10 Love Songs That Are Actually Incredibly Dark

Punk rock is never really a genre that prides itself on its love songs all that often. Going through the back catalog of bands like the Ramones and the Clash, there are a lot more songs about nihilism and horror movies than the love-focused songs that make it to the top of the charts. Given how the Offspring wrote about love songs though, you can understand why they might not be writing for the ladies every time they enter the rehearsal room.

While most people remember Self Esteem from the now iconic 'ra ra' opening chorus, the guy at the center of this song is clearly going into a relationship that is toxic as hell. Going through every line of this song, this guy is being manipulated in whatever way he can, staying with his old flame for carnal reasons and then being shot down when he's looking for something more. There's no sugarcoating the issues here either, since Dexter Holland straight up tells us that he's being used and choosing to go along with it anyway.

There isn't a clear resolution to this relationship either, as Dexter is hung out to dry and then wondering why this girl ends up sleeping with all of his friends whenever she's not with him. In his eyes, it's better to suffer than to actually find happiness at all. You can try to stand up for yourself if you want to, but do you really want to live the life of a dweeb?