The Blink 182 Defense

Cafe Society
1

As far as I can tell, it’s been a while since we’ve had a thread about songs, parts of songs, lyrics,etc…that, upon hearing them you jump to change the channel lest you do bodily harm unto yourself and/ or others. Remember, it can be the whole song, inane lyrics, the singer’s voice; whatever makes you want to jam a Slimjim in your ear canal.

What prompted me to start this is **I Miss You ** by Blink 182. I don’t care that much one way or the other about the band. Actually, their music is pretty decent, but what the hell kind of “accent” is the lead singer using when he sings “…the voice inside MYEAD”? MYEAD??? I’ve never heard him speak, but the way he sings make him sound like a complete tool. Or in “The Small Things” the way he says “by” in the line “…she left me roses BOY the stairs…” What is that supposed to be? Does anyone know where he’s from? Yeah, I could google it, but I don’t want to do that all BOY myself :smiley:

2

It’s a punk rock affectation that goes back to American punkers emulating the exaggerrated cockney accents of bands like the Buzzcocks and the Clash, who they heard singing “Wot doo AYE git!?” (“What do I get?”) and so on. In the following 25 years, it mutated into its own sort of “accent” that you still hear in the way that you described. Just listen to Green Day’s first popular album, “Dookie,” to hear this in full effect; many thought the band was British at first.

3

Thanks, VC03. Explanation sounds reasonable; singer still sounds like a dumbass. And I do kind of hear the same sort of affectation in BillyJoe’s singing, but for some reason I don’t find it obnoxious.

4

I once heard Green Day’s first album called an attempt by California surfers to sound like British punkers who were trying to sound like California surfers. I’ve always thought of that description as spot-on.