That's When I Reach for My Revolver


"That's When I Reach for My Revolver" is a song by Mission of Burma that was written and sung by band member Clint Conley. It appears on their 1981 EP Signals, Calls and Marches. Moby covered the song in 1996 and released it as a single, reaching number fifty on the UK Singles Chart.
The title is a reference to the often-mistranslated quotation: "When I hear the word 'culture', that's when I reach for my revolver"—the actual quote from Hanns Johst is "Wenn ich Kultur höre... entsichere ich meinen Browning!" This translates as: "Whenever I hear 'culture'... I remove the safety from my Browning!"

Moby version

American musician Moby covered the song in 1996 and released it as the first single from his fourth studio album Animal Rights on August 26, 1996. It reached number 50 on the UK Singles Chart.
The original version of "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" had substantially different lyrics, among which is "Tonight the sky is empty/But that is nothing new/Its dead eyes look upon us/And they tell me we're nothing but slaves." Moby provided an alternate vocal track to permit airplay on MTV; with subdued lyrics, the video version was retitled as "That's When I Realize It's Over".

Track listing

  1. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 3:55
  2. "Lovesick" – 1:05
  3. "Displaced" – 1:25
  4. "Sway" – 6:51
  1. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 10:20
  2. "Every One of My Problems" – 3:14
  3. "God Moving over the Face of the Waters" – 5:45
  4. "Dark" – 4:21
  1. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 10:20
  2. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 10:10
  1. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 6:52
  2. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 6:58
  3. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 3:44
  4. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" – 10:20

    Charts