Moon Over Marin by Dead Kennedys

Album: Plastic Surgery Disasters (1982)

License This Song

lyrics

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

Marin is the county in California where the Dead Kennedys are from - it's near San Francisco. In this song, lead singer Jello Biafra sings about taking in the moonlight from the beach, but with a gas mask to protect him from the toxic fumes.

Biafra liked to set up idyllic scenes so he could knock them down with cold reminders that humans are destroying ourselves for the benefit of the rich and powerful. His warnings of beaches littered with dead fish seemed alarmist at the time, but not so much decades later when global warming took hold.

In this case, the beach has been polluted by an oil spill, possibly a reference to the San Francisco Bay oil spill of 1971.
This is one of the more radio-friendly Dead Kennedys songs, which is like saying Attila was one of the friendliest Huns. According to the group's guitarist, East Bay Ray, it was chosen for a sampler album put out by another label, but Jello Biafra wouldn't allow it because it's a song he and Ray wrote together, not one of his solo compositions.

"It's catchy," Ray told Songfacts. "Jello said it was too pop-y, but if you take The Clash as an example, one of their biggest songs is 'Should I Stay or Should I Go?.'"
East Bay Ray describes this as a modal song with a psychedelic feel.
This is the last track on Plastic Surgery Disasters, the second Dead Kennedys full-length album. Near the end, it fades out but then comes back in with some cacophonous music and a soothing female voice that says:

There, wasn't that a nice visit?
Don't forget, a psychiatrist is on duty 24 hours a day in the blue room
Just up from the parking garage
Drink plenty of water when you take these
Now you can relax
And return to your job!

This implies that listening to the album is akin to visiting a psychiatric institution.

In the CD era, this would section would probably be placed as a hidden track, but CDs hadn't been invented yet.

Comments: 4

Punk4ever from San DiegoWell, Jello was a freaking idiot. The whole thing about punk was to change the world in society and rage against the status quo. They had so many great songs that could’ve broken into radio rotation, and that would’ve killed people to have to say “and here we are with the Dead Kennedys! “
I think he missed a great opportunity with moon over Marin, chicken farm, Stars and Stripes of Corruption. MTV get off the air got some radio Play in Los Angeles back in the day and that would have been hilarious to have that go national! I was at the last DK show in the US in San Diego in the early 80s and I remember him just giving up on stage because there were people there to Fight and slam dance and few there actually listening to music and nobody was there for the political aspect of it and it just I think brought him down to a level where he just said f--k it. Why are we doing this if no one is rebelling anymore?
He totally sabotage the band for commercial success several times because he believed the commercialism was equal to supporting government, etc. etc. they could have totally used that status and exposure to spread their anarchy. Just like Johnny rotten dead if you look at Johnny rotten and the Sex Pistols in there 1990s early 2000s reboot… Johnny rotten came right out and said I’m still the same punk I’m still the same guy I believe in the same s--t it’s just that you know what you people are idiots and you wanna give us your money and you can go ahead and give us all your money and he went out there andwas on spit in your face punk and didn’t give a rats ass because he knew he was spreading anarchy. Jello could have done the same
Bolshy from New ZealandOne of my all time favourites by DKs. Interesting what Ray says about Jello refusing to put it on sampler album.
Drew from AzOne of the best DK songs in my opinion. Jello's vocals are spot on and the guitar riffs are incredible.
Alejandro from Marin CountyMarin County does not include San Francisco, the city of San Francisco is also its own county (aka the city and county of San Francisco), which is a completely separate county from Marin. To pronounce Marin correctly, put the emphasis on the 2nd syllable, not the first (it's ma-RIN, not Mare-in).

see more comments

More Songfacts:

YYZRush

The instrumental "YYZ" by Rush got its title from the transmitter code for Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, near where the band is from.

Heart Of GlassBlondie

"Heart of Glass" was Blondie's first foray into disco, which turned off some fans. Debbie Harry said they did it because they "wanted to be uncool."

FootlooseKenny Loggins

The names Louise, Jack, Marie and Milo all show up in the song "Footloose." Marie was the mother of Dean Pitchford, who co-wrote it.

Rocket ManElton John

Elton John's "Rocket Man" is based on a Ray Bradbury story called The Rocket Man published in 1951.

Private IdahoThe B-52s

The B-52's chose the location of their song "Private Idaho" because the state has a reputation for being wacky and mysterious. The title is a play on the phrase "private eye."

Kiss On My ListHall & Oates

"Kiss On My List" by Hall & Oates is actually an anti-love song - the kiss is just one item on a list, and by no means the best.