Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)

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"Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)"
Single by The Offspring
from the album Americana
Released	November 9, 1998
Format	CD
Recorded	1998
Genre	Punk rock,Ska Punk
Length	3:08
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Dexter Holland
Producer	Dave Jerden
Certification	4x Platinum (ARIA) 3x Platinum (IFPI Swe) Platinum (BPI)
The Offspring singles chronology
"I Choose" (1997) "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" (1998) "Why Don't You Get a Job?" (1999)
Alternate covers
Australian CD single cover

"Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" is a punk rock song by The Offspring. It is the fourth track from their fifth studio album Americana (1998) and was released as the first single from the album. It achieved significant pop and alternative radio play and popularity, peaking at number 53 on the US charts, and reaching #1 in charts in ten countries. It is one of The Offspring's most commercially successful singles.

The song appears as the sixth track on their Greatest Hits (2005).

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Initial pressing 1.2 Alternate pressing 1.3 Second alternate pressing 2 Composition and lyrics 3 Music video 3.1 DVD appearances 4 Rock Band 5 Charts 6 References in popular culture 7 External links 8 References

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Initial pressing

[edit] Alternate pressing

[edit] Second alternate pressing

[edit] Composition and lyrics

Beginning with a sample of the quasi-German nonsense phrase "Gunter glieben glauchen globen" from Def Leppard's song "Rock of Ages," chanted as a replacement for the traditional "1, 2, 3, 4" to start the recording, the song ridicules a "wannabe gangsta" (or "wangster") who is immersed in hip-hop culture not because he truly loves it, but because it is trendy, makes him feel tough ("friends say he's tryin' too hard, and he's not quite hip/but in his own mind, he's the - he's the dopest trip") and makes it seem that he can get all the girls ("and all the girlies say I'm pretty fly - for a white guy"). The song openly mocks the middle-class suburban youths who listen to rap music for this reason. The song also mentions the American rappers Ice Cube and Vanilla Ice ("He needs some cool tunes, not just any will suffice/But they didn't have Ice Cube, so he bought Vanilla Ice/Now cruising in his Pinto, he sees homies as he pass"). The female vocals are performed by Nika Frost.

[edit] Music video

In the video, directed by McG, the "white guy" drives through town in his lowrider and tries to act cool in front of people, playing with car's hydraulic system and interrupting a break dance session to dance. He is then carried by girls watching it to a pool party and thrown into the pool. These scenes are cut by the band's playing. The video ends with the "white guy" returning home and accidentally scaring his little sister wearing a fairy costume because of his appearance.

Noodles has stated that it was one of his favorite videos to make.

Guy Cohen cameos as the "white guy" driving by in his lowrider at the end of the "Why Don't You Get a Job?" video.

[edit] DVD appearances

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.)

[edit] Rock Band

The song was released as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band. The song was released in the first "Offspring pack" which was released on October 7, 2008 along with "Gone Away" and "Self Esteem".

[edit] Charts

Chart (1998) Peak position U.S. Billboard 100 53 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 43 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Recurrent Airplay 15 U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks 5 U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks 3 U.S. Billboard Hot Singles Recurrents 14 U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 31 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 13 U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks 36 Australian Singles Chart 1 Austrian Singles Chart 2 Belgium Singles Chart Flanders 1 Belgium Singles Chart Wallonia 3 Canadian Singles Chart 5 Irish Singles Chart 1 Japanese Singles Chart 1 Finland Singles Chart 1 French Singles Chart 10 German Singles Chart 2 Netherlands Singles Chart 1 Norsktoppen 1 Sverigetopplistan 1 Swiss Singles Chart 4 UK Singles Chart 1 [edit] References in popular culture The opening gibberish of the song is sampled from Def Leppard's song Rock of Ages. The song came #1 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1998. Was featured on the "Escape From Party Island" episode of King of the Hill. The song was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as “Pretty Fly for a Rabbi” on his 1999 album Running with Scissors. Other parodies have been made, such as "Pretty Fly for a Jedi", "Pretty Fly for a Draenei" and others. They are frequently and incorrectly attributed to "Weird Al" Yankovic on file sharing networks. David and Goliath sells a T-shirt with the song's title (minus the parentheses) on it. In Unreal Tournament, there is a hidden area on one of the maps, which showcases a picture of the lead map designer, CliffyB. It has the caption of “Pretty Fly...”. Shooting the picture instantly causes the text to change to "(For a white guy!)". Australian country music singer James Blundell performed a country version of the song as a "musical challenge" on the Andrew Denton Breakfast Show. The Nintendo DS game Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales makes a reference to this song by having a character say "You're pretty fly for a white mage." The song has been made into music for marching bands. [1] The song was made available as a downloadable song for the music video game series Rock Band on October 7, 2008. The song was referenced in the game "Song Titles" on the TV show "Whose Line is it Anyway?" (US version) [edit] External links Music video [edit] References ^ http://www.activemusician.com/item--HL.03744869 Preceded by "A Little Bit More" by 911 UK Singles Chart number-one single January 24, 1999 - January 30, 1999 Succeeded by "U Don't Know Me" by Armand Van Helden featuring Duane Harden Preceded by The Whitlams No Aphrodisiac Triple J Hottest 100 #1s 1998 Succeeded by Powderfinger These Days v • d • e The Offspring Dexter Holland • Noodles • Greg K. • Pete Parada Ron Welty • Atom Willard • James Lilja • Jim Benton • Doug Thompson Studio albums The Offspring • Ignition • Smash • Ixnay on the Hombre • Americana • Conspiracy of One • Splinter • Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace EPs Baghdad • They Were Born to Kill • Club Me • A Piece of Americana Compilations The Offspring Collection • Greatest Hits Videos and DVDs Americana • Huck It • Complete Music Video Collection Singles "I'll Be Waiting/Blackball" • "Come Out and Play" • "Self Esteem" • "Gotta Get Away" • "Smash It Up" • "All I Want" • "Gone Away" • "Cool to Hate" • "The Meaning of Life" • "I Choose" • "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" • "Why Don't You Get a Job?" • "The Kids Aren't Alright" • "She's Got Issues" • "Original Prankster" • "Want You Bad" • "Million Miles Away" • "Defy You" • "Hit That" • "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" • "Spare Me the Details" • "Can't Repeat" • "Hammerhead" • "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" • "Kristy, Are You Doing Okay?" • "Half-Truism" Related articles Discography • Awards • Epitaph Records • Nitro Records • Columbia Records • Punk rock in California Related bands Angels & Airwaves • Face to Face • Saves the Day • Steady Ground