The original lyrics to “I Fought the Law”, which was first recorded by the Crickets in 1960, popularized by the Bobby Fuller Four in 1966 and turned into a punk staple by the Clash in 1979, depict the futility of an average person trying to rebel against our system of laws to better himself financially.

Jello Biafra’s adapted lyrics invert this message to illustrate that such rules don’t apply equally to agents of white, male, heterosexual power. In particular, he cites the failure of courts to convict Dan White of the murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.