The Kids Aren't Alright

"The Kids Aren't Alright" is the third single from The Offspring's album Americana. Its title is a reference to the Who song/documentary "The Kids Are Alright" (from My Generation).

The lyrics are inspired by a visit Dexter Holland made to his old neighborhood, Garden Grove in Orange County, California. Seeing that most of his friends met tragedy (car accident, nervous breakdown), he wrote the song, that details the ruined lives of a group of childhood friends. The four kids -- Jamie, Marcel, Jay, and Brandon -- all had the potential to have extraordinary lives but each of them ending up throwing it away in a different fashion (one got pregnant and dropped out of high school to raise children, another stays home playing guitar and smoking marijuana, one committed suicide, and another "OD'D and died").

This fits well with the concept of the album: unpleasant realities of American life. In this case, children are promised they are growing up to a future of unlimited potential, but in reality, most of that potential is never realized.

The track's intro is strikingly similar to the intro to "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses, which many attribute to a feud between Axl Rose and Dexter that was ongoing at the time. The chord progression and lead guitar melody also show a similarity to the song "String Bean Jean" by Belle and Sebastian.

The song is featured in the film The Faculty.

Its music video, released a month before the CD single [1], received heavy airplay on MTV. Directed by Yariv Garber, the video features a lot of computer-generated imagery and was nominated for Best Direction on the MTV Video Music Awards.

1. "The Kids Aren't Alright"
2. "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) (Live)"
3. "Walla Walla (Live)"

And some versions include the video for "Pretty Fly".

• Lyrics
• Songfacts