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- For the law-enforcement vehicle, see police truck.
"Police Truck" is a song by the Dead Kennedys. The song was originally released in May, 1980, as the B-side of the "Holiday in Cambodia" single and later released in June 1987 on the DKs' compilation album, Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death. The song is a satirical attack on the actions of oppressive police officers, and takes a first person view from the authorities themselves. The song mentions controversial acts, such as beating up drunks and kidnapping prostitutes.
The song was one of the Kennedys' early popular songs. "Police Truck" is built around a surf beat (similar to the one heard in the early instrumental surf-rock singles such as The Chantays' "Pipeline"), and highlighted by East Bay Ray's echoed guitar leads and the descending chorus "ride, ride, how we ride." "Police Truck", like many of the band's songs, serves as an example of the Dead Kennedys' ability to portray a disturbing scenario through humorous lyrics.
The song later appeared in the soundtrack of the popular skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, after being licensed by the former Dead Kennedys. This licensing caused criticism from many Dead Kennedys fans, who used it to assert that East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride, and D.H. Peligro are no longer committed to the band's anti-corporate beliefs, unlike vocalist Jello Biafra. However, Alternative Tentacles gave approval for the song to appear in the game. Biafra denies that this happened. [1] The song appears in the game Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s with altered lyrics (for example- the word "drunks" at the beginning of the song is replaced by "punks" and the part involving the gang rape of a prostitute has been overhauled entirely). A video from the final release of the game can be seen here.
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