are great as well, being a really sarcastic political rant. I really dig the part when the secret government will get you and send you to the gas chambers. The guitars and drumming fare really well as well.”
1. Holiday in Cambodia (Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, 1980)
“Holiday In Cambodia is most definitely the best punk song ever in my opinion. Not only is it edgy and political but It has the riff and the intensity that all punk songs must measure up to. and who can forget the epic chant of pol pot at the end.Also Police truck is a kickass song as well.”