The 15 Best Songs by The Offspring We Hope Make Their Australian Tour Setlist
Punk rockers The Offspring are heading Down Under this May as part of their Supercharged Worldwide 25 Tour. Ahead of their opening concert in Adelaide, here are our picks for the best Offspring songs of all time.
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The Offspring are one of the few ‘90s punk acts who continue to sell out arenas across the globe. Despite vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland being the band’s sole original member, the group has consistently released chart-topping albums and hit singles over the years, evolving from snotty Cali punks to stadium rockers in a career spanning more than 40 years.
Beginning life in the ‘80s as Manic Subsidal, the band changed their name to The Offspring in 1986 and released their self-titled debut three years later. The album failed to make a dent in the charts, but the band gained notoriety amongst the underground punk scene, releasing their second album, Ignition, in 1992, before breaking out with 1994’s Smash. The album reached #4 on the US Billboard 200 and topped the ARIA Album Chart, producing hit singles ‘Come Out and Play’, ‘Self Esteem’ and ‘Gotta Get Away’.
Since then, it’s been nothing but champagne showers for The Offspring, with six of their next eight albums breaking into the top five of the ARIA Album Chart, with their most recent release, Supercharged, reaching the #4 spot. The band’s high-energy music is littered with crunching guitar riffs, anthemic hooks and humorous lyrics on everyday life, helping the band sell over 40 million records worldwide.
The current Offspring lineup features Holland, longtime lead guitarist Noodles, bassist Todd Morse, guitarist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn, with the five-piece excited to return to Australia for another tour that’s already sold out four venues, including Adelaide!
Before the band touches down in the country, we’ve been listening to their stacked back catalogue and come up with the 15 best songs by The Offspring we hope make the setlist.
‘Self Esteem’ (1994)
A number one hit in Iceland, Latvia and Norway, ‘Self Esteem’ is the centerpiece of The Offspring’s third long player. Inspired by a female friend stuck in a toxic relationship, Dexter flipped the narrative and wrote the song from a male point of view.
Telling the tale of a dude whose partner walks all over him, the lines, “The more you suffer / The more it shows you really care / Right? / Yeah, yeah, yeah,” hit home for anyone who has been in a bad relationship.
The music video, featuring the band performing intercut with people performing stunts, is pretty basic, but was a key to the track’s success, becoming a staple on MTV and one of the most watched music video clips of the ‘90s.
‘The Kids ARe Alright’ (2012)
Taken from The Offspring’s fifth studio album, Americana, ‘The Kids Are Alright’ was another top ten single for the group. More in line with the band’s earlier punkier output, albeit with a catchy pop hook, ‘The Kids Are Alright’ is also slightly depressing, with Holland singing about how the lives of people he grew up with ended in tragedy, whether through drug addiction, suicide or poor choices.
Many regard ‘The Kids Are Alright’ as one of The Offspring’s greatest releases, with rock Bible Kerrang ranking the song as the band’s best!
While The Note doesn’t subscribe to whatever they’re drinking at the Kerrang! offices, there is no doubt ‘The Kids Are Alright’ is a fantastic burst of punk energy showcasing everything fans love about the Offspring.
‘Gone Away’ (1997)
Taking things down a notch, ‘Gone Away’ plays like a rock ballad, with Dexter crooning over anthemic rock instrumentation.
Originally thought to be about Dexter’s then girlfriend, who sadly died in a car accident, the frontman revealed in a 2021 interview with Bob Lefsetz that ‘Gone Away’ is actually about an incident he was involved in when gang members entered a restaurant he was dining in with his partner and shot the place up.
The song quickly became a fan favourite and found its way into the Offspring’s live sets, often performed as a stripped-down rendition mid-set to take things down a notch.
Talking with Genius, Holland revealed fans began holding up their lighters during the song and the band’s social media became flooded with people requesting a piano rendition of ‘Gone Away’.
This eventually happened in 2021 when the Offspring recorded an acoustic piano version of ‘Gone Away’ for their tenth studio album, Let the Bad Times Roll.
‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid’ (2008)
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace is one of the less popular albums in the Offspring’s 11 record discography. Released five years after 2003’s Splinter, the longest gap between albums in the band’s history at that time, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace is more of the same, offering very little in the way of experimentation or growth from the band.
The one highlight from the record is the US Alternative Airplay #1 single, ‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid’. Produced by Bob Rock (Metallica, Bon Jovi, Veruca Salt), this one will have you headbanging along to the anthemic chorus as you sing the catchy hook, “With a thousand lies and a good disguise / Hit 'em right between the eyes, hit 'em right between the eyes”.
‘The Meaning of Life’ (1997)
The Offspring’s Ixnay on the Hombre wasn’t a huge departure from the band’s previous album, Smash, but replacing regular producer Thom Wilson with Dave Jerden resulted in a more polished collection of fast and heavy punk songs with just enough commercial appeal to help push the record to #2 on the ARIA Album Chart.
The majority of tracks on the album could make up this list, but having already spotlighted ‘Gone Away’, the one slow track, the next best worth mentioning is the pulsating ‘Meaning of Life’.
Holland uses the songs to discuss his take on life and how you should always do what you want without being held back by the naysayers. ‘Meaning of Life’ could slot seamlessly into the Smash tracklisting thanks to its explosive riffs and devastating drumming.
The frenetic energy of the song is captured brilliantly by Kevin Kerslake’s music video featuring an electric wheelchair race in the middle of the desert intercut with footage of Holland hanging upside down in a tree alongside a capuchin monkey.
‘Why Don’t You Get a Job?’ (1998)
While the title is self-explanatory, ‘Why Don’t You Get a Job?’ is a nifty tune breaking down a one-sided relationship where one partner leeches off the other.
Many music critics compared the melody to The Beatles’ ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’, while the tune is one of the few Offspring tracks to feature an acoustic guitar riff.
The band went all out for the music video, roping in McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation, We Are Marshall) for a vibrant and bombastic film clip featuring Holland paragliding down a suburban street. It also includes cameos from Pussycat Dolls member Carmit Bachar and The Newlywed Game host Bob Eubanks.
‘Let the Bad Times Roll’ (2021)
Recalling the Offspring’s Americana/Conspiracy of One era, ‘Let the Bad Times Roll’ is a socio-political pop-rock track first written back in 2016. Recorded in 2020 for the album of the same name, the tune pokes fun at Donald Trump, referencing his desire to build a wall between America and Mexico and knack for consistently spreading ‘fake news’.
Speaking with Genius, Dexter said the band “could have written a song called ‘Trump Is a Shithead’ but that would have been too easy.” He added, “[The lyric] ‘Machiavelli flow’, to me, is a leader saying whatever they want to say to get into office and then totally screwing everybody over once they get there. The verses are rocking, they’re pretty heavy, and then it goes to this light chorus, almost like a musical coping mechanism.”
Themes aside, it’s exactly what you want from the Offspring – catchy guitar riffs, Holland delivering an easy-to-sing chorus and a steady beat ideal for moshing.
‘Staring At The Sun’ (1998)
Americana might not be the Offspring’s best album, but it’s certainly one of their most commercially successful releases. A favourite from the 14-track record is the non-single ‘Staring At the Sun’.
Holland vents his frustrations about people trying to fit in on this two-minute power punk offering.
A staple of the band’s live shows, ‘Staring At the Sun’ is an energetic fireball of punk pop, complete with Holland’s familiar “Whoas” and a catchy hook you’ll be singing along with.
‘Ok, But This Is the Last Time’ (2024)
Last year’s Supercharged was somewhat of a return to form by the Offspring after the disappointment of 2021’s Let the Bad Times Roll.
Despite the relatively cool reception from the public – it’s the band’s first album that failed to chart on the Billboard 200 since 1992’s Ignition – the record is an enjoyable listen: ten tracks of probing punk rock combined with the Offspring’s commercial appeal.
