You guys are interpreting this song incorrectly (at least partially).
The first half of the song is critical of "trust-fund radicals" who posture at being supportive or sympathetic to radical revolutionaries in places like Cambodia, because it's safe for them to do so from the warm cocoon of their upper-class, American liberal arts academic life. JB is saying that these college hipster types only know about revolutions through books and that they would piss themselves if they actually took a "Holiday in Cambodia" and had to give up their comfortable western lifestyle to see what revolution looks like in real life.
The SECOND half of the song is critical of rich yuppies who JB feels could use some humility training in a third world communist dictatorship like that in the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.
My friend was forced to fight for the Khmer Rouge when he was a young boy (and after his grandparent's home was set on fire and the town ransacked). He didn't learn humility; rather, he leared how to fear and how to slaughter. Thankfully, one night he escaped alone (leaving behind his best friend for fear of snitching) and made his way into a neighboring country where U.S. "adoptions" were being arranged. The Khmer Rouge were brutal thugs...many very young. The word "humility" shouldn't be used in the same sentence as their group name. I agree w/ the remainder of...
My friend was forced to fight for the Khmer Rouge when he was a young boy (and after his grandparent's home was set on fire and the town ransacked). He didn't learn humility; rather, he leared how to fear and how to slaughter. Thankfully, one night he escaped alone (leaving behind his best friend for fear of snitching) and made his way into a neighboring country where U.S. "adoptions" were being arranged. The Khmer Rouge were brutal thugs...many very young. The word "humility" shouldn't be used in the same sentence as their group name. I agree w/ the remainder of your post. It's an interesting song...and a little too realistic.
I agree with carolinahaze above - but I think rolypolyw-w has tapped into the anticommunist strand of the text as well. The hypocrisy of the idealist college Lefties is exposed for the privileged posing that it is - and is then eclipsed by the brutal reality of the Pol Pot regime trying to coerce Marxist theory into practice.
I agree with carolinahaze above - but I think rolypolyw-w has tapped into the anticommunist strand of the text as well. The hypocrisy of the idealist college Lefties is exposed for the privileged posing that it is - and is then eclipsed by the brutal reality of the Pol Pot regime trying to coerce Marxist theory into practice.
Eric Boucher, from bucolic Boulder CO, seems to believe in pure anarchist agitation. He is like the "useful idiots" used by Communist and Fascist thugs alike to rise to power on a wave of mayhem and civil unrest ("Burn it all down baby! Smash the state! Bedtime for Democracy! Etc. etc.)
Jello wrote some great lyrics and his band rocked - but, like a cheap vintage wine, he does not age well.
You guys are interpreting this song incorrectly (at least partially).
The first half of the song is critical of "trust-fund radicals" who posture at being supportive or sympathetic to radical revolutionaries in places like Cambodia, because it's safe for them to do so from the warm cocoon of their upper-class, American liberal arts academic life. JB is saying that these college hipster types only know about revolutions through books and that they would piss themselves if they actually took a "Holiday in Cambodia" and had to give up their comfortable western lifestyle to see what revolution looks like in real life.
The SECOND half of the song is critical of rich yuppies who JB feels could use some humility training in a third world communist dictatorship like that in the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia.
My friend was forced to fight for the Khmer Rouge when he was a young boy (and after his grandparent's home was set on fire and the town ransacked). He didn't learn humility; rather, he leared how to fear and how to slaughter. Thankfully, one night he escaped alone (leaving behind his best friend for fear of snitching) and made his way into a neighboring country where U.S. "adoptions" were being arranged. The Khmer Rouge were brutal thugs...many very young. The word "humility" shouldn't be used in the same sentence as their group name. I agree w/ the remainder of...
My friend was forced to fight for the Khmer Rouge when he was a young boy (and after his grandparent's home was set on fire and the town ransacked). He didn't learn humility; rather, he leared how to fear and how to slaughter. Thankfully, one night he escaped alone (leaving behind his best friend for fear of snitching) and made his way into a neighboring country where U.S. "adoptions" were being arranged. The Khmer Rouge were brutal thugs...many very young. The word "humility" shouldn't be used in the same sentence as their group name. I agree w/ the remainder of your post. It's an interesting song...and a little too realistic.
I agree with carolinahaze above - but I think rolypolyw-w has tapped into the anticommunist strand of the text as well. The hypocrisy of the idealist college Lefties is exposed for the privileged posing that it is - and is then eclipsed by the brutal reality of the Pol Pot regime trying to coerce Marxist theory into practice.
I agree with carolinahaze above - but I think rolypolyw-w has tapped into the anticommunist strand of the text as well. The hypocrisy of the idealist college Lefties is exposed for the privileged posing that it is - and is then eclipsed by the brutal reality of the Pol Pot regime trying to coerce Marxist theory into practice.
Eric Boucher, from bucolic Boulder CO, seems to believe in pure anarchist agitation. He is like the "useful idiots" used by Communist and Fascist thugs alike to rise to power on a wave of mayhem and civil unrest ("Burn it all down baby! Smash the state! Bedtime for Democracy! Etc. etc.)
Jello wrote some great lyrics and his band rocked - but, like a cheap vintage wine, he does not age well.
@carolinahaze I think it's a critique of "radicals" in general. Radicalism, no matter who advocates it is inherently dangerous.
@carolinahaze I think it's a critique of "radicals" in general. Radicalism, no matter who advocates it is inherently dangerous.
This song warns of what can happen when you try to overthrow systems that work.
This song warns of what can happen when you try to overthrow systems that work.
It asks the listener sincerely whether they wish to live in Capitalist America with it's few faults or Communist Cambodia, the genocidal dictatorship.
It asks the listener sincerely whether they wish to live in Capitalist America with it's few faults or Communist Cambodia, the genocidal dictatorship.
I think the message of this song can be summed up with this Churchill quote:
I think the message of this song can be summed up with this Churchill quote:
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."
"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."