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Song Stories

“Holiday in Cambodia”

Dead Kennedys | 1980

Ominous guitar and bass riffs that growled and yelped underpinned "Holiday in Cambodia," Jello Biafra rant-singing against privileged young brats who needed to experience the horrors of Cambodia firsthand. Co-writer Biafra drew upon his experiences observing frat boys and sorority girls while delivering pizza to college dorms. The song, he recalled, was about "drunk jocks and the idiot women who pursue them. I guess I just juxtaposed that with the reports coming out of Cambodia."

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“All My Life”
Evan Dando | 2003
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“Let My Love Open the Door”
Pete Townshend | 1980

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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