WORST Single By Green Day or the Offspring

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams", obv

Boulevard is shit, but Time of Your Life is unbearably awful.

american idiot

I didn't even look at the choices before I decided on "Hit That."

Dexter Holland's "boy, white people like to act like black people" schtick had gone from cutesy to crypto-racist at that point. Plus the video makes me sick.

Whiney OTM. I'd say about half of the Offspring singles are twelve times worse than the worst Green Day single ("Holiday", btw).

pretty fly for a white guy

Seconded. Or the "keep 'em seperated" one. All Offspring is interchangeable.

"Defy You"

"boy, white people like to act like black people"

where in Hit That do they reference the race of the song's subjects?

Wow, I haven't heard quite a few of those Offspring singles, its possible they've got some others as excruciating as "Defy You."

GD: Wake Me Up When September Ends

Pretty Fly for a White Guy has got to be one of the top 5 lamest songs of all time.

Does anyone have any scientific evidence to back this up? Premature deaths, onset depression, suicide, etc.?

"Time of Your Life" is unbearable.

I think I hate the entire repertoire of Green Day more than I even hate that fucking Paul McCartney christmas song. next to those two a marathon of offspring songs would be a walk in the park. I voted for Good Riddance. Hoary bullshit.

where in Hit That do they reference the race of the song's subjects?

He has a open disdain for people who use the phrase "babydaddy."

Thus CRYPTO-racism

I voted for the U2 song. Because U2 was on it.

"Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" is still 10x better than anything Green Day has ever done

I don't understand the hate for Green Day! Warning and Insomniac are fun albums.

all a bit rubbish, to be fair.

Thus CRYPTO-racism

It's definitely a class thing like Idiocracy, but you couldn't call the song racist without some "i don't have to back it up" prefix like that.

whichever one i've heard the most.

oops, got that backwards. I say nobody votes so they all "win"

You all really love Time of Your Life, and you're big fat liars.

I probably haven't heard the worst single by either. Might have voted for "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)", but the lyrics and the video are just too good to vote for.

"Why Don't You Get a Job?"
Fuckin irritating

It's definitely a class thing like Idiocracy, but you couldn't call the song racist without some "i don't have to back it up" prefix like that.

Fine, whatever. The guy with the masters degree in molecular biology is making fun of poor people instead of poor black people. I'm totally zinged here!

Also, I put crypto- because it IS crypto-.

I know there's nothing racist in Offspring songs, but Holland should have definitely thought about how it could be percieved when you have three hit singles that all include hilarious juxtapositions of slang that originated in african american communities

Seriously, the last thing I want to do is join the ILM Let's Out A Racist LOL-Time Party Fun Bus.

Even with its offensive claim that kids are having kids, its obviously still better than goddamn "Original Prankster."

Yeah, upon relistening to both of those songs, you're right.

But, fuck, man. The video to "Hit That" makes "Original Prankster" look like Citizen Kane. Holy shit it annoys the hell out of me. It's like Def Leppard's "Let's Get Rocked" but talking about teen pregnancy.

Well in the context of the video it winds up being about pet population control. And I never actually saw the video until I looked it up on youtube when this thread started. On the radio its a lot more enjoyable than a lot of their more turgid numbers.

"Time of your Life" is so awful that I didn't have to spend the time remembering all the other awful stuff on this list.

'Time of Your Life'. It pissed me off two days ago when I heard a version from a horrible cover band floating out of the pub, down the street and through my window like a sentient bad odour. Sure, the later Offspring songs are probably more annoying, but this one seems to have staying power (again sentient fart etc).

Also didn't the TV show 'Friends' use it or something? Another black mark against it.

Yeah, but "Original Prankster":

* brings Redman on board for a guest appearance that begins and ends with proclaiming "Original prankster"

* attempts to follow up on success of "Pretty Fly" by elevating pranksters to the level of corny white hip-hop wannabes, when in fact pranksters barely exist as a demographic. It's like an eleven-year-old's idea of a novelty song for sixteen-year-olds.

* has some of the most rambling, inane and impenetrable lyrics ever foisted on a novelty song, for example:

Crime, crime, rockin' like Janet Reno
Time time, eighteen and life in chino
Void void, all along it's true
Well you see the coming day catches up to you yeah

"Good Riddance" at its worst is trite and cliched; "Original Prankster" charts entirely new territories of badness.

