Anthem Part Two
{{Infobox song
| name = Anthem Part Two
| cover =
| type = song
| artist = Blink-182
| album = Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
| released = {{Start date|2001|06|12}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Pop punk
| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=47}}
| label =MCA
| writer =
| producer = Jerry Finn
}}
"Anthem Part Two" is a song by American rock band Blink-182 from the band's fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) and a sequel to "Anthem" from Enema of the State (1999). It was written primarily by guitarist Tom DeLonge, with additional songwriting credit to bassist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Travis Barker. A sequel to this song, "Anthem Part 3", was released as the opening track of their ninth studio album One More Time... (2023).
"Anthem Part Two" explores teenage rebellion, placing blame on parents for adolescent mischief. Music critics were mixed in their impressions of the song; some found it enjoyable while others considered it formulaic.
Background
Blink-182 attracted mainstream recognition with its 1999 album Enema of the State, which sold five times platinum domestically and influenced a host of pop punk bands.{{cite journal |last=Frehsée |first=Nicole |date=March 5, 2009 |title=Pop-Punk Kings Blink-182: Reunited and Ready to Party Like It's 1999 |journal=Rolling Stone |issue=1073 |page=20 |publisher=Wenner Media LLC |location=New York City |issn=0035-791X |url=http://www.nicolefrehsee.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/R1073Blink182.pdf |accessdate=January 12, 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013023818/http://www.nicolefrehsee.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/R1073Blink182.pdf |archive-date=October 13, 2013 }} Its follow-up, 2001's Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, followed a similar path, hitting number one on the Billboard 200.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/79358/blink-182-opens-at-no-1-sugar-ray-debuts-high|title=Blink-182 Opens At No. 1, Sugar Ray Debuts High|date=June 2001|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=January 12, 2021}} For the project, the trio aimed to make a groovier, less polished effort than its predecessor; central points of inspiration included post-hardcore acts like Fugazi and Refused.{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=104603&page=1|title=Blink-182 Drops Its Pants|first=Gary|last=Graf|date=May 24, 2001|website=ABC News|accessdate=January 12, 2021}} "Anthem Part Two" track takes its title from the final song on Enema, "Anthem"; it serves as a sequel and logical continuation of similar themes.
Though credited to all three band members, "Anthem Part Two" was largely composed by DeLonge. Hoppus has considered the song among DeLonge's best: "The intro still gives [me] chills," he wrote on Twitter in 2020, singling out its "stab of guitars and drums with the arpeggiated guitar line" as a highlight.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/markhoppus/status/1254965811615158272|title=@markhoppus on Twitter|date=April 21, 2020|website=Twitter|accessdate=January 12, 2021}} To write the song, DeLonge explored his memories of high school:
{{cquote|"I do journey back every once in a while. I'll just put myself in that spot and say, 'What was I feeling at that moment?' For ["Anthem Part Two"], I was thinking about how when I was in high school, I got kicked out for drinking. And I didn't even drink a lot. I drank, like, once, and I got caught. My parents were ultra conservative and they just went berserk on me. And I remember going, 'Hey, if I'm really that messed up as a kid, then you guys should be blaming yourselves a little bit too and not taking it all out on me.'"{{cite news|url=https://www.seattlepi.com/ae/music/article/Blink-182-is-older-but-still-mining-teen-issues-1062866.php|title=Blink 182 is older but still mining teen issues|first=Michael|last=Mehle|date=August 16, 2001|newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|agency=Scripps Howard News Service|access-date=January 12, 2021}}}}
Lyrically, the song explores parental responsibility and adolescent frustration.{{cite news|url=https://www.mcall.com/news/mc-xpm-2001-09-01-3368392-story.html|title=Spotlight on Blink 182 – Band takes song craft seriously; saves antics for fans at concerts.|first=Alan|last=Sculley|date=September 1, 2001|newspaper=The Morning Call|access-date=January 12, 2021}} Its chorus places blame for teenage misconduct squarely on parents, declaring, "If we're fucked up, you're to blame." The song's rebellious verses claim "We need guidance, we've been misled / Young and hostile but not stupid."{{cite news|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2001/08/04/a-rock-show-rebellion/|title=A rock show rebellion|first=Gina|last=Vivinetto|date=August 4, 2001|newspaper=Tampa Bay Times|access-date=January 12, 2021}} During the song's bridge, DeLonge repeats with increasing intensity that "everything has fallen to pieces."{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-18-ca-46838-story.html|title=Blink-182 Gets Back to Its Punk Business|first=Randy|last=Lewis|date=September 18, 2001|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=January 12, 2021}} Variety writer Troy J. Augusto interpreted the lyrics as a "cry out for leadership in a seemingly out-of-control world."{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2001/music/reviews/blink-182-3-1200469847/|title=Blink-182|first=Troy J.|last=Augusto|date=September 20, 2001|newspaper=Variety|access-date=January 12, 2021}} According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing America, "Anthem Part Two" is written in common time with a tempo of 207 beats per minute, and is set in the key of C major. DeLonge's vocal parts span from c{{music|sharp}}5 to G5.{{cite web|title=Digital Sheet Music – Blink-182 – Anthem Part Two|url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0083223|publisher=Musicnotes.com/Kobalt Music Publishing America, Inc.|year=2011|last1=Hoppus|first1=Mark|last2=DeLonge|first2=Tom|last3=Barker|first3=Travis}}
Upon their reunion with Tom DeLonge in 2022, the band recorded a sequel to the song titled "Anthem Part 3" for their 2023 album One More Time...
