Come Out and Play (song)

"Come Out and Play"
Single by The Offspring
from the album Smash
B-side	"Session"
Released	March 10, 1994
Format	Vinyl and CD
Recorded	1993
Genre	Punk rock
Length	3:17
Label	Epitaph
Writer(s)	Dexter Holland
Producer	Thom Wilson
The Offspring singles chronology
"I'll Be Waiting/Blackball" (1986) "Come Out and Play" (1994) "Self Esteem" (1994)

"Come Out and Play" (or "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)") is a song by the Californian punk rock group The Offspring. It is the seventh track on their third album Smash (1994) and was released as the first single from that album. The song was the second single to be released by the band, following "I'll Be Waiting/Blackball" (1986). It is considered to be their breakthrough song, as it received widespread radio play,^[1][2] and reached number one on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Music video

"Come Out and Play" was the first Offspring song for which a music video was created. The music video, directed by Darren Lavett, was shot in May 1994^[3] and debuted on MTV in the summer of that year. The video is almost entirely in black-and-white with sepia tone segments, and features the band performing the song in the garage of a house with tinfoil covering the walls. There is also footage involving dogs fighting over a chew toy with a crowd watching, as well as a horse race, sword fight and some clips of several snakes and snake charmers, as well as some fencing scenes.

Comparison to "Bloodstains"

In 1994 Posh Boy Records owner Robbie Fields submitted a written claim to Epitaph Records via the Harry Fox Agency, alleging that the two-bar Arabian guitar phrase repeated throughout "Come Out and Play" copied the guitar solo from "Bloodstains", a song by the Fullerton, California punk rock band Agent Orange written in 1979 to which Fields, as the song's publisher, owned the copyright.^[4][5] Dexter Holland had cited "Bloodstains" as one of the songs that sparked his interest in punk rock, saying it "really influenced me, especially that Arabian-sounding lead. I've written a lot of stuff like that", and The Offspring's public admiration had brought Agent Orange increased attention.^[4][6] Fields contended that the similarity between the two guitar parts amounted to The Offspring sampling Agent Orange, and requested that Epitaph pay a licensing fee of US$0.01 for each copy of Smash sold—equating to $60,000 or more at the time—which he would split evenly with Agent Orange frontman and "Bloodstains" writer Mike Palm.^[4] A lawsuit was not filed, as Fields said "Nobody wants to pillory anybody. But I feel I have a fiduciary duty to represent Mike Palm's interests."^[4] Palm declined to give an opinion on the matter, later noting that he was not involved in filing the claim but did not disagree with it, and invited listeners to compare the two songs, saying "Anyone who listens will know what the issue is."^[4][5]

The Offspring's manager Jim Guerinot called Fields' claim baseless, saying the two guitar parts were "not even close to identical. They're both in the same scale, [and] there's no doubt there's an influence, [but] it doesn't mean that it's stolen. If he feels he has something, he'll sue, and if we've done something that is proven wrong [by technical analysis of the two songs] we should be sued. But we don't feel there's any merit to it."^[4] Randall Wixen, the Offspring's music publisher, stated that a musicologist hired by Epitaph determined the two guitar parts were not identical, despite being based in the same Middle Eastern scale.^[7] "We've told [Fields] a hundred times he's not getting paid. He's not getting a cent", Wixen said in 1996, stating that Fields and Palm would have to have to sue if they wished to pursue the claim.^[7] Although no lawsuit was ever filed, Palm maintained that he still deserved credit for the guitar riff: "I could show you interviews in which Dexter Holland outright admits that he took that riff from my song and used it in his song," he asserted in 2000, "In the rap world, when something like that is taken as a sample, they pay for it the same way I pay for guitar strings and picks."^[5] The claim became national news when The Offspring discussed it on MTV, leading to a backlash against Palm: "Some punk kid's perception of that is to think that I'm the bad guy," he said, "but they don't understand that the Offspring are millionaires and I'm just trying to retain whatever little tiny thing is mine."^[5]

Some fellow Californian punk rock musicians criticized the allegation. Frank Agnew, guitarist of fellow Fullerton band the Adolescents, remarked "I don't see how you can call that plagiarism; all it is is an Arabic scale. It just reeks to me [as if] people are after a piece of the pie. If the Offspring did a guitar solo that was reminiscent of one of my guitar solos, I'd be honored, not [antagonized]. I think it's real petty."^[4] The Vandals, who were signed to Holland's label Nitro Records, released the song "Aging Orange" on their 1996 album The Quickening, with lyrics by bassist Joe Escalante mocking Palm's claim to ownership of a style rooted in ancient Middle Eastern music:^[7][5]