GD: The Saints Are Coming (with U2)

^^^this was for a good cause, but no.

Also, "Good Riddance" has the disadvantage of being played continuously for about four months. For this to be fair you have to imagine a world in which "Original Prankster" had enjoyed that kind of success.

Also

YOU CAN DO IT

Yeah, could someone please explain to me how Green Day are worse than the Offspring? Green Day have committed their crimes, but least they're semi-tuneful. The Offspring's songs are usually just a grating mess fronted by one of the most annoying singers in the history of recorded sound. "Pretty Fly for a White Guy" is the kind of thing that needs to be brought before an international tribunal.

God. Want You Bad is so bad. So fucking bad.

pretty fly takes this with no effort whatsoever

Green Day have committed their crimes, but least they're semi-tuneful. The Offspring's songs are usually just a grating mess fronted by one of the most annoying singers in the history of recorded sound.

This is the absolute polar opposite of my opinion. I hate Billie Joe's voice with a passion, and I don't like a lot of what the Offspring have but at least they've made some decent tunes.

have done

Want You Bad sounds like Green Day!

Offspring sound like Green Day with extra Ian Astbury and fart machines, which can lead to singles both better and worse than Green Day's.

I vote for all of them.

Why the hell is this not two separate polls? This is retarded. It's a like a poll that was "Worst Led Zeppelin/Bad Company single." Also retarded: Hating on "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," clearly a classic.

I can't understand how anyone could like The Offspring more than Green Day.

"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," clearly a classic.

Kenny, you are so money, you don't even know you're money.

^this is probably true. i love "time of your life"

http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/player.jhtml?ml_video=102906&is_large=true

"Pretty Fly for a White Guy" is the kind of thing that needs to be brought before an international tribunal.

Why? The lyrics are brilliant, the video is brilliant. It is rather the persona they are trying to parody that needs to be brought before an international tribunal.

Surely, the melody sucks, which is just natural considering they are trying to ape hip-hop.

"Worst Led Zeppelin/Bad Company single."

POLL

Exactly how many Led Zep singles were there?

"Pretty fly for a white guy"'s only redeeming feature is that it's a total nick/cop/tribute to "Part Time Punks" by the Television Personalities.

Oh, can anyone clue me in to the significance of the "13" to "31" tatoo?

Probably a bit ageist. Anyway, 13 is way young, isn't it?

Jesus Wept.

Pretty fly for a white guy"'s only redeeming feature is that it's a total nick/cop/tribute to "Part Time Punks" by the Television Personalities.

-- Mark G, Friday, December 14, 2007 9:23 AM (52 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Oh wow. I never caught this.

"Now he's getting a tattoo/Yeah he's getting ink done"

Infuriating.

Why the hell is this not two separate polls? This is retarded.

It just seemed right somehow. Anyway it seems to be lucrative in terms of discussion. I guess I could have called it "TS: Green Day singles versus Offspring singles in a race for the bottom" but this is nu-ILX, it has to be a poll or no one will write anything.

This is still really hard for me to pick just one to vote for, but I'm leaning toward "Why Don't You Get a Job?"

Not really a tough choice. I'm not a fan of Green Day but nothing they do, other than Good Riddance, actually 'irritates' me (just not my tastes).

But Offspring have several. And the winner is the flavorless attempt at a gimmick song, "Original Prankster".

"Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" is still 10x better than anything Green Day has ever done

In what way? Granted I know you didn't say you liked the song necessarily, but Pretty Fly is a gimmick tune that was yes, funny on first listen, irritating by the third, and really has nothing going for it outside of its novelty. The melody is crap.

Green Day, I will admit to not being a fan of...however for the most part they write listenable pop-punk and at the very least when they got semi-gimmicky ("Hitchin' a Ride") it was listenable and entertaining.

Weingarten picked the exact lyric that made me vote "Pretty Fly...", one of the worst, most insufferable pop songs of all time.

