Bedtime for Democracy is the fourth album released by Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....

. Songs on this album cover such common punk subjects as conformity, Reaganomics

Reaganomics

Reaganomics refers to the economic policies promoted by the U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s, also known as supply-side economics and called trickle-down economics, particularly by critics...

, the military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

, and even criticizing aspects of their own punk movement. The title of the album is a reference to the 1951 comedy film, Bedtime for Bonzo

Bedtime for Bonzo

Bedtime for Bonzo is a 1951 comedy film directed by Fred de Cordova, starring future U.S. President Ronald Reagan. It revolves around the attempts of the central character, Professor Peter Boyd , to teach human morals to a chimpanzee, hoping to solve the "nature versus nurture" question...

starring Ronald Reagan. There is a typing error on the Manifesto CDs so that the time length for Gone with My Wind is printed ":43" when it should read "1:43". On the original vinyl version, Side A was tracks 1-11 and Side B was tracks 12-21. It also came with a mock periodical in the form of a thin newspaper made up of collage

Collage

A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....

 art, called "Fuck Facts."

The East Bay punk band Isocracy

Isocracy (band)

Isocracy was an American punk rock band from the Berkeley, California-area, formed in 1986. The band was one of the key bands in the MRR/Gilman Street project. John Kiffmeyer , who later went on to form Green Day, was the drummer for the band...

 parodied the name in their 1988 EP, Bedtime for Isocracy

Bedtime For Isocracy

Bedtime for Isocracy is the first and only studio release by the American punk rock band Isocracy. It was released in January 1988 through Lookout! Records on seven-inch vinyl with picture sleeve...

. The cover art depicted the band together in a bed, accompanied by Jello Biafra.

Track listing

• All songs written by Jello Biafra
  Jello Biafra
  Jello Biafra is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys...
  
   except when stated.

1. "Take This Job and Shove It
   Take This Job and Shove It
   "Take This Job and Shove It" is a song by David Allan Coe from his 1978 album, Family Album about the bitterness of a man who worked long and hard with no apparent reward. The song was famously covered by Johnny Paycheck...
   
   " (David Allan Coe
   David Allan Coe
   David Allan Coe is an American outlaw country music singer who achieved popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. He has written and performed over 280 original songs throughout his career...
   
   ) – 1:25
2. "Hop with the Jet Set" – 2:07
3. "Dear Abby" – 1:09
4. "Rambozo the Clown" – 2:25
5. "Fleshdunce" – 1:29
6. "The Great Wall" – 1:32
7. "Shrink" – 1:44
8. "Triumph of the Swill" – 2:17
9. "Macho Insecurity" – 1:30
10. "I Spy" (D.H. Peligro) – 2:30
11. "Cesspools in Eden" – 5:56
12. "One-Way Ticket to Pluto" – 1:38
13. "Do the Slag" (East Bay Ray
    East Bay Ray
    Raymond John Pepperell , better known by his stage name East Bay Ray is a guitarist best-known for his membership in the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys...
    
    ) – 1:36
14. "A Commercial" – 1:33
15. "Gone with My Wind" – 1:43
16. "Anarchy for Sale" – 1:18
17. "Chickenshit Conformist
    Chickenshit Conformist
    "Chickenshit Conformist" is a song by the Dead Kennedys; released on their 1986 album Bedtime for Democracy. It accuses punk rock of becoming "a closed-minded, self-centred social club", and accuses the punks of becoming "chickenshit conformist[s] like [their] parents."The song also mentions the...
    
    " – 5:58
18. "Where Do Ya Draw the Line" – 2:39
19. "Potshot Heard 'Round the World" (East Bay Ray, Jello Biafra) – 2:10
20. "D.M.S.O." – 2:09
21. "Lie Detector" (East Bay Ray, Jello Biafra) – 3:43

Credits

• Jello Biafra
  Jello Biafra
  Jello Biafra is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys...
  
   - lead vocals, producer, mixer
• East Bay Ray
  East Bay Ray
  Raymond John Pepperell , better known by his stage name East Bay Ray is a guitarist best-known for his membership in the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys...
  
   - guitar
• Klaus Fluoride - bass, backing vocals
• D.H. Peligro - drums, backing vocals
• Tim Jones - synthesizer
• Jayed Scotti - timbales
• Cal - backing vocals
• Andrew - backing vocals
• Blaze - backing vocals
• P. O'Pillage - backing vocals, artwork
• John Cuniberti - engineer, mixer
• Winston Smith
  Winston Smith (artist)
  Winston Smith is an artist who primarily uses the medium of collage. He is probably best known for the artwork he has produced for the American punk rock group Dead Kennedys...
  
  - artwork