Back in ancient Egypt many pharoahs went to jail
For misappropriation of my Phrygian scale
I said "Listen, Tutankhamun, you're driving me insane
It's obvious those bellies are all dancing to 'Bloodstains'
I figured out you owe me, and please try not to laugh
But every time I hear it, I get one more golden calf"^[7]

Palm called the song "nothing but Joe's desperate attempt to brown-nose The Offspring", characterizing it as "lame and out of line. You think there was some ass-licking going on there?", sentiments echoed by Fields.^[5][7] Palm noted "Aging Orange" incorrectly implied he had sued The Offspring.^[7] Escalante, also an entertainment lawyer, said that Fields' and Palm's attempt to get money from Epitaph and The Offspring represented "the kind of crap I hate" in both the legal system and entertainment business, and that The Vandals—with their long tradition of satirizing things they perceived foolish within the punk scene—would have ridiculed the situation regardless of the parties involved.^[7] The Offspring later covered "Bloodstains" for the soundtrack of the 2000 film Ready to Rumble.^[5] "It's great that they recorded 'Bloodstains'", said Palm, "but it doesn't help me personally. Sometimes I feel like an old black bluesman who got ripped off."^[5]

Alternative versions

• The Offspring themselves made a middle-eastern styled instrumental version of the song. It can be heard as a hidden track at the end of Smash as well as on the "Come Out and Play" single.
• Professional wrestler Raven used the song as his entrance music his ECW run, then various knockoffs and sound-alikes in companies afterward.
• This song was covered by Richard Cheese on his 2000 album, Lounge Against the Machine and again released on the 2006 album, The Sunny Side of the Moon.
• The song is also played on wind instruments in the movie Click.
• Four parodies of the song were made. "Keep Her Penetrated" by Blowfly, "Come Out and Pray" by ApologetiX, "Wrong Foot Amputated" by Bob Rivers (often mistakenly credited to "Weird Al" Yankovic), and "Laundry Day" which actually is by "Weird Al" Yankovic, and was written for his Bad Hair Day tour. The song is officially unreleased, however several recordings from live concerts have surfaced.
• A master track of this song is featured in the video games Rock Band 2 and Rock Band Unplugged.

Alternate appearances

As well as appearing on Smash, the song also appears as the second track on their 2005 Greatest Hits album. The music video also appears on the Complete Music Video Collection DVD which was also released in 2005.

Track listings

CD and 10" vinyl issue release

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Come Out and Play"	3:17
2.	"Session"	2:33
3.	"Come Out and Play" (Acoustic Reprise)	1:31

7" Single release

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Come Out and Play"	3:17
2.	"Session"	2:33

Chart performances

Chart (1994/95) Peak position Australian ARIA Singles Chart[8] 8 Canadian Top Singles Chart 43 Dutch Mega Top 100[8] 32 French SNEP Singles Chart[8] 14 Swedish Singles Chart[8] 23 U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[9] 10 U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks[9] 1 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream[9] 39

End of year chart (1995) Position French Singles Chart[10] 69

Preceded by "Fall Down" by Toad the Wet Sprocket

Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single July 30, 1994 - August 6, 1994

Succeeded by "Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)" by Counting Crows

References

1. ^ The Offspring "Smash"
2. ^ The Offspring - Smash (1994)
3. ^ Spoken commentary on the "Self Esteem" video from Complete Music Video Collection, released 2005
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Boehm, Mike (1995-04-04). "Offspring Lifted Key Guitar Riff, Publisher Says". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-04-04/entertainment/ca-50818_1_agent-orange. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Kane, Rich (2000-08-31). "It's All a Blur". OC Weekly. http://www.ocweekly.com/2001-09-06/music/it-s-all-a-blur/2/. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
6. ^ Prato, Greg. "Review: Living in Darkness". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/living-in-darkness-r70639/review. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Boehm, Mike (1996-11-29). "Vandals Lyric Takes a Shot at Agent Orange's Riff Wrath". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-29/entertainment/ca-4067_1_agent-orange. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
8. ^ ^{a b c d} "Come Out and Play", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved January 27, 2009)
9. ^ ^{a b c} Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved January 27, 2009)
10. ^ 1995 French Singles Chart Disqueenfrance.com (Retrieved January 30, 2009)

External links

• Song review, Allmusic
• "Come Out and Play (Keep 'Em Separated)" Official music video on YouTube