Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)
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| “Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)” | |||||
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| Single by The Offspring from the album Americana |
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| Released | November 24, 1998 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | 1998 | ||||
| Genre | Punk rock Funkcore |
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| Length | 03:08 | ||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||
| Writer(s) | Dexter Holland | ||||
| Producer | Dave Jerden | ||||
| The Offspring singles chronology | |||||
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| Alternate covers | |||||
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| Australian CD single cover | |||||
"Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" is a single, released by The Offspring, from their 1998 album Americana. It achieved significant pop and alternative radio play and popularity, peaking at number 53 on the US charts, number 1 on the UK charts and Australian charts. It is arguably The Offspring's most successful song commercially.
Beginning with a sample of the quasi-German nonsense phrase "Gunter glieben glauten globen" from Def Leppard's song "Rock of Ages," chanted as a replacement for the traditional "1, 2, 3, 4" to start the recording, the song ridicules a "wannabe gangsta" (or "wigger") who is immersed in hip-hop culture not because he truly loves it, but because it is trendy, makes him feel tough and makes it seem that he can get all the girls ("and all the girlies say I'm pretty fly - for a white guy"). The song openly mocks the middle-class suburban youths who listen to rap music for this reason.
In the music video, the "wigger" is played by Guy Cohen.
[edit] Track listing
Initial Pressing
- "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" (3:08)
- "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" (The Geek Mix) (3:07)
- "No Brakes" / "All I Want" (live)
Alternate Pressing
- "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" (3:08)
- "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" (The Geek Mix) (3:07)
- "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" (The Baka Boys Low Rider Remix) (3:03)
- "All I Want" (live)
[edit] References in Popular Culture
- The song came #1 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1998.
- The song was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as “Pretty Fly For A Rabbi” on his 1999 album Running with Scissors.
- Other parodies have been made, such as "Pretty Fly for a Jedi", "Pretty Fly for a Draenei" and others. They are frequently and incorrectly attributed to "Weird Al" Yankovic on file sharing networks.
- David and Goliath sells a T-shirt with the song's title (minus the parenthesis) on it.
- In Unreal Tournament, there is a hidden area on one of the maps, which showcases a picture of the lead map designer, CliffyB. It has the caption of “Pretty Fly...”. Shooting the picture instantly causes the text to change to "(For a white guy!)".
- Australian country music singer James Blundell performed a country version of the song as a "musical challenge" on the Andrew Denton Breakfast Show.
- An alternate version of the cover exists where the 'wigger' is in different attire, and the '31' tattoo is on his left arm rather than his right arm, like on the original. There is also an explicit language warning that does not exist on the normal single cover.
- The Nintendo DS game Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales makes a reference to this song by having a character say "You're pretty fly for a white mage."
| Preceded by "A Little Bit More" by 911 |
UK Singles Chart number-one single January 24, 1999 - 30 January |
Succeeded by "U Don't Know Me" by Armand Van Helden & Duane Harden |
| Preceded by The Whitlams No Aphrodisiac |
Triple J Hottest 100 #1s 1998 |
Succeeded by Powderfinger These Days |
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