Spare Me the Details

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“Spare Me the Details”
“Spare Me the Details” cover
Single by The Offspring
from the album Splinter
Released 2004
Format CD
Recorded 2003
Genre Pop punk, Acoustic rock
Length 3:24
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Dexter Holland
Producer Brendan O'Brien
The Offspring singles chronology
"(Can't Get My) Head Around You"
(2004)
"Spare Me the Details"
(2004)
"Can't Repeat"
(2005)

"Spare Me the Details" is the third and final single from The Offspring's 2003 album Splinter. It was released in New Zealand and Australia, but did not see releases in the USA or the UK. It peaked at #31 in the New Zealand Top 40. No music video was produced for the song, possibly because of dwindling interest in the album.

The song was in the top twenty most played songs on Australian radio for three years straight, despite not charting well there. This led to the song being included on the Australian version of the band's Greatest Hits compilation. It is also frequently played live in the band's shows there, reflecting its popularity in the area.

[edit] Composition and meaning

The song tells of the narrator's discovery that his girlfriend has been cheating on him. The first verse is somewhat light-hearted where the narrator calls his girlfriend a 'dumb donut' and does not seem to perturbed by the act. The chorus repeatedly states that the narrator does not really want to know about the cheating. In the second verse he describes how his friends have his best interests in mind, but the 'play-by-play makes [him] want to lose it', hence the title of the song. After the bridge where the song moves away from acoustic form, the narrator laments the loss of his girlfriend, 'wallowing in sorrow', 'missing the tomorrow that [they] could have had', before the song ends.