"Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" is a punk rock song by the Dead Kennedys. The band released the song as a single from their In God We Trust, Inc. EP with the B-side "Moral Majority". Jello Biafra composed the song's lyrics and instrumentation. Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... The Dead Kennedys (often known by their initials DK, as in decay) are a hardcore punk band from San Francisco, California. ... In God We Trust, Inc. ... Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), better known by the stage name Jello Biafra, is an American punk rock musician and political activist best known as the former lead singer and song writer of the Dead Kennedys. ... Lyrics are the words in songs. ... Instrumentation is defined as the art and science of measurement and control. Instrumentation can be used to refer to the field in which Instrument technicians and engineers work, or it can refer to the available methods of measurement and control and the instruments which facilitate this. ...

Inspiration

In the late 1970s, some members of the punk subculture on the West Coast of the United States began to use Nazi symbolism to shock outsiders, and others even adopted neo-Nazism in earnest. Some such listeners of the Dead Kennedys' earlier songs Kill the Poor and California Über Alles missed the satirical intent behind those pieces and took Biafra's lyrics at face value. Though punks with nationalist views were known in Britain among the British National Front and the song refers to people who wore swastikas, the song wasn't about punks that were all actually nazis. It refers to punks using the swastika for shock value(ie. Sid Vicious) and the type they tend to be. It refers to the punks who just like pissing off authority for the fun of it. These Nazi punks use swastikas as a banned or taboo sign to intimidate people and the government with(for the swastika has been banned throughout europe after WWII and is considered highly offensive among most societies). In the song Jello mentions that the real nazis are the ones who are authority and saying, "in the real fourth reich you'd be the first go." Ironically, Showing that the sign's previous symbolism of facism is the force that would crush the nazi punks first before anything else. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Punks at a music festival The punk subculture is a subculture based on punk rock. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ... The twentieth century German Nazi Party was notable for their extensive use of graphic symbolism, most notably the Hakenkreuz (swastika) which it used as its principal symbol, and, in the form of the swastika flag, became the state flag of Nazi Germany. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... Kill the Poor (B-side Insight) is a single by the hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys released in October of 1980. ... California Ãœber Alles (B-side The Man with the Dogs) was the first single by the Dead Kennedys. ... In the United Kingdom, the British National Front (most commonly called the National Front or NF) is a far right political party that had its heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. ... John Simon Ritchie (May 10, 1957 – February 2, 1979), better known as Sid Vicious, was an English punk rock musician and bass player of the Sex Pistols. ...

Description

A high speed diatribe, "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" denounces not only Nazi punks, but everyone who commits senseless acts of violence or vandalism in the name of punk. An early example of the burgeoning hardcore punk style, "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" surges with a blitzkrieg of snarling guitar riffs and manic vocals. Biafra shouts his outrage over East Bay Ray's frenetic lead guitar punctuated by Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro's machine-gun rhythm. He almost fumbles the words, adding another element of chaos to a performance sounding on the verge of disintegration. Hardcore punk is a subgenre of punk rock which originated in the United States of America in the late 1970s. ... Raymond Pepperell, better known as East Bay Ray, is the lead guitarist for the well known West Coast punk band Dead Kennedys. ... Geoffrey Lyall, better known as Klaus Flouride, was best known as the bassist for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys from the groups inception in June 1978 until the bands breakup in December 1986, although he also produced four solo albums during the 1980s and 1990s. ... D.H. Peligro D.H. Peligro (b. ...

Effect

"Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" became a rallying call for those who sought to eject Nazi punks from the punk subculture. The song contributed to the decline of Nazi symbolism in the West Coast scene. ^{[citation needed]} Many punks had Swastika tattoos either removed or turned into other images.

Versions

The Dead Kennedys issued an alternate version of the song as a 7" single. That release included as a bonus an armband with a crossed-out Swastika. The design has since become associated with the Dead Kennedys and anti-racist punks in general. Another alternate version appears on the Let Them Eat Jellybeans compilation. For the town in Ontario, see Swastika, Ontario. ... Anti-racism, like other general social attitudes, ideas and movements, has many variations and faces. ... Let Them Eat Jellybeans is a compilation album released by Alternative Tentacles in 1981. ...

The grindcore band Napalm Death released a cover of the song on their EP Nazi Punks Fuck Off, and on Virus 100, a compilation of Dead Kennedys covers released by Alternative Tentacles in 1992. Napalm Death re-recorded "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" for their 5-track cover-EP "Leaders not Followers" in 2000. Grindcore, often shortened to grind, is an evolution of hardcore punk, most commonly associated with death metal and crust punk. ... Napalm Death is a grindcore/death metal band formed in the village of Meriden near Birmingham, England in 1982 by Nicholas Bullen and Miles Ratledge. ... Nazi Punks Fuck Off is a 1993 EP, a single and a Dead Kennedys cover song by British grindcore band Napalm Death. ... Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. ...

Destroy 2 did a short cover of the song on their debut (and only) album, We Are Voice And Rhythm Only. Destroy 2 (sometimes called Eye & Chew) was a short-lived Japanese noise punk band. ...

Trivia

• Martin Hannett, who Biafra mentions in the opening of the In God We Trust, Inc. version of the song as having "overproduced" it, was a producer for Joy Division, among other artists.

Martin Hannett (May 31, 1948 - April 18, 1991), sometimes credited as Martin Zero, was an innovative record producer who helped discover Joy Division and co-founded Factory Records with Tony Wilson. ... Joy Division were an English rock band that formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. ...

External links

• Nazi Punks Fuck Off - a Newgrounds-style music video.
• Nazi Punks Fuck Off-DK - another music video on Newgrounds.