Offspring Song Pretty Fly For A White Guy

[Leocricia Castellanos]

Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" is a song by American rock band the Offspring. It is the fourth track from the band's fifth studio album, Americana (1998), and was released as its first single in November 1998. The song peaked at number 53 on the US Billboard Hot 100, number five on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and number three on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It was successful internationally, reaching number one in 10 countries, including Australia, where it stayed at number one for six weeks and was certified quadruple platinum.

Daily Record commented that on "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", the band "has obviously been inspired by early-Beastie Boys and Run DMC songs."[11] In Australia, it was ranked at number one on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 1998.[12]

The music video for the song, directed by McG, begins with the "white guy" and some girls singing the opening lines, and Offspring guitarist Noodles walking on the pavement with his guitar, playing the introductory riff. The "white guy" drives through town in his lowrider and tries to act cool in front of African-Americans, playing with his car's hydraulic system and interrupting a break dance session to dance himself. He is then carried by a group of girls to a pool party and thrown into the pool. He jumps out of the pool and finds some bikini clad dancers in front of him. These scenes are cut with the band playing. The video ends with the "white guy" returning home and scaring his little sister, who is wearing a fairy costume, because of his dishevelled appearance.

According to Dexter Holland, the band wanted Seth Green to play the "white guy" but he was unavailable. After seeing an audition tape with "five unknowns", they settled on Israeli actor Guy Cohen,[13] who went on to cameo in the "Why Don't You Get a Job?" video and occasionally appear at Offspring concerts.[8]

The music video also appears on the Complete Music Video Collection DVD. It was released in 2005. The DVD also contains a storyboard version of the video, in which the storyboard plays over top of the music video.

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The 'Give it to me, baby' vocals are performed by Nika Futterman and Heidi Villagran. Nika is now a successful voice actress who has worked on pretty much every big deal animated show out there, including voicing Asajj Ventress in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

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The YouTube version fades out before the song or video is over, for some reason. No idea at all why it cuts off when it does, but based on the current numbers the video is on, many millions of people will have been annoyed by it. God damn it, YouTube. God damn it, The Offspring.

I always thought the 13 tattoo was referencing MS-13. The tattoo of a 13 is a way for him to make it look like he's related to gangs in some way and make him 'gangster', but by getting a 31 it just makes him look even more stupid since it has no real meaning.

every one says they love this song because it's funny but I love this song because of the social commentary. That's the reason I really like this album because all the songs have a purpose. This song isn't only making fun of rich white kids who act ghetto it's a commentary on anyone who gives up what they really are to follow a trend and how ridiculous they look to everyone around them.

In November 1998 The Offspring released their 5th studio album, Americana, to widespread success. The lead single 'Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)' made it to number one in the UK charts, and thanks to that I learnt what punk rock was - and I was hooked. That's also how it became the first CD album I ever bought.

By 1998 BritPop was dead, and while I knew what it was, I'd missed most of the fuss. There wasn't much music played at home; my dad would listen to classical or Rhythm & Blues in his study when working in the evenings, and my mum preferred to read.

I had no older siblings to be a bad influence, so all I really knew was chart music from the radio, and that was OK for helping to while away time while doing homework, but nothing really grabbed me, most of the songs were bland love songs that I didn't relate to, and the rest passed me by1. I also had a Walkman with a few Now! compilation albums2, plus a Simon & Garfunkel greatest hits tape.

There were a few songs I liked more than others, but the concept that an artist would write a whole album of songs, and if you liked one, that you'd probably like others that didn't get played on the radio, didn't really cross my mind. I didn't think music was anything important, and didn't understand why some people talked about it like it was; I assumed music wasn't something that I was interested in.

So when I heard 'Pretty Fly' it felt like something else; not only did it have a heavier guitar riff, certainly heavier than anything BritPop had ever offered, but the lyrics were a social commentary I could understand and not some saccharine love song. While the North West of the UK didn't have a lot of wiggers; there were still plenty of people in school I could see trying to be things they weren't, some succeeding more than others. I was also confused about the arbitrary behaviour that would make some people cool, and others not, and this song seemed to make fun of the whole weird social competition that I never remembered signing up to3.

