NOFX cover a lot of ground in this song, which is about social decline in American society. Most of their songs are about two-minutes long, but "The Decline" lasts more than 18 minutes, giving lead singer Fat Mike plenty of time to elaborate. Mike makes the case that Americans have gotten dumber, and he puts the the blame on religion (Christianity, in particular), violence, and greed. The song was released in 1999 when Bill Clinton was president. His successor, George W. Bush, nearly sent Mike over the edge.
NOFX released "The Decline" as a one-track EP, at least on the CD version. Vinyl records have to have something on the other side, so they used an alternate version of an earlier song called "Clams Have Feelings Too."
It is rumored that NOFX did to Pink Floyd's movie The Wall what Pink Floyd did to The Wizard of Oz. On the front of NOFX's CD The Decline, there is a young boy holding a plane. In the movie The Wall, a young boy holding a plane appears in the movie about 16 minutes in. Coincidence? You can try it yourself (there are a few more coincidences, such as a gun when he's singing about a gun, explosions on beat...), all you have to do is play the movie, and at the Lion's second roar start the song. Nothing will happen for a few minutes, but just wait, it is kind of cool. What I thought was the best is when the song gets slower, and the film changes to a mellow scene for the exact amount of time. When the movie gets full of action, and explosions, the music picks up.
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