Here’s the DK’s with a deceptively mellower vibe … but only musically. The lyrics, on the other hand, are arguably as harsh as “Holiday in Cambodia” or “Kill the Poor.” Someone named “I Am the Owl” at Songmeanings.net sums it up better than I can:

“This song showcases the contradictions that arise when greed affects how our government handles the enforcement of property, contrasting the privatization of a beach (usually considered as a public commons) with the laissez-faire attitude towards environmental protection (inevitably leading to an oil spill). The contradiction of values literally washes up upon this yuppie Marin county residence, the proprietor, having given up any concerns of the rest of the world in the pursuit of this symbol of wealth, copes with their oil-sodden acquisition by strapping a gas mask on and sidestepping the remains of ocean fauna to remind themselves of who owns the deed. The irony of it all that nobody now can truly enjoy what once belonged to no one.”

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/12536/

Well put. A damn good song from 1982’s “Plastic Surgery Disasters” that should have been the DK’s commercial breakthrough … at least as far as American radio is concerned. But that’s not what the DKs were about … ever.  It makes me wonder had it been their commercial breakthrough, would anyone have gotten what this song was about?