5 Most Overrated Songs By Decade

Most Overrated Song Of The '90s: "All the Small Things" - Blink 182

Don't get me wrong. I loves me some blink-182. Not only do I own six of their albums (seven if you count their latest EP), I even own the debut of Boxcar Racer, their experimental side-project. So you can trust me when I say that "All the Small Things" is a lesser blink-182 song. It falls prey to my usual complaint on this list: an unremarkable, somewhat lifeless melody, which is saying something for a fast punk band, but the biggest sin of all is the lyrics. The entire chorus, what's supposed to be the best part of the song, consists entirely of "Na-nas," what lyricists call "filler words" when they can't come up with real words (in the same family as "La-las," a la The Smurfs). This is the ultimate filler song, and when I first bought the album it came from, "Enema of the State," I actually used to skip this track, but then a funny thing happened: It became a massive hit. So huge, in fact, that it's probably the one they're most known for. (Peter Griffin even referenced it on Family Guy when trying to differentiate who sang it, Sum 41 or blink-182.) Over the years, I've come to begrudgingly accept this song's success and even leave it playing when my CD cues to this track, but for a real taste of what this band can do, listen to one of their earlier hits, "Dammit," which was also featured on the soundtrack to Can't Hardly Wait. The angry urgency of the music is perfectly balanced by the ironic lyrics of a relationship gone horribly, horribly wrong: "And you'll smile, and I'll wave/We'll pretend it's okay." And the chorus, as it should be, truly is the best part of the song: "And it'll happen once again/You'll turn to a friend/Someone who understands/Sees through the master plan." This "master plan" of trying to find true love through a minefield of rejection hit me hard in the chest when I first heard it in my early 20s. Despite being ensconced in the safety of a long-term relationship now, the younger me remembers how painful it was, and the song still resonates.