"Nazi Punks Fuck Off" is a song by American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was released in November 1981 through Alternative Tentacles as a 7-inch single with "Moral Majority" as the B-side. Both are from the In God We Trust, Inc. EP, although the EP version is a different recording from the single version. The single included a free armband with a crossed-out swastika. The design was later adopted as a symbol for the anti-racist punk movement Anti-Racist Action.
| "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Dead Kennedys | ||||
| from the EP In God We Trust, Inc. | ||||
| B-side | "Moral Majority" | |||
| Released | November 1981 | |||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||
| Studio | Möbius Music (San Francisco) | |||
| Genre | Hardcore punk | |||
| Length | 1:03 | |||
| Label | Alternative Tentacles | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jello Biafra | |||
| Producer(s) | Oliver DiCicco | |||
| Dead Kennedys singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Composition
editThe song is a blunt indictment of the rise of far-right punk subcultures such as Nazi punk or the white power skinhead movement, which had begun rioting at punk shows in the late 1970s. The appropriation of fascist iconography had been common in punk for some time, often ironically, but the irony was not always clear to the extent that it began attracting the organized far-right to punk concerts.[1] Jello Biafra's lyrics condemn the infighting among punks for weakening the prospect of rebellion and hold of the far-right agitators that "in a real Fourth Reich, [they'd] be the first to go."[2]
In the opening of the In God We Trust, Inc. version of "Nazi Punks Fuck Off", lead singer Jello Biafra mentions English producer Martin Hannett, who had worked with Joy Division and Buzzcocks, accusing him, tongue-in-cheek, of having "overproduced" the recording.[3] Hannett, in fact, did not work with the Dead Kennedys.
Charts
edit| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Indie Chart[4] | 11 |
Cover versions
edit- The English grindcore band Napalm Death recorded a cover for their 1993 EP of the same name.[5]
- The fictional band The Ain't Rights performed a cover of the song in a modern-day white supremacist club in the 2015 horror film Green Room.[6]
- Biafra himself rewrote the song as "Nazi Trumps Fuck Off" in 2017, performing it live with crossover thrash group Dead Cross.[7]
References
edit- ^ "How Black Flag, Bad Brains, and More Reclaimed Punk from White Supremacists". GQ. January 16, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ Dead Kennedys – Nazi Punks Fuck Off!, retrieved March 18, 2023
- ^ "Martin Hannett Biography". MartinHannett.co.uk. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
- ^ Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989. Cherry Red Books. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
- ^ Robbins, 504
- ^ Miska, Brad (April 20, 2016). "'Green Room' Clip Says Fuck the Nazi Punks!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ "Punk Legend Gives 'Nazi Punks F**k Off' An Update Just For Donald Trump". HuffPost. August 25, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
- Bibliography
- Blush, Steven. "American Hardcore: A Tribal History". Feral House, 2001. ISBN 0-9229-1571-7
- Robbins, Ira. The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock. Simon & Schuster, 1997.