"Kill the Poor" is a song by Dead Kennedys, released in October 1980 on Cherry Red Records as the band's third single, with "In-sight" as its B-side. The song is a scathing satire of the elite who if given the chance, would use neutron bombs to wipe out the impoverished whilst preserving property. The title track was re-recorded for the band's first album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980), although the single and album versions show little difference in comparison. The B-side of this single is also additionally on the compilation album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death (1987). A special "disco version" was played and recorded on March 3, 1979, and released on their live album Live at the Deaf Club.
| "Kill the Poor" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Dead Kennedys | ||||
| B-side | "In-sight" | |||
| Released | October 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Genre | Hardcore punk | |||
| Length | 3:02 | |||
| Label | Cherry Red | |||
| Composer(s) | ||||
| Lyricist(s) | Jello Biafra | |||
| Producer(s) |
| |||
| Dead Kennedys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Kill the Poor" reached #49 in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks on the chart.
Charts
edit| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Indie Chart[1] | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart[2] | 49 |
Cover versions
edit- American metalcore band The Agony Scene covered the song for the special edition of their album Get Damned in 2007.
- American heavy metal band Trivium covered the song as part of a series of covers recorded during the recording session of their album The Sin and the Sentence in 2017.
- Russian punk band Pornofilmy covered the song with Russian translation named Нищих убивай (lit. 'Kill the poor') for their album Русская мечта. Часть 2 (lit. 'Russian Dream. Part 2') in 2016.
- Dutch composer Maarten Regtien covered the song in the concluding part of his 2nd Trumpet Concerto[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980-1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Dead Kennedys - Singles". officialcharts.com. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
- ^ "M.Regtien ° Orchestral Works - Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra n° 2".