Credit: Daveed BenitoThe Offspring's upcoming album Let the Bad Times Roll has been in the works for some time now, but its title track feels right on time.
The song "Let the Bad Times Roll," which was released as the record's lead single in February, seems to reflect the state of the world over the past year, though guitarist Noodles tells ABC Audio it was written "right before" the COVID-19 pandemic.
"[The] pandemic just kinda brought those lyrics into sharper focus, I think," he says.
Noodles describes "Let the Bad Times Roll" as being about "world leaders that seem to want to make things worse by dividing us rather than keeping us together."
"Not just here in the U.S., but really all over the world we're seeing that," Noodles says. "So we're kind of looking at all the social unrest coming from that, from world leaders that want to make problems worse rather than bring people together."
Musically, Noodles feels that the "dark" verses contrasted with the "dance-y" choruses, reflecting the song's message.
"We kinda wanted to look at what's going on in the world around us, but then also kinda go, 'Oh, well, what are you gonna do? Might as well dance!'" he says.
Overall, Noodles wanted "Let the Bad Times Roll" to be a song of hope.
"We're pretty hopeful as human beings," Noodles says of himself and his band mates. "So even while we're pointing out that things are really messed up in the world right now, we're still hopeful that they're gonna get better."
"There's things that we can change, and then when you can't change, you gotta roll with the punches, you know?" he adds. "Let the bad times roll."
Let the Bad Times Roll the album is due out April 16.
(Video contains uncensored profanity.)
By Josh Johnson
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