Spare Me the Details

Infobox Single
Name = Spare Me the Details


Caption =
Artist = The Offspring
from Album = Splinter
A-side =
B-side =
Released = 2004
Format = CD
Recorded = 2003
Genre = Punk rock, acoustic rock
Length = 3:24
Label = Columbia
Writer = Dexter Holland
Producer = Brendan O'Brien
Certification =
Chart position = * #31 (New Zealand)
Last single = "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"
(2004)
This single = "Spare Me the Details"
(2004)
Next single = "Can't Repeat" (2005)
Misc = "Spare Me the Details" is the third and final single from The Offspring's 2003 album "Splinter". It was released in New Zealand and Australia, but did not see releases in the USA or the UK. It peaked at #31 in the New Zealand Top 40. No music video was produced for the song, possibly because of dwindling interest in the album.

The song was in the top twenty most played songs on Australian radio for three years straight, despite not charting well there. This led to the song being included on the Australian version of the band's "Greatest Hits" compilation. It is also frequently played live in the band's shows there, reflecting its popularity in the area.

Composition and meaning

The song tells of the narrator's discovery that his girlfriend has been cheating on him. The first verse is somewhat light-hearted where the narrator calls his girlfriend a 'dumb donut' and does not seem too perturbed by the act. The chorus repeatedly states that the narrator does not really want to know about the cheating. In the second verse he describes how his friends have his best interests in mind, but the 'play-by-play makes [him] want to lose it', hence the title of the song. After the bridge where the song moves away from acoustic form, the narrator laments the loss of his girlfriend, 'wallowing in sorrow', 'missing the tomorrow that [they] could have had', before the song ends.