The Offspring

Released: March 10, 1994

Songwriter: Dexter Holland

Producer: Thom Wilson

[Intro]
You gotta keep 'em separated

[Verse 1]
Like the latest fashion
Like a spreading disease
The kids are strappin' on their way to the classroom
Gettin' weapons with the greatest of ease
The gangs stake out their own campus locale
And if they catch you slippin', then it's all over, pal
If one guy's colors and the other's don't mix
They're gonna bash it up, bash it up, bash it up, bash it up...

[Chorus]
Hey! Man, you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey! Man, you disrespectin' me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey, they don't pay no mind
If you're under 18, you won't be doing any time
Hey! Come out and play

[Verse 2]
By the time you hear the siren
It's already too late
One goes to the morgue and the other to jail
One guy's wasted and the other's a waste
It goes down the same as the thousand before
No one's getting smarter
No one's learning the score
Your never-ending spree of death and violence and hate
Is gonna tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own...

[Chorus]
Hey! Man, you disrespectin' me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey! Man, you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey, they don't pay no mind
If you're under 18, you won't be doing any time
Hey! Come out and play

[Verse 3]
It goes down the same as the thousand before
No one's getting smarter
No one's learning the score
Your never-ending spree of death and violence and hate
Is gonna tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own...

[Chorus]
Hey! Man, you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey! Man, you disrespectin' me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey, they don't pay no mind
If you're under 18, you won't be doing any time
Hey! Come out and play

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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