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Rating: The day is exactly this one, the year is 1994; "Dookie" has only been out for two months, but it has already cost Green Day their ousting from 924 Gilman Street. While alternative music enthusiasts around the world are still drying their eyes following the tragic loss of Kurt Cobain, Epitaph Records by Mr. Brett Gurewitz releases "Smash" by The Offspring.
Costing just $20,000, the third record for Dexter Holland and company will become the best-selling release by an independent label in the history of music, a record still unbeaten.
Like a resin cast that time transforms into amber, this album joins 4-5 other titles that have crystallized a specific moment in the lives of those who loved it. The people of my generation will surely remember the scent of gel soaked in the helmet, the clumsy attempts to learn to stand on a skateboard, the puzzled looks from girls, the curiosity towards those who had already chosen to embrace alternative looks and attitudes, but for some reason, it's not all there.
Because it cannot be said it was their intention, but with "Self Esteem", The Offspring officiate the farewell of grunge from international charts. For this reason, it would have been interesting to be a teenager back then to understand its immediate impact.
What is certain is that these 14 songs still make perfect sense today. The oriental riffs of Noodles, the hooks of Greg Kriesel, and the gallops of Ron Welty are well-known; every chorus is a classic, but thirty years later it all hits even harder, if possible: the initial doublet "Nitro"-"Bad Habits" is the emblematic answer to the question "but at 36, still obsessed with punk? That’s not normal, come on..."
I don't know, as long as the world goes on like this, it's always a good day to listen to punk rock, and it's always a good day to listen to "Smash".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Time to Relax (00:25)
Ah, it's time to relax.
You know what that means.
A glass of wine, your favorite easy chair,
And of course, this compact disc
Playing on your home stereo.
So, go on, and indulge yourself!
That's right, kick off your shoes,
Put your feet up!
Lean back and just enjoy the melodies.
After all, music soothes even the savage beast.
02 Nitro (Youth Energy) (02:26)
Our generation sees the world
Not the same as before.
We might as well just throw it all
And live like there's no tomorrow
There's no tomorrow
There's no tomorrow
There's no tomorrow
We are the ones
Who are living under the gun, everyday.
You might be gone before you know.
So live like there's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna waste this life)
There's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna live it for me)
There's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna waste this life)
There's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna live it for me)
Hey, believe it,
the official view of the world has changed
in a whole new way.
Live fast cause if you don't take it
you'll never make it.
So if you understand me
and if you feel the same
Then you will know what nitro means.
You'll live like there's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna waste this life)
there's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna live it for me)
there's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna waste this life)
there's no tomorrow
(ain't gonna live it for me)
There's no tomorrow!
04 Gotta Get Away (03:53)
I'm gettin' edgy
All the time
There's someone around me
Just a step behind
It's kinda scary
The shape I'm in
The walls are shakin'
And they're closing in
Too fast or
A bit too slow
I'm paranoid of people
And it's starting to show
There's one guy that
I can't shake
Over my shoulder
Is a big mistake
Sitting on the bed
Or lying wide awake
There's demons in my head
And it's more than I can take
I think I'm on a roll
But I think it's kinda weak
Sayin' all I know is
I gotta get away from me
I tell you something
Just ain't right
My head is on loose
But my shoes are tight
Avoiding friends 'cause
They all bug
Life is like a riddle
And I'm really stumped
If you reason
Don't you know
Your own preoccupation
Is where you'll go
I think I'm bein' followed
I look around
It's only my shadow
Creepin' on the ground
Sitting on the bed
Or lying wide awake
There's demons in my head
And it's more than I can take
I think I'm on a roll
But I think it's kinda weak
Sayin' all I know is
I gotta get away from me
Gotta get away from me
Gotta get away from me
Whoa-oah-oah, whoa-oah-oah
Whoa-oah-oah, whoa-oah-oah
Sitting on the bed
Or lying wide awake
There's demons in my head
And it's more than I can take
I think I'm on a roll
But I think it's kinda weak
Sayin' all I know is
I gotta get away from me
Gotta get away from me
Gotta get away from me
Gotta get away from me
05 Genocide (03:31)
Our lives run different ways
Through the rain I see you in the sun
Our star shines anyway
If you wish upon it we are one
1,2,3,4
[chorus:]
Dog eat dog
Every day
On our fellow man we prey
Dog eat dog
To get by
Hope you like my genocide
I find it such a shame
Through the pain I see things as they are
We're served up on a plate
The pedestal is high enough to fall
And if in time
We can see the errors of our ways
Would anyone change it anyhow?
Our time is up......
1,2,3,4
[chorus x2]
I bet you'd only run,
If you saw what goes inside our own,
I bet you'd lead the way,
If it were up to you to decide,
But it's not
[chorus x2]
Like a silver flame,
Like a suicide,
Like killing boy,
1,2,3,4!