The fourth and final single from the album, ‘Ok, But This Is the Last Time’, is the clear album standout. Although written about a romantic relationship, Holland revealed in a chat with People that the surging guitar explosion is about his kids and how he finds it hard to say no to them.
‘Original Prankster’ (2000)
Taking its name from Ice-T’s classic fourth studio album, O.G. Original Gangster, ‘Original Prankster’ is seen as the spiritual sequel to the Offspring’s ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)’.
Based around the guitar riff from War’s ‘Low Rider’ and sampling Rob Schneider's “You can do it!” line from Adam Sandler’s hilarious comedy The Waterboy, ‘Original Prankster’ shows Holland and co’s humorous side.
The track is about someone who loves playing pranks but is eventually going to get his just deserts. Rapper Redman, who pops up throughout the tune to say the song’s title, also appears in the Dave Myers-directed music video that was at one time banned by MTV for several scenes depicting a high school principal in a compromising position with students and one where a kid serves his dad a shit sandwich.
‘Come Out and Play’ (1994)
Few songs in the Offspring’s stacked catalogue are as relevant as ‘Come Out and Play’. Despite being released in the mid-90s, the song’s depiction of gang violence in schools still hits hard today.
Inspired by music from the Middle East and surf rock, it’s not all serious, with the band’s humour coming through on the iconic line, “You’ve gotta keep ’em separated,” which is a reference to Dexter’s time in medical school conducting experiments with bacterium.
The track also features a friend of the band, Jason "Blackball" McLean, singing the line, “You gotta keep 'em separated.”
‘Want You Bad’ (2000)
When you listen to ‘Want You Bad’, it probably comes as no surprise that this song featured in the 2001 teen comedies American Pie 2 and Tomcats. It’s peak early 2000s commercial rock with sing-along lyrics and a fun music video.
Most people (including Noodles) thought the song was about a man who wants a woman badly, but in an interview on YouTube between the two, Holland revealed it was actually about a fella who wants his woman to be bad in the sack.
‘Burn It Up’ (1992)
‘Burn It Up’ probably won’t appear on too many other lists dissecting the Offspring’s best songs, but it has a soft spot in our hearts. It’s the first song by the band I remember hearing as a teenager. Although they were already four albums deep, a friend played me a mix CD with ‘Burn It Up’ and I was hooked.
Now I’m not sure what liking a song about a pyromaniac says about me, but it’s hard not to get jacked during the opening stanza as the frantic guitar riff and thumping bass share the spotlight before sparking together, exploding in a torrent of punk noise that’s reinvigorating.
One of the shortest tracks on Ignition, ‘Burn It Up’ laid the groundwork for what was to come on Smash and remains one of my favs.
‘All I Want’ (1997)
‘All I Want’ is another choice cut from the Offspring’s Ixnay on the Hombre, but not many know the song was meant for Bad Religion.
Originally entitled ‘Protocol’, the first version of the song contained complex lyrics similar to most Bad Religion songs and was about people acting like sheep and following the rules of society without asking questions.
After writing the song, the Offspring shared it with Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph Records head honcho Brett Gurewitz, who wasn’t much of a fan of the track.
Feeling dejected, Holland wrote new lyrics, changed the instrumentation, called the title ‘All I Want’ and recorded it for the Offspring’s Ixnay on the Hombre.
It turned out to be the right decision, with ‘All I Want’ becoming another monster hit for the band and a regular part of their live shows.
‘Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)’ (1998)
It’s debatable whether ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)’ is worthy of a spot on a list of the Offspring’s best songs, but considering how successful it was, it’s hard to ignore.
A fun, silly novelty tune that just so happened to appeal to a generation of kids who grew up with hip hop culture, MTV and fake thugs, ‘Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)’ was only a moderate hit the States but blew up here in Australia, topping the ARIA Single Chart and taking out triple j’s Hottest 100.
Opening with a sample from Def Leppard's ‘Rock of Ages’, the song references Ice T and Vanilla Ice while taking piss out of try hard “wannabe gangsta[s]”.
The Offspring play the AEC Arena Sunday, May 4. Tickets are sold out.
