First Date

Written and sung by blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge, this song is about a guy going on a date with somebody he really likes and wants to impress, but he doubts himself because he isn't perfect. It was based on DeLonge's angst-ridden first date at with his future wife Jennifer Jenkins at SeaWorld in San Diego. "Every dude gets nervous whether we admit it or not," he explained in a tour program. "I thought about the first date I had with my lady and put every one of those feelings in this song. I always envy girls. If they want a kiss, it's super easy, they just open their face and do it. For a guy, you have to hope to God she wants one. If not, you are a chump and you go home a wounded soldier. Has anyone ever kissed someone with bad breath? Don't ever kiss someone who eats dog s--t."

Going into their fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants And Jacket, DeLonge and his bandmates - bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker - had different goals about how the album should sound. Hoppus wanted to emulate their pop-punk smash Enema Of The State, while DeLonge wanted to go heavier and more guitar-driven, and Barker wanted to challenge himself beyond punk-rock. Despite their differences, they managed to crank out a collection of songs that Hoppus described as "catchy, but with a definitive edge." But when the band played the album for their manager, he wasn't convinced and thought they needed a hit single - "That Blink-182 good-time, summer-anthem thing.'" The band was offended by the suggestion, but their ire ultimately fueled two of the album's hit singles. Hoppus recalled their response in the album's liner notes: "'You want a f--king single? I'll write you the cheesiest, catchiest, throwaway f--king summertime single you've ever heard!' I drove home, grabbed my guitar, sat on the floor, and wrote 'The Rock Show' in 10 minutes. Tom drove home, grabbed his guitar, and wrote 'First Date.'"

Take Off Your Pants And Jacket was the first punk-rock album to debut at #1 in the US, and it was also blink-182's first #1 album.