The Offspring

Released: November 17, 1998

Songwriter: Dexter Holland

Producer: Dave Jerden

[Part I]

[Verse 1]
See the way the wind blows, lives are intertwined
Watch the way the world goes, the man deals out our plight
Jester in the corner laughs without a sound
Jester in the corner, malady abounds

[Refrain 1]
In our souls
In our souls
In our souls

[Verse 2]
See the way the sun sets, twilight of this life
The man is making little bets playing with our lives
All that I believe now, anything is possible
A simple explanation for the evil in this world

[Refrain 2]
And in our souls
In our souls
In our souls
In our souls

[Part II]

[Interlude 1]
Hoo-hoo, go!

[Verse 3]
Come down to sorry and sable, it's always the man
It's always been keeping you down
Bow down 'cause I see it before me, shadow and light
That always keeps you runnin'

[Chorus 1]
Ho-ho, shut up, you talk too much
Ho-ho-ho, pay the man, now, yeah
Ho-ho, shut up, you talk too much
Ho-ho, no (No, no)

[Verse 4]
Look at you and your struggle for freedom, but you ain't nothin'
We all pay the man for living
Wouldn't it be nice for a change, now, to be unchained?
My life is for me now

[Bridge]
But, this is life, this is life
This is life, this is life
Pay the man (No!), pay the man (No!)
Pay the man (No!), it's the man (No, no, no!)

[Chorus 1]
Ho-ho, shut up, you talk too much
Ho-ho-ho, pay the man, now, yeah
Ho-ho, shut up, you talk too much
Ho-ho-ho

[Interlude 2]
Hoo-hoo, go!
Ho-oh
Ho-oh
Ho-oh (Don't! No!)
Ho-oh (Stop! Oh)

[Chorus 2]
Ho-ho, shut up, you talk too much
Ho-ho-ho, pay the man, now, yeah

[Outro]
My life is for me, ho-ho-ho

[Part III: Pretty Fly for a White Guy (Reprise)]

[Verse]
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis
And all the girlies say, I'm pretty fly for a white guy
Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, cinco, seis

The Offspring is an American punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1984. The current line-up of the band Brian Keith “Dexter” Holland (vocals, guitar), Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman (lead guitar), Greg “Greg K.” Kriesel (bass), and Pete Parada (drums).

The Offspring is currently one of the biggest punk rock acts, along with the likes of Green Day, Rancid, and Sublime, all of which come from California. The Offspring and other groups are credited for reviving main-stream punk rock, though it isn’t as popular as it was in the ‘80s.

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