It's always disturbed me that the Epitaph guys were all supposed to be brain surgeons and fucking nuclear physicists and shit and they churned out some of the worst lyrics in all of punk. Dexter Holland makes Tim Armstrong sound like Woody Guthrie

Hard not to cast a vote for "Time Of Your Life," a song that makes me wish storms of raining napalm on high school proms and super bowl halftime shows. But "Pretty Fly" still wins. It's actually kinda hard for me to think of a song I despise more, actually.

Fun: picture Ian "Steve Sanders" Zeiring singing that song.

well, brain surgeons are known for doing brain surgery, not music. why would you expect their music to be good?

like, if my buddy asked "do you want to see the brain surgeon's band tonight or the wino junkie's band tonight," i would not choose brain surgeon. get it?

I was just referring to the dumb lyrics.

Pretty Fly was just written mainly to appeal to middle schoolers methinks. and high schoolers--my high school freaking played the song every day on their morning news show.

I'll admit I laughed out loud during the intro to the song the first time I heard it but it didn't take long for me to realize that the chorus was really stupid

Of course it's kind of stupid, some of the rhymes they choose etc. But then they are great because so-called "wiggers" deserve all the mocking and dissing they can get.

is wiggerdom really that rampant in Norway?

'Time of Your Life' assaulted me again at a crappy Irish bar on Sunday, I suppose I was asking for just by being there, but I've never been subject to bad acoustic Offspring covers in theme bars...

But then they are great because so-called "wiggers" deserve all the mocking and dissing they can get.

Why?

BECAUSE WHITE PEOPEL SHOULD BE LISTENING TO YES!1!11

In what way? Granted I know you didn't say you liked the song necessarily, but Pretty Fly is a gimmick tune that was yes, funny on first listen, irritating by the third, and really has nothing going for it outside of its novelty. The melody is crap.

Green Day, I will admit to not being a fan of...however for the most part they write listenable pop-punk and at the very least when they got semi-gimmicky ("Hitchin' a Ride") it was listenable and entertaining.

The melody's fine IMO. Pretty generic riff, yes, but catchy.

I think Green Day are unlistenable and not entertaining even when they're not being gimmicky. "Basket Case" is the closest thing to a good tune they've released and it's even more cookie-cutter than "Pretty Fly."

I might also add that I heard Weird Al's parody of "Pretty Fly" before the original. I don't really focus on the lyrics.

to each his own I suppose. I wouldn't have even found Pretty Fly entertaining at all if not for the spoof of pop club music at the beginning.

this thread is bonkers

bonkers i tell you

bonkers!

Here comes the rain again falling from the stars

Of all the sins these bands are guilty of, Green Day's poor grasp of meteorology pisses me off the most.

It's just insane to me that these bands had so many singles and so much success. Why couldn't it have happened for Bad Religion in their heyday instead? Neither of these bands has written a tune that I find as engaging as anything off Suffer.

there's no "offspring's entire catalogue" option. though green day have made a run at them with recent albums, offspring are the kings of this castle. "self esteem" makes me wanna puke.

well Nate I do agree Bad Religion destroys them both (I love BR) but they had at least moderate success for a little while. not like either other group, but hey, Graffins words were too big for the middle schoolers!

I like green day. Even that one. But that one I don't really know as well.

I'm voting "Ob la di, ob la da" by The Osspringf.

BECAUSE WHITE PEOPEL SHOULD BE LISTENING TO YES!1!11

Black people should too.

I wouldn't have even found Pretty Fly entertaining at all if not for the spoof of pop club music at the beginning.

You are aware the beginning is sampled from Def Leppard, right?

Has to be "Why Don't You Get a Job?" Nothing in the Green Day catalogue even comes close.

That one was the BEST single by either until Green Day released "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams".

,,,for a white guy

You are aware the beginning is sampled from Def Leppard, right?

I don't mean the "very" beginning, I mean when it goes "give it to me baby, uh huh uh huh". That unter gleeben part, duh, I own Pyromania!

BECAUSE WHITE PEOPEL SHOULD BE LISTENING TO YES!1!11

Black people should too.

OMG WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER RACES UR RACIST RACIST RACISTSSDFAALJDKDA

alright now worst single by Weezer thread.

