Night of the Living Rednecks

"Night of the Living Rednecks"
Song by Dead Kennedys
Released	1987
Format	CD
Recorded	1979
Genre	Spoken word, jazz
Length	5:10
Label	Alternative Tentacles
Producer	Jello Biafra

Night of the Living Rednecks is a live improvisation by the American hardcore punk band the Dead Kennedys. It features frontman Jello Biafra recounting a story to the audience with a bebop style bass guitar and drum backing, as guitarist East Bay Ray fixes his "broken" guitar.

Plot

The song begins with the end of a live performance of the band's song "Chemical Warfare" at the early show in the Earth Tavern at Portland, Oregon on November 19, 1979. At the end of the song East Bay Ray's guitar cuts out abruptly, and Biafra announces to the audience, "Ray's guitar broke!" The audience then tries to get them to play their version of the theme song to Rawhide, to which Biafra responds "No, he won't play 'Rawhide,' won't play anything." He also humorously invites a member of the audience to be Dinah Shore for a performance of the theme from her show, asking them "whose alter ego is Dinah Shore?" while some members of the audience still try to cajole them into playing "Rawhide". Apparently unsatisfied by the audience's response, he then makes note of a particular fan's lack of enthusiasm for the suggestion ("Oh, his fist didn't go up so quickly this time!"). Drummer Ted then does a quick drum roll, which Biafra appears to find unsatisfactory for the performance, as he then repeats the word "yawn." Klaus Flouride then begins a bebop style bass line while Ted begins drumming again, then Biafra starts telling a story.

The story begins while Biafra was walking the street at 10:30 PM on November 6, 1979, the night before the group performed at Portland's famous rock club The Long Goodbye (recent research confirmed that the band had played a concert at the venue on November 7, 1979, which pinpoints the date of the incident as November 6). While out walking, he was attacked by jocks in a bright blue pick-up truck that Biafra described as looking like a "life size Hot Wheels car" with giant tires and overhead lights. The jocks shouted "hey faggot" at Biafra, and apparently "showered [him] with some water." After the first time this happened, Biafra picked up a rock, expecting them to come back, and kept walking until he came to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. The jocks did come back a few seconds later, yelling at Biafra "hey, faggot, where's the nearest McDonald's?" and squirting him yet again. Biafra responded by throwing the rock and putting a dent in the truck.

After the jocks realized what Biafra had done, they stopped the truck in a parking lot near a Fred Meyer store (which for some reason elicits a "Fred Meyer!" cheer from one member of the audience) and come charging at Biafra with clubs and threatening to kill him. Biafra decides to hide in a phone booth in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken while the jocks try to get in. After a few seconds of the jocks trying to get into the booth and a crowd of people saying he was crazy, Biafra, who thought that acting like he was crazy would be his way out of the situation, decided to goad someone into calling the cops, which the jocks did. However, the jocks were sent home by the officer after the incident was reported because one of them could not control his anger. Biafra reflects on the incident, saying "So this is Oregon. Tolerant Oregon," and then hassles East Bay Ray to finish fixing his guitar, because he is out of stories.

Notes

• According to the liner notes for Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, the person who recorded the song is unknown, as the track is listed as being recorded by "persons unknown".
• The original performance of the song is also available on video as part of a 1979 Portland, Oregon concert that is widely circulated as a bootleg.
• This happened on the corner of W Burnside and NW 21st Avenue. The Kentucky Fried Chicken is now a Taco Bell.

References