California Über Alles


"California Über Alles" is the debut single by Dead Kennedys. It was the group's first recording and 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.

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". After the end of the Third Reich in 1945, this passage was removed and is no longer sung, as it is sometimes associated with Nazism and the passage in question claimed a large area of land, no longer contained in the current borders of Germany.
The lyrics are a pointed, satirical attack on Jerry Brown, the Governor of California from 1975–1983, and are sung from his perspective, as an imaginary version of Brown outlines a hippie-fascist vision of America. The line "Serpent's egg already hatched" is a reference to a comment on the corrosive nature of power from William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, and also a reference to the Ingmar Bergman film The Serpent's Egg set in Nazi Germany that gets its title from the Shakespeare play. 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 where Jerry Brown has become President, and his "suede/denim secret police" kill "uncool" people in "organic poison gas" chambers.
The song is also an early example of Dead Kennedys' 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; 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. 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 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 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 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 F.C. in South London also as a tribute to their current and longest serving manager - Gavin Rose. Many of the words are replaced, including Dulwich Hamlet for California.

Cover versions