Reception
File:Julien Baker (27945067238).jpg
Critical reception towards "Anthem Part Two" was mixed. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune identified "Anthem Part Two" as an example of the group's subtle "undercurrent of seriousness and an attention to songcraft."{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2001-12-07-0112070419-story.html|title=Blink-182 just wants to have fun|first=Greg|last=Kot|date=December 7, 2001|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=January 12, 2021}} Kyle Ryan, writing for The A.V. Club called it "one of Jacket{{'s}} best songs, with a massively catchy four-chord chorus and just the right amount of self-righteous rebellion for teenagers to sing along."{{cite news|url=https://www.avclub.com/blink-182-took-punk-to-no-1-for-the-first-time-with-a-1798241295|title=Blink-182 took punk to No. 1 for the first time with a masturbation pun|author= Kyle Ryan |date= October 8, 2013|newspaper=The A.V. Club|access-date=January 12, 2021}}
Darren Ratner, writing for Allmusic, considered it "irresistible," opining that it houses a "indomitable school-kid voice where a surging vapor of knockout speed chords meet wrecking-ball percussion."{{cite web|author =Darren Ratner |title= Take Off Your Pants and Jacket: Review |agency= AllMusic |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/take-off-your-pants-and-jacket-mw0000005671 |website =All Music Guide |access-date=January 12, 2021}} Among the more negative reviews, Aaron Scott of Slant Magazine found the song "rocking and almost musically interesting", but its content "dubious coming from three guys who are nearly 30."{{cite magazine|author=Aaron Scott |date=June 29, 2001 |title=Take Off Your Pants and Jacket: Review |magazine=Slant Magazine |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/blink-182-take-off-your-pants-and-jacket/19 |access-date=January 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022141714/http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/blink-182-take-off-your-pants-and-jacket/19 |archive-date=October 22, 2010 |url-status=dead }} Steven Wells at NME was derisive, bemoaning its "whiny vocals" and "brittle-boned punk-superlite guitar."{{cite journal|author=Steven Wells |date=June 18, 2001 |title=Take Off Your Pants and Jacket: Review |journal=New Musical Express |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/5230 |publisher=IPC Media |location=London |issn=1049-0434 |access-date=January 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202233519/http://www.nme.com/reviews/5230 |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |url-status=dead }} Joshua Klein of The Washington Post considered it too formulaic, describing its "cookie-cutter" arrangement as too similar to the band's past singles.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/06/20/lite-salad-days-with-blink-182/4c755683-bdde-47cd-a4e5-848408e58c8a/|title=Lite Salad Days With Blink-182|first=Joshua|last=Klein|date=June 20, 2001|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=January 12, 2021}}
In a 2020 piece for Nylon, Jack Barakat of All Time Low and Ryan Key of Yellowcard—both among the band's descendants—praised the song among their favorites of the genre. Key remarked: "The snare drum sounded like a shotgun. The sparkly clean guitar riff was such a different sound for a punk song. That whole record blew my mind at the time, but I’ve always put a lot of stock in album openers, and that song may be the best of any pop-punk record ever made."{{cite web|url=https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/10-pop-punk-artists-on-their-essential-pop-punk-tracks|title=10 Pop-Punk Artists On The Genre's Essential Tracks|work=Nylon|first=Ilana|last=Kaplan|date=November 20, 2020|accessdate=October 22, 2021}}
=Usage in media and other versions=
Director Richard Linklater selected "Anthem Part Two" to soundtrack a singular growing-up montage in his 2014 film Boyhood.{{cite news|url=https://slate.com/culture/2015/02/richard-linklaters-boyhood-how-the-director-used-pop-music-to-tell-the-story-of-mason-jr.html|title=I Can't Believe I Used to Like That Song|first=Jack|last=Hamilton|date=February 18, 2020|website=Slate|access-date=January 12, 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2014/06/all-the-songs-in-richard-linklaters-boyhood-including-arcade-fire-vampire-weekend-coldplay-wilco-more-84433/|title=All The Songs In Richard Linklater's 'Boyhood' Including Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend, Coldplay, Wilco & More|first=Kevin|last=Jagernauth|date=June 26, 2014|website=IndieWire|access-date=January 12, 2021}} Singer-songwriter Julien Baker in 2020 covered the song for Save Stereogum: An '00s Covers Comp, a digital compilation benefitting the music website. Justin Curto of the blog Vulture described it as a "tearjerker performance."{{cite news|url=https://www.vulture.com/2020/09/stereogum-2000s-covers-compilation-interview.html|title=How Stereogum Made the Best Covers Compilation of the Year|first=Justin|last=Curto|date=September 10, 2020|website=Vulture|access-date=January 12, 2021}}
Personnel
Adapted from the liner notes for Take Off Your Pants and Jacket.{{cite AV media notes | title=Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2013 Vinyl Reissue)| year=2013 | others=Blink-182 | type=liner notes | publisher=Geffen / Universal Music Special Markets | location=US | id=SRC025/SRC026/SRC027/SRC028}}
{{Div col}}
Locations
- Recorded at Signature Sound (San Diego, California) and Larrabee Studios West and Cello Studios (Hollywood, California)
Blink-182
- Mark Hoppus – bass guitar, vocals
- Tom DeLonge – guitars, vocals
- Travis Barker – drums, percussion
Additional musicians
Technical
- Jerry Finn – production
- Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
- Joe McGrath – engineering
- Joe Marlett – assistant engineer
- Ted Reiger – assistant engineer
- Robert Read – assistant engineer
- Femio Hernandez – mixing assistant
- Mike "Sack" Fasano – drum tech
- Brian Gardner – mastering
{{Div col end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Blink-182 songs}}
{{Blink-182}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Mark Hoppus