I belonged to one of those middle-school classes that had to sing "Time of Your Life" at graduation. Apparently, those who gave the song the "okay" did not know the "good riddance" part of the title. Totally obnoxious lump of turd, anyway. I like Green Day when they're singing about pot and masturbation. None of this violin shit.

I kinda wish "Special Delivery" were a single so I could vote for it. Since it's not, "Pretty Fly" wins/loses.

I didn't know that was Redman on "Original Prankster" until this thread. I'm not sure how to feel about this. Confused? Crushed?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Offspring blows this one away with 49 votes of hatred spread over eight songs, Green Day 19 votes over seven songs. The message is clear. My only question is, who voted for "Warning" and why? It's a pleasant little ditty with a nice hook that was barely ever played - so I'm curious what aspect of it could have aroused such loathing.

49 for Offspring and 18 for Green Day. My vote for the Saints was really a vote for U2. I didn't find Green Day's participation as bothersome.

Now he's getting a tattoo
Yeah he's getting ink done

truly the

Well I heard mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ole Neil put her down

of its time

ughhhhhhhhhhhh "yeah, he's Gettin' Ink Done" some of the worst delivery ever in a ubiquitous novelty hit

always heard it as "getting it done", although that's no better. song's pretty racist really.

yeah, it always had this vague air of "KNOW YOUR PLACE, WHITEY" that rubbed me the wrong way. Probably the cracker version of Ice Cube's "Stay True To The Game"

GD: Wake Me Up When September Ends

This is the worst one though.

Even though I'd take Green Day over Offspring any day of the week.

It's not just "know your place, Whitey" it's also "look at you trying to be all LOLblack and stuff. Why do you want to associate yourself with that stuff when you should be listening to rubbish pop punk music?".

Then again, it's a reflection of the attitude a lot of rock kids had around that time anyway - people throwing bottles of pish whenever a rapper or pop act dared to grace the stage at Reading etc..

man apparently i missed some really terrible offspring singles after "white guy."

Huh, always took it as a little more like "We, the Offspring and our fans (born largely after 1980 and well-accustomed to hip-hop) look down on this character as an outsider faker trying to pull it off." Not really better, mind you, but it never seemed like Holland and co looked down on black culture, just that they thought they were hipper to it than they probably were.

Then again, it's a reflection of the attitude a lot of rock kids had around that time anyway - people throwing bottles of pish whenever a rapper or pop act dared to grace the stage at Reading etc..

― Post-Manpat Music (dog latin), Friday, July 22, 2011 10:06 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i mean, also, in 1978 with DISCO SUCKS, and 1988 with RAP IS CRAP and 2003 with whatever shitty Victory Records band was trying to TAKE THE ROCK BACK

I mean, race politics aside, "Pretty Fly" was basically a rant against "posers," which is understandable, but it's not like their own scene wasn't just brimming with posers of all stripes.

Could have done the JNCO-era version of this if they wanted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pKkOOQR7_o

2003 with whatever shitty Victory Records band was trying to TAKE THE ROCK BACK

This was a thing?

it was actually 2005/6, if i remember correctly, but there was a concerted effort by victory's pr people to get hawthorne heights to beat ne-yo to the number one spot.

yeah, i didn't remember the details, but thats what i was talking abt.

i can't remember if that was the same year pretty rickey spanked the shins, but it was a good time for pop r&b acts slapping down the dreams of indie bands.

The Kids Aren't Alright is a kool song

who the fuck voted basket case

Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Man, it didn't get any votes or hate above, but man am I glad that "Gone Away" has basically disappeared from the radio landscape etc. If one good thing came out of the demise of alt-rock it was the purging of that particular kind of late-90s gritty loud dirge. In its moment it was played I think once every fifteen to twenty minutes and one could have easily believed that it would never ... go away.

I saw a commercial this weekend for some televised concert series which featured the Offspring performing 'Come Out And Play'. And I felt some deep existential empathy for those dudes, still plugging earnestly away twenty years later on a number that probably induces more 'hey, remember this stupid song?'-s among the general populace than it does genuine enjoyment.

while the ultimate winner would probably be the same this is a poll that would definitely be worth a re-do!

Terrible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r00ikilDxW4

You can pretty much take your pick from any of the Offspring tracks here for the worst.