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Soup Is Good Food Lyrics

We're sorry
But you're no longer needed
Or wanted
Or even cared about here

Machines can do a better job than you
This is what you get for asking questions

The unions agree
Sacrifices must be made
Computers never go on strike
To save the working man you've got to put him out to pasture


Looks like we'll have to let you go
Doesn't it feel fulfilling to know
That you - the human being - are now obsolete
And there's nothing in hell we'll let you do about it


(chorus)
Soup is good food - (We don't need you any more)
You made a good meal - (We don't need you any more)
Now how do you feel - (We don't need you any more)
To be shit out our ass
And thrown in the cold like a piece of trash


We're sorry
You'll just have to leave
Unemployment runs out after just six weeks


How does it feel to be a budget cut?
You're snipped
You no longer exist


Your number's been purged from our central computer
So we can rig the facts
And sweep you under the rug
See our chart? Unemployment's going down
If that ruins your life that's your problem


(chorus)


We're sorry
We hate to interrupt
But it's against the law to jump off this bridge
You'll just have to kill yourself somewhere else
A tourist might see you
And we wouldn't want that


I'm just doing my job, you know
So say uncle
And we'll take you to the mental health zoo
Force feed you mind-melting chemicals
'Til even the outside world looks great


In hi-tech science research labs
It costs too much to bury all the dead
The mutilated, disease-injected
Surplus rats who can't be used anymore


So they're dumped (with no minister present)
In a spiraling corkscrew dispose-all unit
Ground into sludge and flushed away
Aw geez


(chorus).


We know how much you'd like to die
We joke about it on our coffee breaks
But we're paid to force you to have a nice day
In the wonderful world we created just for you


"Poor Rats", we human rodents chuckle
At least we get a dignified cremation
And yet
At 6:00 tomorrow morning
It's time to get up and go to work
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Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

Work still sucks and my boss still couldn't give a fuck less of he'd fire me.

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

The main part of the song is just stating how bad the system is, that you can be fired, wiped from the system and 'swept under the rug', and institutionalised when you decide that this is wrong and you arent willing to take any more of it, all in the name of profit and 'efficiency'. Then the song takes a bit of an surreal twist, with the 'surplus rats' and the people joking about how much you want to die around the water cooler. Why does Biafra start going on about rats? Beacuse the rats are you - the working man. The people orhestrating all this and laughing about how you would like to die are the 'gods' - the bosses, managers, politicians, those in power who will use you up and wear you out like you were a lab rat. I agree with the Soylent Green reference as well, - 'Soup is good food' takes on a sinister twist if you think that the ground up 'human rodents' becoming the soup for the recently unemployed person, at the other end of this horrible slope. And so the circle is complete!

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

This song is about serious issues, but... I know I cant be the only one who laughed their ass off when Jello says that it's illegal to jump off the bridge. This is why I love DK.

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

Of course, there's another obvious undercurrent...

"Soylent Green is people!"

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

And on the flip-side there is Take this job and shove it.... another great DK song...

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

It's about how work sucks and your boss couldn't give a fuck less if he fires you.

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

computers taking over society, the boss fires you for a computer and then all of a sudden the boss is unnecessary and he's fucked, computers slowly take over daily tasks until we are all fucking fat as shit...

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

i think tres right. but what about soup? is it like youll have to feed off of soup kitchens because yur broke??

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

It's meant to reflect the total lack of sympathy from your boss. "We know you need this job and you won't be able to pay your rent without it, or pay for food, your kids'll have to get their meals from a soup kitchen ..... etc.etc.etc. ..... but hey! Cheer up! Soup's pretty good!"

Cover art for Soup Is Good Food lyrics by Dead Kennedys

The song that made me "Get" Punk