Blink-182 released their fourth album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, on June 12, 2001. With 25 years behind us all, the band has finally graced us with a complete version of the album. The anniversary edition of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket includes all six bonus tracks, and they’re also available on streaming platforms for the first time. To celebrate these beloved, offbeat tracks finally being released together, here are three underrated picks.
“Don’t Tell Me It’s Over”
On the surface, “Don’t Tell Me It’s Over” is a bit of a whiny boy sob story. Guy who’s probably an a**hole is sad when his girlfriend gets fed up and dumps him, yadda yadda. That’s a familiar through-line for Blink-182, feeling betrayed and emasculated by breakups.
But hiding behind the emo complaining is a blunt-force vulnerability. “Girls always cry, guys never admit they did” appears in the very first verse, hitting right where it hurt in 2001 and still hurts today. That toxic aversion of being emotional for fear of being seen as weak, or feminine, or gay. The rest of “Don’t Tell Me It’s Over” reinforces these fears with various claims of women being liars or constantly needing to talk about a fight for weeks on end. But for a moment, Tom DeLonge was so close to true enlightenment.
“What Went Wrong?”
“What Went Wrong” is a rare track for Blink-182. One, because it stayed acoustic after being written. And two, because it’s on the more emotional side. “Adam’s Song” ushered in a bit of vulnerability on the previous record, but this unexpected bonus track does that as well. At least by 2001 standards, when the masculine response to emotional pain was more about complaining and blaming others than actually being vulnerable.
Still, it’s almost tender in its frustrated lament at a failed relationship. This guy can’t even go to his favorite restaurant anymore because that’s where he and his girlfriend would go. He’s plagued by sappy love songs on the radio, and if you’ve ever been heartbroken, you know that’s one of the cruelest and most unusual punishments.
“F—k a Dog”
Hold on, please, I need you to hear me out on this one. Besides this song’s origins as a spiteful prank on Blink-182’s record company, “F**k a Dog” is actually kind of catchy. Okay, wait, listen. I dare you to listen to this song all the way through just once, and if you don’t catch yourself humming it throughout the day, I’ll mail you five dollars or something.
The point is, “F**k a Dog” is Blink-182’s raison d’être in its pure, concentrated form. It took both Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge to write the lyrics “I wanna f**k a dog in the a**.” It’s a miracle their combined brain power didn’t obliterate Southern California right off the map. Yes, at its core, this is a song about bestiality. But, when you really think about it, is it not also a song about friendship?
The post 3 Underrated Bonus Tracks to Celebrate 25 Years of Blink-182’s ‘Take Off Your Pants and Jacket’ appeared first on VICE.
