Top 20 Best Offspring Songs
If you were to introduce The Offspring to someone for the very first time, which songs would you play? In what order? This list attempts to answer that. Basically, it’s a de-facto “mix tape” of the true best Offspring songs, narrowed down to 20 and ordered. At the end of the post, 5 Honorable Mentions are offered.
This top 20 list is heavy in songs from Smash, arguably the band’s masterpiece. That would be the album to start with for sure. From there, going to the previous record Ignition is recommended. However, moving onto the followup Ixnay on the Hombre to explore a major label’s budget impact and a wider sound is a good path as well. The next two albums Americana and Conspiracy of One offer some of the most popular Offspring songs. Either could very well be considered their best album, to some fans. Since the latter, the band has released 4 albums. The most recent Let the Band Times Roll offers a range of sound from the band’s career, but feels a lot more old-school-Offspring compared to 2003’s Splinter, 2008’s Rise and Fall Rage and Grace, or 2012’s Days Go By.
There’s a million other lists out there so remember: this is just an editorial. Feel free to drop your list in the comments section at the end of the post.
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1. “Come Out and Play”
2. “Self Esteem”
3. “Gone Away”
4. “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid”
5. “The Kids Aren’t Alright”
6. “Bad Habit”
7. “All I Want”
8. “Gotta Get Away”
9. “Nitro (Youth Energy)”
10. “Kick Him When He’s Down”
11. “The Meaning of Life”
12. “Forever and a Day”
13. “Million Miles Away”
14. “Genocide”
15. “Something to Believe In”
16. “The Opioid Diaries”
17. “Army of One”
18. “Hammerhead”
19. “Dirty Magic”
20. “Beheaded”
Honorable Mentions
Some of the most well-known Offspring songs are not necessarily their best songs. The 5 songs below didn’t make the top 20 list above, but are presented as ‘Honorable Mentions’ because you can’t present The Offspring to someone without these 5 songs.
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- “Why Don’t You Get A Job” Purchase Song / Lyrics
- “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)” Purchase Song / Lyrics
- “Want You Bad” Purchase Song / Lyrics
- “Original Prankster” Purchase Song / Lyrics
- “Hit That” Purchase Song / Lyrics
Links of Interest
Good list, but you left off some no-brainers, songs that are just CLASSIC Offspring. Dirty Magic (OG verion), Can’t Repeat, Way Down the Line, Americana, and…maybe something like Not The One. At least they feel more classic to me than Original Prankster, Million Miles Away, Want You Bad, and the two off the new album (which, to be fair, I’ve barely listened to). But whatever. Maybe those songs hit your criteria better. It’s still The Offspring, and you pretty much nailed the rest of em.
I’m also constantly surprised how infrequently ‘Pay The Man’ and ‘Change The World’ are mentioned in lists like this. Definitely two of my favorites, and they’re — if I may borrow some 14-y.o. girl lingo — totally epic, too (if a tad overblown).
Hey Marc, thanks for checking out the post and commenting! I agree the songs you mentioned are classic Offspring songs and definitely fit in a list of the best Offspring songs ever. Maybe if the list was a Top 25 😉 I struggled with adding songs like Original Prankster, and Want You Bad because they were more of the pop-style Offspring and I believe their best material is indeed their older, more punk-rock, raw sound. But I really wanted to make a list that showcased the best of the old and new. Check out my post of the Top 15 Underrated Offspring Songs. You might be happy to see what I chose as the #1 most underrated Offspring song.
Just wanted to say that it is awesome that someone else recognized how great “Change the World” is. If you look up underrated or forgotten in the dictionary, it would have that song in the definition.
Indeed!
This is just my opinion. Too many songs that are great, and belong on this list but ah well.
1. Genocide
2. We Are One
3. Gone Away
4. Dirty Magic
5. Gotta Get Away
6. Amazed
7. Nitro
8. Mota
9. Walla Walla
10. Pay The Man
11. Race Against Myself
12. Blackball
13. Nothing From Something
14. Secrets From The Underground
15. End Of The Line
16. The Noose
17. Not The One
18. Huck It
19. Americana
20. Kill The President
HM 1. Self Esteem
2. Hurting as One
3. A Lot Like Me
I honestly don’t understand any of these lists.
Not once have I come across a TOP ‘xx’ of the offspring and seen ‘Spare Me The Details’
This is a classic song I remember vividly from my childhood. And to this day enjoy cranking it.
And it not like the meaning behind it is something people can’t relate to or something that people think is too stupid. It’s about a guy who’s girlfriend cheats on him after getting drunk at a party. People are always telling him the ‘intricate details’ of the sexual encounter and he just wants to get away from it. He wants people to shut up because thinking about someone else fucking your girlfriend is a thought no one wants in their mind.
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