Brady Miller with a nice essay on the 25th anniversary of Blink-182’s Take Off Your Pants and Jacket:
My interest was piqued by this Entertainment Weekly review. Those being the days of Napster or Limewire, I started downloading each song from the album individually. Track one was “Anthem Part 2”, and I played it before the rest of the album had finished downloading. Verse one begins, “Everything has fallen to pieces. Earth is dying’, help me, Jesus.” A few lines later, “Corporate leaders, politicians. Kids can’t vote adults elected them.” At fourteen, I was beginning to notice the world beyond me. Forces I couldn’t control, from how societies function to the laws and politics that help some while holding others back. There was an angst to the way Tom DeLonge sang these opening lines, but also a playful wink. The disenchanted youth that inherits the problems created by one or two generations prior.