The Kids Aren't Alright

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“The Kids Aren't Alright”
Single by The Offspring from the album Americana
Released	September 21, 1999
Format	CD
Recorded	1998
Genre	Punk rock, skate punk
Length	03:00
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Dexter Holland
Producer	Dave Jerden
The Offspring singles chronology
"Why Don't You Get a Job?" (1999) "The Kids Aren't Alright" (1999) "She's Got Issues" (1999)
Alternate Cover
Import CD Cover

"The Kids Aren't Alright" is the third single from The Offspring's album Americana. Its title is an allusion to the Who song/documentary "The Kids Are Alright" (from My Generation). Despite not being as commercially successful as its predecessing singles, the song remains the most-listened to Offspring song amongst Last.FM users.^[1] The song was also included in the movie The Faculty and it appeared on the soundtrack album.

Contents 1 Track Listing 1.1 Original Pressing 1.2 Alternate Pressing 1.3 Second Alternate Pressing 2 Song Meaning 3 Music Video 4 Covers 5 Alternate Versions 6 References

[edit] Track Listing

[edit] Original Pressing

1. "The Kids Aren't Alright"
2. "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) (Live)"
3. "Walla Walla (Live)"

[edit] Alternate Pressing

1. "The Kids Aren't Alright"
2. "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) (Live)"
3. "Walla Walla (Live)"
4. "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" - Video

[edit] Second Alternate Pressing

1. "The Kids Aren't Alright"
2. "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) (Live)"
3. "Walla Walla (Live)"
4. "Why Don't You Get A Job?" (Live)

[edit] Song Meaning

The lyrics are inspired by a visit Dexter Holland made to his old neighborhood, Garden Grove in Orange County, California. Seeing that most of his friends met tragedy (car accident, nervous breakdown), he wrote the song, that details the ruined lives of a group of childhood friends. The four kids -- Jamie, Mark, Jay, and Brandon -- all had the potential to have extraordinary lives but each of them ending up throwing it away in a different fashion (Jamie "had a chance well she really did", but got pregnant and dropped out of high school to raise children, Mark stays home playing guitar and smoking pot, Jay committed suicide, and Brandon "OD'D and died").

This fits well with the concept of the album: unpleasant realities of American life. In this case, children are promised they are growing up to a future of unlimited potential, but in reality, most of that potential is never realized.

[edit] Music Video

The music video, directed by Yariv Gaber, released a month before the CD single [1], received heavy airplay on MTV. It was later nominated for Best Direction on the MTV Video Music Awards. Contrary to popular belief, the visuals in the video are made by standard rotoscoping techniques, not computers.

[edit] Covers

The song had two covers. The first depicted a scarecrow falling into the tentacles shown prominently in other single and album covers from Americana. This art also appeared in the accompanying booklet for the album (however, this drawing appeared with the song "Have You Ever"). The second, alternate cover shows a young child reaching for a gun, with ominous blood near to it (the drawing that actually appears with the song in the "Americana" booklet).

[edit] Alternate Versions

• The "blue cover" version of the "She's Got Issues" single includes as B-sides a remix of The Kids Aren't Alright by The Wiseguys, and an instrumental of this remix. The remix takes a different approach to the song, removing the energetic, angry guitars and instead trying to create something bleaker, more of a sad lament than an angry one. This version also appears as a bonus track on the European and South American releases of the band's Greatest Hits.

• One of the two versions of the "Want You Bad" single released in the UK has a live version of the song as one of the B-sides. This version is very faithful to the original, although the guitars don't quite sound the same.

• Another live version of the song appears on the (Can't Get My) Head Around You single. This version comes from a session recorded for BBC Radio 1, and features more subdued instrumentation than the original.

• On "The Making Of The Da Hui Video", in the Music DVD Bonus Material, a Hawaian guitar version of the song can be heard. This version is also included as a hidden track on the "Splinter" album.

[edit] References

v • d • e The Offspring Dexter Holland • Noodles • Greg K. • Pete Parada Ron Welty • Atom Willard • James Lilja • Josh Freese • Jim Benton • Doug Thompson Studio albums The Offspring • Ignition • Smash • Ixnay on the Hombre • Americana • Conspiracy of One • Splinter • Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace EPs Baghdad • Club Me • A Piece of Americana Compilations The Offspring Collection • Greatest Hits Videos and DVDs Americana • Huck It • Complete Music Video Collection Singles "I'll Be Waiting/Blackball" • "Come Out and Play" • "Self Esteem" • "Gotta Get Away" • "Kick Him When He's Down" • "Smash It Up" • "All I Want" • "Gone Away" • "The Meaning of Life" • "I Choose" • "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" • "Why Don't You Get a Job?" • "The Kids Aren't Alright" • "She's Got Issues" • "Original Prankster" • "Want You Bad" • "Million Miles Away" • "Defy You" • "Hit That" • "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" • "Spare Me the Details" • "Can't Repeat" • "Hammerhead" • "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" Concert tours Smash Tour • Ixnay on the Hombre Tour • Warped Tour • Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace Tour Related articles Discography • Epitaph Records • Nitro Records • Columbia Records • California punk scene Related bands Angels & Airwaves • Face to Face • Saves the Day • Steady Ground