Released June 1979 Genre Punk rock Label Optional Music | Format 7" Length 3:26 | |
B-side "The Man with the Dogs" | ||
"California Über Alles" is a song by Dead Kennedys. The single, which was the group's first recording, was released in June 1979 on the Optional Music label, with "The Man with the Dogs" appearing as its b-side. The title track was re-recorded in 1980 for the band's first album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, and the original recording as well as the B-side were later included on the 1987 compilation Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.
Contents
Meaning
The lyrics were written by Jello Biafra and John Greenway for their band The Healers. Biafra composed the music in one of his rare attempts at composing on bass.
The title is an allusion to the first stanza of the national anthem of Germany, which begins with the words "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" ("Germany, Germany above everything"). After the end of the Third Reich in 1945, this passage was removed and is no longer sung, as it is almost universally associated with Nazism.
The lyrics are a pointed, satirical attack on Jerry Brown, the Governor of California from 1975–1983 (and later 2011–present), and are sung from his perspective, as an imaginary version of Brown outlines a hippie-fascist vision of America. Lines such as "Serpent's egg already hatched", a reference to a line from William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, comment on the corrosive nature of power. The lines "Big Bro on white horse is near" and "now it is 1984" refer respectively to a statement Brown made during his first governorship that Americans were supposedly looking for "a leader on a white horse", and to the totalitarian regime of George Orwell's classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four to describe a future (from a 1979 perspective) where Jerry Brown has become President, and his "suede denim secret police" kill "uncool" people with "organic poison gas" chambers.
The song is also an early example of Dead Kennedys' unique style, with heavy surf rock and militaristic overtones. It begins with sinister military-styled drums, joined by an ominous bass riff. Biafra paints the scene in low, sneering tones before bursting into the manic chanted chorus: "California Über Alles [x2], Über Alles, California [x2]"; after two verses and choruses, the song shifts into a slower middle eight section set to a martial drum beat over which Jello Biafra imagines the nightmarish actions of Brown's SS-styled secret police ("Come quietly to the camp; you'd look nice as a drawstring lamp," a reference to the allegation that lampshades were made from human skin during the Holocaust). The pace speeds up as it approaches the last iteration of the chorus, closing with a repeated chord sequence accompanied by a final burst of explosive drums.
German-American author Gero Hoschek was inspired by the song to title a 1988 magazine piece about the "Golden State" in the prestigious German Zeit Magazin weekly titled "Kalifornia Über Alles!" as well as a never produced screenplay. Biafra complained, got and liked a copy of the movie script, understood that there was no copyright violation, and used the same spelling for the song's 2004 remake with Melvins, "Kalifornia Über Alles, 21st Century".
Alternative versions
The original, improvised version (containing familiar lyrics but different music performed by the Dancing Assholes and Biafra's first band, The Healers) is included as the final track on the vinyl version of the "Rocky Mountain Low" compilation.
The version recorded for "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" was played slightly faster, featuring a much more strident vocal from Biafra and a fuller, more confrontational sound altogether than the single mix.
On their EP In God We Trust, Inc., they recorded an updated version of the song, titled "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now," about then-President Ronald Reagan, including a lounge-jazz introduction, different lyrics, and several verses set at a much slower pace. A live version of the song was recorded with the instrumentals of the original version of the song.
Jello Biafra has made satirical references to the song in his political advocacy. A speech of his appears on the spoken word album Mob Action Against the State that is entitled "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now: War, Terrorism & Beyond." After the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor of California, Biafra commented, "California Über Alles indeed."
Another updated version of this song about Governor Schwarzenegger, called "Kali-Fornia Über Alles 21st Century", was performed live (among a few other Dead Kennedys classics) when Biafra toured with the band Melvins to support their collaboration album in 2004. A live recording of this new version appears on their second collaborative effort, Sieg Howdy!.
Fans of Dulwich Hamlet FC in South London also regularly sing a version of the song as a tribute to their current and longest serving manager - Gavin Rose. Many of the words are replaced, including Dulwich Hamlet for California.