Chickenshit Conformist chords by Dead Kennedys

• Difficulty: Beginner 👶

♫ Intro:

G  F    G
G  F    G


♫ Verse 1:
G          F                          G
Punk's not dead, it just deserves to die
          G             F             G
When it becomes another stale cartoon
  G              F                      G
A closed-minded, self-centered social club
            G            F            G
Ideas don't matter, it's who you know
       F              D       F      G        Bb    G
If the music's gotten boring, it's because of the people
F                    D     F   G
Who want everyone to sound the same
N.C.          G             F                      G
Who drive the bright people out of our so-called scene
                Bb             C           G
'til all that's left is just a meaningless fad

♫ Verse 2:
N.C.     E                    A  D
Hardcore formulas are dogshit
           E                      A  D
Change and caring are what's real
   E                    A  D
Is this a state of mind
   E                   A  D
Or just another label?
            E                      A  D
The joy and hope of an alternative
      E                   A  D
Has become its own cliché
  E                           A  D
A hairstyle's not a lifestyle
        E                     A    D
Imagine Sid Vicious at thirty-five
E                            A           D
Who needs a scene? Scared to love and to feel
        E                   A             D
Judging everything by loud, fast rules' appeal
    E                           A          D
Who played last night? "I don't know, I forgot
    E                          A       D
But diving off the stage was a lot of fun"


♫ Chorus:
   E                    A            D
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
   E                    A            D
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
         E                   A          D
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
D              G                    E
Chickenshit conformist like your parents
G  F    G
G  F    G


♫ Verse 3:
       G          F                     G
What's ripped us apart even more than drugs
        G               F             G
Are the thieves and the goddamn liars
G              F                           G
Ripping people off when they share their stuff
             G                F            G
When someone falls, are there any friends?
G                F                    G
Harder-core-than-thou for a year or two
          G             F        G
Then it's time to get a real job
G           F                        G
Others stay home, it's no fun to go out
         G                   F               G
When the gigs are wrecked by gangs and thugs
         F          D      F        G      Bb     G
When the thugs form bands, look who gets record deals
     F                     D       F  G
From New York metal labels looking to scam
             G           F                             G
Who sign the most racist queer-bashing bands they can find
          Bb           C           G
To make a buck revving kids up for war


♫ Verse 4:
N.C. E               A  D
Walk tall, act small
        E                      A  D
Only as tough as gang approval
E                 A  D
Unity is bullshit
          E                        A  D
When it's under someone's fat boot
E                         A  D
Where's the common cause?
         E                             A      D
Too many factions safely sulk in their shells
  E                             A                  D
"Agree with us on everything or we won't help with anything"
E                          A                  D
That kind of attitude just makes a split grow wider
E                    A                 D
Guess who's laughing while the world explodes?
     E                             A             D
When we're all crybabies who fight best among ourselves


♫ Chorus:
   E                    A            D
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
   E                    A            D
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
         E                   A          D
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
D              G                    E    N.C.
Chickenshit conformist like your parents


Instrumental ♫ Break:
C  A  D  A
C  A  D  A
C  A  D  A
C     F  Em
F D   F D


♫ Verse 5:
N.C. G          F                         G
That farty, old rock-and-roll attitude's back
           G               F                G
"It's competition, man, we wanna break big"
G         F                         G
Who needs friends when the money's good?
       G               F             G
That's right, the Seventies are back
F         D       F      G      Bb G
Cock-rock metal's like a bad laxative
F                D     F     G
   It just don't move me, ya know?
    G        F                                 G
The music's okay when there's more ideas than solos
      Bb              C         G
Do we really need the attitude, too?


♫ Verse 6:
N.C.     E                     A  D
Shedding thin skin too quickly
     E                      A  D
As a fan, it disappoints me
          E                     A  D
Same old, stupid, sexist lyrics
      E                           A  D
Or is Satan all you can think of?
      E                              A        D
"Crossover" is just another word for lack of ideas
E                           A                D
Maybe what we need are more trolls under the bridge
         E                  A           D
Will the metalheads finally learn something?
            E                         A   D
Or will the punks throw away their education?
         E                         A               D
No one's ever the best once they believe their own press
   E                               A            D
"Maturing" don't mean rehashing mistakes of the past


♫ Chorus:
   E                    A            D
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
   E                    A            D
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
         E                   A          D
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
D              G                    E
Chickenshit conformist like your parents


♫ Interlude:
C  A  D  A
C  A  D  A


♫ Bridge:
    C           A           D                   A
The more things change, the more they stay the same
         C                  A            D      A
We can't grow when we won't criticize ourselves
     C               A                  D        A
The '60s weren't all failure, it's the '70s that stunk
       C               A            D    A
As the clock ticks, we dig the same hole
      C                 A                    D          A
Music scenes ain't real life, they won't get rid of the bomb
       C        A             D        A
Won't eliminate rape or bring down the banks
    C            A                 D        A
Any kind of real change takes more time and work
              C             A  D   A
Than changing channels on a TV set


Outro ♫ Chorus:
                  C        A           D            A
So, why are we so eager to please peer pressure decrees?
   C        A           D            A
So eager to please peer pressure decrees
         C           A       D         A
Make the same old mistakes, again and again
C              F                   D
Chickenshit conformist like your parents