A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch

Dead Kennedys

In lonely gas stations with mini-marts
You'll find rows of them for sale
Liquor-filled statues of Elvis Presley
Drink like a vampire
His disciples flock to such a fitting shrine
Sprawled across from his graceless mansion
A shopping mall
Filled with prayer rugs and Elvis dolls

And I wonder
Yeah I wonder
Will Elvis take the place of Jesus in a thousand years

Religious wars
Barbaric laws
Bloodshed worldwide
Over what's left of his myth

A growing boy needs his lunch

When pesticides get banned we're safe up north
We just sell them to those other countries
Soon there's lots of exotic deformed babies
Somehow that's not our fault

Just dip 'em in glaze paint 'em orange and green
For the Arizona roadside stands
To sell alongside plaster burros and birthbaths

And I wonder
Yeah I wonder
Why so many insects around us feed off the dead

Death squads
Starvation
Foreign aid?
Just leave it to the magic of the marketplace

A growing boy needs his lunch

Everyone should just love each other
Dip your toe into the fire
Drop your guns and lawsuits and love each other
Life begins beyond the bunker
And while you're busy hugging in the streets
Outgrowing your hatred for all to feel
Jiminy Cricket's found a game to play
Stick your neck out and trust-It'll be chopped away
Jimmy through your locked front doors
Rifle through your sacred drawers
Line my pockets
Deface your dreams
Til the cows come home to me

Nibbling like an earwig winding through your brain
Bound like Lawrence Harvey spread eagle to a bed
The migraine gets worse when we find out we lay eggs
And no one in all of Borneo can hear you scream

Turn on
Tune in
Cop out

Drop kick
Turn in
Tune out


Lyrics submitted by Ice

A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch Lyrics as written by Flouride Biafra

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment
    i never really liked this song....the whole frankenchrist album was a downward spiral for DK...every song seemed to sound the same...anyone else think that?
    DHPeligro6025on November 16, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    hell no, MTV get off the air was fucking awesome, this song blows tho, one or two others weren't good on it, but it wasn't a downward spiral
    gofuckyourselfon February 12, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I don't know what you guys are talking about, Frankenchrist rocked and this is one of the best songs on it. It's not as loud and fast as DK's previous stuff but it's still an amazing song lyrically. It's about the way Americans distract themselves with easy quick-fix answers and ignore real problems and dangers lurking just beneath the surface of contemporary society.
    freehat17on September 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Well I don't really like frankenchrist eather, but you have to consider that the album wasn't ready: their record label was bumrushed by the police in purpose to sencorise the LP and prevent it to get publiished - Part of the LP is missing even today.
    traneon March 06, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Yeah, I think this was made during Biafra's stoner stage. If you listen to when the Frankenchrist songs are performed live the long, slow, quiet music just seems to be an excuse for Jello to talk on and on. However I do think there are so real good songs on the record MTV, Jock O Rama and Stars and stripes. I wonder if that missing part will ever turn up and who will win the legal battle for it.
    Violentpacifiston February 04, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Well personally Frankenchrist is my favourite Dead Kennedys album. I think they'd really focussed their sound. This Could Be Anywhere is my favourite song on it though.
    grimeboyon April 23, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    I think there's too many narrow minded punk that listen to this album and immediately assume they're trying to do another punk album and haven't pulled it off. The whole point of it seems to me to try to be a bit more experimental and get away from the whole punk thing a bit. Like grimeboy says they seem to have built on their weird creepy sound, it's just a pity they don't seem to have mixed it as well as they could have done.
    AnRKon June 28, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Grimeboy - same here, Frankenchrist is the best DK album in my opinion. Political concepts on this album are conveyed with their signature clarity and biting wit even more than on their other albums. It's also by far one of their most diverse albums, and each song's style seems to have been carefully thought out in order to further get across the point.
    Dogplatteron October 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Jello's diverse lyrical styles are extending in this album and so is the band's willingness to experiment beyond the realm of punk. Yet the hardcore sound -- which in my opinion, really showcases how good of a drummer Peligro is (see Bedtime for Democracy and In God We Trust Inc.) -- has not yet come into the picture. Further, the production seems sub-par on this album. I always turn the treble and mids way up on the EQ when listening. I have to say I never totally fell in love with Frankenchrist (like the first commenter) but the album does have its own unique feel. Taken with the other albums, it shows the band's chemistry and ability to evolve together. Alternatively, just enjoy it and forget my goofy analysis. It's well worth the listen.
    wschuberton May 13, 2011   Link

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