Kill the Poor

This article is about the single. For the film, see Kill the Poor (film).

"Kill the Poor" is a song by Dead Kennedys, released in October 1980 on Cherry Red Records as the band's third single, with "In-sight" as its B-side. The song is a satire of the elite, saying how if given the chance, they would use neutron bombs to wipe out the impoverished whilst preserving property. The title track was re-recorded for the band's first album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980), although the single and album versions show little difference in comparison. The B-side of this single is also additionally on the compilation album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death (1987). A special "disco version" was played and recorded on March 3, 1979, and released on their live album Live at the Deaf Club.

"Kill the Poor"
Single by Dead Kennedys
from the album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
B-side	"In-sight"
Released	October 1980
Recorded	1980
Genre	Hardcore punk
Length	3:02
Label	Cherry Red
Composer(s)	Jello Biafra East Bay Ray
Lyricist(s)	Jello Biafra
Producer(s)	Norm East Bay Ray
Dead Kennedys singles chronology
"Holiday in Cambodia" (1980) "Kill the Poor" (1980) "Too Drunk to Fuck" (1981)

"Kill the Poor" reached #49 in the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks on the chart.

Personnel

• Jello Biafra – lead vocals
• East Bay Ray – guitar
• Klaus Flouride – bass, backing vocals
• Ted – drums

Charts

Chart (1980)	Peak position
UK Indie Chart[1]	1
UK Singles Chart[2]	49

Cover versions

• American metalcore band The Agony Scene covered the song for the special edition of their album Get Damned in 2007.
• American heavy metal band Trivium covered the song as part of a series of covers recorded during the recording session of their album The Sin and the Sentence in 2017.
• Russian punk band Pornofilmy covered the song with Russian translation named Нищих убивай (lit. 'Kill the poor') for their album Русская мечта. Часть 2 (lit. 'Russian Dream. Part 2') in 2016.
• Dutch composer Maarten Regtien covered the song in the concluding part of his 2nd Trumpet Concerto^[3]

See also

• Neutron bomb