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California Uber Alles"California ber Alles" was the first single by the Dead Kennedys, a Californian punk rock band. The record was released in June of 1979 on lead singer Jello Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles. The title is an allusion to the first stanza of the national anthem of Germany, "Das Lied der Deutschen", which begins with the words "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles". The word-for-word translation of this verse is "Germany above all", but is better understood to mean "I place Germany first". Only the third verse of the anthem is used anymore, all other verses (especially the first) are a expression of an extreme right-winged and or fascist attitude ever since the end of World War II. The song's focus is on then-California Governor Jerry Brown, and is sung from what is supposedly his perspective. In it, an imaginary Brown outlines a bizarre hippie-fascist vision for America, in which his "suede denim secret police" kill un-cool people with "organic poison gas" chambers. On their album 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. Jello Biafra has frequently 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 ber Alles indeed". In the 90s, the song was once again updated by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, on their album Hypocrisy Is the Greatest Luxury. They replaced references to Jerry Brown with references to Pete Wilson. Another updated version of this song about Governor Schwarzenegger was performed live (among a few other Dead Kennedys classics) when Biafra toured with The Melvins to support their collaboration album in 2004.
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