.

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."

prev
Song Stories Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus

Song Stories

“Oh Sherrie”

Steve Perry | 1984

Steve Perry's girlfriend Sherrie Swafford was actually in the studio when Perry began writing this song--his lone Top Ten hit as a solo act--with two co-writers. The trio began at midnight one night with just "Oh, Sherrie!" and "hold on, hold on." Three hours later, they had a complete song. Swafford, however, had to wait until the next day to hear it. "Sherrie actually got tired and went to bed," Perry said. She also appeared in the video, but their relationship did not hold on for long.

More Song Stories entries »