When there’s people on the other side of the room trying to wipe out your life and things are stacked against you, you can get nervous.

Meaning of the quote

This quote means that when you have enemies who are trying to harm or even kill you, and the situation is very difficult for you, it's normal to feel worried or afraid. Jello Biafra, an American musician, is saying that it's understandable to be nervous when your life is in danger and the odds are against you.

About Jello Biafra

Jello Biafra, the former lead singer and songwriter of the influential punk rock band Dead Kennedys, is an American singer, spoken word artist, and political activist known for his sardonic lyrics and social commentary. He has continued his musical and activist work through collaborations and running for political office.

More about the author

More quotes from Jello Biafra

All of these reissues were not authorized by me, I do not endorse them, the live album was put out without my permission, and I’ve not seen a dime at this point, either.

Jello Biafra

American singer

That’s the way both they and I travel sometimes. Pick road at random, and when it’s time to pull over, you pull over and hope you can find a place to crash.

Jello Biafra

American singer

Especially in local elections, because hardly anybody pays attention to those – but it’s really important who’s mayor and who’s on the city council, county commissioners, sheriffs, district attorney, and of course the school board.

Jello Biafra

American singer

Don’t hate the media, become the media.

Jello Biafra

American singer

Respecting other people’s cultures is well and good, but I draw the line at where some branches of Islam, what they do to women. It’s indefensible.

Jello Biafra

American singer

If you love god, burn a church.

Jello Biafra

American singer

What they’re not doing is marketing the Dead Kennedys in the spirit of what the band stood for.

Jello Biafra

American singer

They’ve gone to great length to disguise the fact that I’m not in the band, even sending out a photo to promoters with my picture in it which then winds up in some of the ads on the flyers.

Jello Biafra

American singer

The last true punk band to get a major label contract was The Dickies.

Jello Biafra

American singer

I got involved because I wanted to help inspire more people to get off their butts and register and vote – not just in this election, but in every other election from now on, you know?

Jello Biafra

American singer

For every prohibition you create you also create an underground.

Jello Biafra

American singer

The Sonics I found later and that was pretty important.

Jello Biafra

American singer

I’m totally down with insurrection in the street. I’ve had a great time with that over the years. Insurrection in the voting booth is the other part of the equation.

Jello Biafra

American singer

What I’m getting at is, you know, if we really want to get serious about helping all the people living in the street and getting people jobs, we could just hire half the people in the country to spy on the other half.

Jello Biafra

American singer

Let me start by saying, I’m utterly disgusted with the former members of the Dead Kennedys.

Jello Biafra

American singer

I went through a big Alice Cooper phase, which was probably a major influence on my writing style later, especially after Plastic Surgery Disasters.

Jello Biafra

American singer

The jury had down right contempt for punk rock grass roots ethics.

Jello Biafra

American singer

Then as I got older, I always gravitated towards the hard stuff, Born To Be Wild, then Black Sabbath.

Jello Biafra

American singer

We didn’t have money to put out everything we wanted to put out.

Jello Biafra

American singer

So basically the understanding on these so-called reissues is that they were done behind my back, without my permission, and the band informed me that I would no longer be paid on them at all.

Jello Biafra

American singer

This is my home. Home is where the disease is. As long as I stay in America, I’ll never run out of subjects for songs.

Jello Biafra

American singer

When there’s people on the other side of the room trying to wipe out your life and things are stacked against you, you can get nervous.

Jello Biafra

American singer

There’s sort of an open offer to work with a guy in Los Angeles who does big band and orchestra arrangements who was at least an acquaintance to Les Baxter before he passed away.

Jello Biafra

American singer

Punk is not dead. Punk will only die when corporations can exploit and mass produce it.

Jello Biafra

American singer

You can spend the money on new housing for poor people and the homeless, or you can spend it on a football stadium or a golf course.

Jello Biafra

American singer

It depends on the situation. I mean, on one hand there’s the argument that people should be left alone on the other hand, there’s the argument to wade in a stop slaughters in places like Bosnia and Kosovo and what we probably should have done in Rwanda.

Jello Biafra

American singer

I didn’t really start writing music or lyrics or turning them into songs until I went to San Francisco.

Jello Biafra

American singer