‘All The Small Things’: the Blink 182 classic Travis Barker can no longer listen to
Repetition can either enhance one’s enjoyment of something or kill it altogether. For musicians, it’s commonly the latter. Life as a successful musician has its perks, but you’re also obliged to play the same songs again and again and again. Ultimately, most end up disowning, criticising or (as was the case with Kurt Cobain) refusing to play their biggest hits. We join Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker as he discusses the one Blink song he now just can’t stand listening to.
“There was a point where Mark (Hoppus), Tom (Delonge) and I were like ‘We can’t play ‘All The Small Things’ one more f*cking time,'” Barker told NME back in 2017 (via Popbuzz). “We were gonna go crazy, but it would be like going to see Jay-Z, and he doesn’t play ’99 Problems’. For your fans, it’s their favourite song, and they’re waiting all night to finally hear it – regardless of it being over 15 years old.”
Written by guitarist Tom Delonge after his girlfriend accused him of only writing songs about other girls, ‘All The Small Things’ is one of the most compelling songs in Blink’s catalogue and remains the group’s most famous song. Released on 1999’s Enema of The State, the song’s enduring popularity is partly down to its iconic music video, in which the members of Blink give a gentle ribbing to pop acts like Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.
By taking the piss out of mainstream pop music videos, Blink gave ‘All The Small Things’ – a knowingly radio-friendly piece of songwriting – a bit more edge. Delonge understood that the band’s label would soon ask him for a catchy radio hit, so he offered up this earworm, knowing that it would satisfy the executives. Looking back, he too struggles to listen to ‘All The Small Things’. “It came on the radio the other day,” Delonge told NME in 2014, “and I was like, ‘I sound like I’m f–king 11.’ It’s still played everywhere, but I don’t know why.”
While Barker and Delonge have come to loathe ‘All The Small Things’, they still treasure certain songs from Blink’s catalogue. Travis’ favourite Blink song is apparently ‘Feeling This’ from their 2003 self-titled album. “I feel like that the ‘Blink 182’ album was just such a great period for Blink because it was a growth record that didn’t steer too far from what people loved about us but showed that we were growing and evolving,” he told NME. “I think that was our masterpiece, if you will. They were the sweet days.”
You can revisit ‘All The Small Things’ below.