06 Something to Believe In (03:17)
I believe that reality's gone
Disillusion's real
I believe that morality's gone
And there's nothing to feel
If you take the sacred things
The things that we hold dear
Empty promise is all you'll find
So give me something
Something to believe in
I believe in a changing of the guard
Put our feet on the ground
See it happen in your own backyard
Everything breaks down
Do you accept what you are told
Without even thinking
Throw it all and make your own
And give me something
Something to believe in
Where they lead
You will follow
Well I guess that's just the way it goes
And if you look away
You'll be doing what they say
And if you look alive
You'll be singled out and tried
If you take home anything
Let it be your will to think
The more cynical you become
The better off you'll be
07 Come Out and Play (03:17)
You gotta keep 'em separated
Like the latest fashion
Like a spreading disease
The kids are strappin' on their way to the classroom
Getting weapons with the greatest of ease
The gangs stake their own campus locale
And if they catch you slippin' then it's all over pal
If one guy's colors and the other's don't mix
They're gonna bash it up, bash it up, bash it up, bash it up
Hey - man you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey - man you disrespecting me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey they don't pay no mind
If you're under 18 you won't be doing any time
Hey come out and play
By the time you hear the siren
It's already too late
One goes to the morgue and the other to jail
One guy's wasted and the other's a waste
It goes down the same as the thousand before
No one's getting smarter
No one's learning the score
Your never ending spree of death and violence and hate
Is gonna tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own
Hey - man you disrespecting me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey - man you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey they don't pay no mind
If you're under 18 you won't be doing any time
Hey come out and play
It goes down the same as the thousand before
No one's getting smarter
No one's learning the score
Your never ending spree of death and violence and hate
Is gonna tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own
Hey - man you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey - man you disrespecting me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey they don't pay no mind
If you're under 18 you won't be doin' any time
Hey come out and play
08 Self Esteem (04:17)
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
I wrote her off for the tenth time today
And practiced all the things I would say
But she came over, I lost my nerve
I took her back and made her dessert
Now I know I'm being used
That's okay, man, cause I like the abuse
I know she's playing with me
That's ok cause I got no self esteem
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
We make plans to go out at night
I wait till two then I turn out the light
All this rejection's got me so low
If she keeps it up I just might tell her so
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
When she's saying that she wants only me
Then I wonder why she sleeps with my friends
When she's saying that I'm like a disease
Then I wonder how much more I can stand
Well I guess, I should stick up for myself
But I really think it's better this way
The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care
Right?
Yeah!
Now I'll relate this a little bit
That happens more than I'd like to admit
Late at night she knocks on my door
She's drunk again and looking to score
Now I know I should say no
But it's kind of hard when she's ready to go
I may be dumb, but I'm not a dweeb
I'm just a sucker with no self esteem
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah
When she's saying that she wants only me
Then I wonder why she sleeps with my friends
When she's saying that I'm like a disease
Then I wonder how much more I can stand
Well I guess, I should stick up for myself
But I really think it's better this way
The more you suffer, the more it shows you really care
Right?
Yeah!
10 Killboy Powerhead (02:02)
He's a pistol grip
And a lightning rod hammer step
He always busts his knukles
When he's wrenchin' up his shit
He's a killboy powerhead.
Killboy powerhead
Killboy powerhead
Yeah.
You know I saw his woman
She was writin' his name in blood
You know i saw his woman
Hard as a rock
She said she was his baby
Who looked just like the hoover dam
You know I saw his woman
Hard as a rock
He's a killboy powerhead
Killboy powerhead
Killboy powerhead
Yeah.
He's a pistol grip
And a lightning rod hammer step
He always busts his knukles
When he's wrenchin' up his shit
He's a killboy powerhead.
Killboy powerhead
Killboy powerhead
Killboy Powerhead yeah
Killboy Powerhead yeah
Killboy Powerhead yeah
11 What Happened to You? (02:12)
What in the world happened to you?
Before you started tokin'
You used to have a brain
But now you don't get even the simplest of the things
I can draw a little picture
Or even use my hands
I try to explain but you just don't understand
[Chorus]
Man you're really losin' it
And you've really done a lot of junk now
But you keep abusin' it
What in the world happened to you
It's bad enough you do it to yourself
But taking someone with you well you know that's something else
I say I'm not that kind of person
I'm not that kind of man
I try to explain but you just don't understand
[Chorus]
Man you're really losin' it
And you've really done a lot of junk now
But you keep abusin' it
What in the world happened to you
[2x]
I might be sympathetic or cut a little slack
If I thought that you were willing to give a little back
But you do it in the morning
You do it in the night
You lie to refrain from just facing your life
So I'll see you man tomorrow
You'll be gackin' up again
I'll see you in a coffin by the time your wad is spent
I think of all the times that I tried to lend a hand
I try to explain but you just don't understand
[Chorus]
Man you're really losin' it
And you've really done a lot of junk now
But you keep abusin' it
What in the world happened to..
What in the world happened to..
What in the world happened to you
12 So Alone (01:17)
Look at the crowd and tell me whether
All are surrounded
But none are together
If you're awake
Look all around at
All of the people
Still you're so alone
So alone
So alone
So alone
So alone
(Yelling)If I could make a suggestion
Without sounding preachy
Or begging the question
Melt with your minds
Melt with each other
Don't be surrounded
Don't be so alone
So alone
So alone
So alone
(KILL)
(FUCK OFF)
(HATE)
(DIE)
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By let there be rock
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'Come Out & Play' and 'Self Esteem,' two masterpieces from the Californian group.
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