Holiday in Cambodia – English Lyrics

• By: Dead Kennedys
• Album: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables

Lyrics & Translation

Dive into the raw energy and biting social commentary of Dead Kennedys' "Holiday in Cambodia." This iconic punk track offers a unique linguistic landscape, filled with sharp satire and evocative imagery. By exploring its lyrics, you can learn about politically charged vocabulary and understand how language can be used to deliver impactful social critiques, making it an engaging way to deepen your English comprehension.

[English]

So, you've been to school for a year or two

And you know you've seen it all

In daddy's car, thinking you'll go far

Back East, your type don't crawl

Play ethnicky jazz to parade your snazz

On your five-grand stereo

Braggin' that you know how the niggers feel cold

And the slums got so much soul

It's time to taste what you most fear

Right Guard will not help you here

Brace yourself, my dear

Brace yourself, my dear

It's a holiday in Cambodia

It's tough, kid, but it's life

It's a holiday in Cambodia

Don't forget to pack a wife

...

You're a star-belly sneech, you suck like a leech

You want everyone to act like you

Kiss ass while you bitch so you can get rich

But your boss gets richer off you

Well, you'll work harder with a gun in your back

For a bowl of rice a day

Slave for soldiers 'til you starve

Then your head is skewered on a stake

Now you can go where people are one

Now you can go where they get things done

What you need, my son

What you need, my son

Is a holiday in Cambodia

Where people dress in black

A holiday in Cambodia

Where you'll kiss ass or crack

...

Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Pol Pot

Pol Pot, and it's a--

Holiday in Cambodia

Where you'll do what you're told

A holiday in Cambodia

Where the slums got so much soul

Pol Pot

...

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
school /skuːl/ A1	noun - an institution for educating children
crawl /krɔːl/ B1	verb - to move on your hands and knees
jazz /dʒæz/ B1	noun - a type of music of black American origin
slums /slʌmz/ B2	noun - a squalid and overcrowded urban street or district inhabited by very poor people.
taste /teɪst/ A2	verb - to perceive or experience the flavor of
fear /fɪər/ B1	noun - an unpleasant emotion caused by the perception of danger, pain, or threat verb - to be afraid of (someone or something)
tough /tʌf/ B1	adjective - difficult; requiring effort
life /laɪf/ A1	noun - the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic matter
star /stɑːr/ A1	noun - a fixed luminous point in the night sky
suck /sʌk/ B1	verb - draw into the mouth by contracting the muscles of the lips and mouth to create a partial vacuum
leech /liːtʃ/ B2	noun - a carnivorous or bloodsucking worm.
kiss /kɪs/ A2	verb - to touch with the lips as a sign of love, greeting, etc.
rich /rɪtʃ/ A2	adjective - having a great deal of money or assets; wealthy
slave /sleɪv/ B1	verb - work excessively hard noun - a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.
starve /stɑːrv/ B2	verb - suffer severely or die from hunger
crack /kræk/ B2	verb - to break without separating into pieces

Key Grammar Structures

• So, you've been to school for a year or two And you know you've seen it all

  ➔ Present Perfect Tense

  ➔ The phrase "you've been to school" uses the present perfect tense to indicate an action that started in the past and has relevance to the present. It suggests the experience of being in school has an impact on the current situation of the person being addressed. "You've seen it all" implies an overconfident attitude of having experienced everything.

• Thinking you'll go far

  ➔ Future Simple (using 'will')

  ➔ The phrase implies a belief or expectation about the future. "you'll go" is a shortened form of "you will go", predicting a future outcome based on the person's current circumstances (driving daddy's car).

• Back East, your type don't crawl

  ➔ Simple Present Tense (Generalization)

  ➔ Uses the simple present tense to express a general truth or a common characteristic of a group. "Your type don't crawl" makes a broad statement about the behavior of a specific social class in a particular region (Back East).

• Braggin' that you know how the niggers feel cold

  ➔ Present Participle (Gerund) as Noun Modifier & Reported Speech (indirect)

  ➔ "Braggin'" (bragging) is a present participle used as a noun modifier, describing the action of bragging. The phrase "that you know how...feel cold" represents reported speech, indicating a claim the person makes about their understanding of others' feelings. The use of a derogatory term is important to note for its impact on meaning and tone.

• It's time to taste what you most fear

  ➔ It + be + time + to + infinitive, Relative Clause with 'what'

  ➔ The structure "It's time to taste..." indicates that the moment for a particular action has arrived. The clause "what you most fear" is a relative clause acting as the object of the verb "taste". It uses 'what' to refer to the thing that is feared.

• Right Guard will not help you here

  ➔ Future Simple (Negation with 'will not')

  ➔ This line employs the future simple tense in its negative form. "Will not help" (or its contraction "won't help") expresses a prediction that something will *not* occur in the future. It indicates that the product 'Right Guard' (deodorant) will be ineffective in the situation.

• Slave for soldiers 'til you starve

  ➔ Imperative (implied), Subordinating Conjunction ('til')

  ➔ While not explicitly stated as "You slave...", the sentence carries an implied imperative tone, suggesting a command or inevitability. "'Til" is a shortened form of "until", a subordinating conjunction introducing a time clause indicating when the slaving will continue.

• Now you can go where people are one

  ➔ Modal Verb 'can' (possibility/permission), Relative Clause (where)

  ➔ "Can go" indicates possibility or permission to travel. "Where people are one" is a relative clause modifying the place where the person is now able to go, implying a place of unity or conformity, possibly achieved through oppressive means.