Once 'Why Don't You Get A Job' came out, I managed to put two and two together, and at some point in mid 1999 buy the album, which was then quickly copied to tape on my Dad's stereo, as I had no way of playing the CD myself.

Compared to what I've heard since, Americana isn't a very heavy, or a deeply insightful album, but to early teenage me, it was. I'd heard nothing like it, and some of the lyrics spoke directly to the teenage angst growing in me, like 'Have You Ever':

Have you ever buried your face in your hands

'Cause no one around you understands

Or has the slightest idea what it is that makes you be?

Have you ever felt like there was more

Like someone else was keeping score

And what could make you whole was simply out of reach?

This was the start down the well trodden path to other artists, now that I knew what to look for: Green Day, Metallica, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and more all flowed from this, quickly expanding from Punk Rock in all directions.

Soon I became pretty obsessed with music, probably insufferably so, especially in the first couple of years of university. Sharing recommendations with people, pointlessly arguing the merits of various acts.

In hindsight it was probably a slightly angry overreaction. Now I understood why people were obsessed with music, and I was too, now that I'd found the music that spoke to me. But for years this had been hidden, I'd been listening to crap on the radio that masked amazing music, human communication and emotions. Instead of playing the good stuff they were peddling trash - the people should be told; and I was going to tell them with sniffy comments and snooty opinions!

Looking back at Americana almost twenty five years later, some parts have aged better than others; but that's probably more a maturing of my taste. Now the social observations in the lyrics seem to be following the obvious follow up: why aren't the kids alright, what's causing all these people in the same neighbourhood to suffer the same fate?

As a white suburban teen living in a relatively quiet town, the message of taking more responsibility, and fixing the problems yourself, independent of the world around you seems pretty appealing - it means you don't need anyone else, you can do it all yourself if only you want to, and so can anyone else. That's a view that I feel has aged less well, a lot of people's agency is based on their environment, and just telling people to 'get over it' or 'get on with it' isn't really helpful.

The worst example of this is probably on She's Got Issues; Initially just a "Girlfriends are crazy, amiright!? ahah. Now there's a another wooowooo bit to sing along to." to what I understand to be the intention behind the song being, that is you shouldn't blame circumstances for who we are, but take some action to decide who we are.

That's a view that I now struggle with, being much more aware on how circumstances and experiences shape you, meaning it's almost impossible to have an 'independent' view of yourself, and identify behaviours that you do that might be problematic. And even if you did, there's probably a reason why you developed them, and can't just 'leave them behind'.

Now I almost think the song, on a album throwing a spotlight the things wrong with modern life, makes more sense if the protagonist is the problem being highlighted; wanting to start a relationship with someone, but then showing no interest in their feelings or personality, then why do it? instead of selfishly trying to manipulate someone for your own ends.

Even if the album now isn't one I listen to regularly, it's one that opened up a new world to me, and led me to discover things I enjoy to this day. Even now, when I try to dial in a 'good' distorted tone on the guitar, 'The Kid's Aren't Alright' is still one of the first riffs I play.

The Offspring's 'Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)' is a satirical take on the phenomenon of cultural appropriation and the often misguided attempts of some individuals to adopt another culture's style to appear cool or relevant. The song, released in 1998, is known for its catchy hook and humorous lyrics that poke fun at a white guy who tries too hard to fit into the hip-hop culture, which he clearly does not understand.

The lyrics describe a character who is out of touch with the culture he is trying to emulate. He buys the wrong music ('Vanilla Ice' instead of 'Ice Cube'), drives a Pinto (a car known for its lack of coolness), and gets a tattoo that is supposed to be 'thirteen' but ends up being 'thirty-one'. These examples highlight the character's lack of authenticity and understanding of the culture he is attempting to be a part of. The song's chorus, 'And all the girlies say I'm pretty fly for a white guy,' is delivered with a sense of irony, suggesting that while he may think he's succeeding in being 'fly,' he's actually far from it.

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