Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)
| Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) | |
|---|---|
| The Offspring | |
| publication | November 9, 1998 |
| length | 3:08 |
| Genre (s) | Punk rock |
| Author (s) | Dexter Holland |
| music | Dave Jerden |
| album | Americana |
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) ( english about for " Pretty fast (for a white guy) ") is a song by American punk rock - band The Offspring . The song is the first single from their fifth studio album, Americana, and was released on November 9, 1998.
content
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) is about a white wannabe gangster who culturally appropriates the hip-hop culture in terms of clothing and behavior , not because he really represents it, but because it is trending, which makes him stronger and stronger feels cooler. So he uses them for self-portrayal , assumes a false identity and imagines that he is better received by the girls.
Parts of the chorus are not sung by Dexter Holland , but by Chris Higgins, Nika Futterman and Heidi Villagran.
“The world loves wannabes , ah
Hey, hey, do that brand-new thing!
[...]
Give it to me, baby!
Uh huh, uh huh!
And all the girlies say
I'm pretty fly for a white guy ”
The intro of the four nonsense words "Gunter Glieben Glauten Globes" that German should sound is the song in 1983. Rock of Ages by Def Leppard ajar. They are used instead of the usual counting (“1, 2, 3, 4”).
production
The song was produced by music producer Dave Jerden and the lyrics were written by The Offspring singer Dexter Holland .
Music video
The music video for Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) was shot by the American director McG .
It shows a white youth, played by Guy Cohen, who wears typical hip-hop clothing (wide T-shirt, baseball cap, gold chain) and drives through the city in a lowrider , trying to impress other young people, especially African Americans . For example, he interrupts a breakdance performance and begins to dance himself, whereupon he is carried away by a group of girls and thrown into the pool at a pool party. In between, the band is shown playing the song in a room with light effects. When the teenager finally arrives home completely drenched, he doesn't even want to hug his little sister.
single
Cover design
The single cover is decorated with a picture drawn in comic style . It shows a pierced and tattooed person with a mark of anarchy on his clothing, whose foot is tied with a chain to an organ grinder played by a man. The picture is framed in red and on the left of the cover there are the yellow lettering The Offspring and Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) , each written from top to bottom.
Track list
- Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) (Album Version) - 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) - 3:01
- All I Want (Live) - 2:02
Chart successes
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) entered the German charts at number 30 on February 15, 1999 and three weeks later reached the highest position at number 2. In total, it stayed in the top 100 for 20 weeks, including nine weeks in the top 10. In the 1999 German annual charts, the single was 18th. The song was particularly successful in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Australia, where it topped the chart.
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Sales figures and awards
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) was awarded a gold record in 1999 for more than 250,000 sales in Germany . In the UK, it went platinum for more than 600,000 units sold in 2016 . With more than 1.6 million certified sales, it is the band's most commercially successful single.
| Country / Region | Award | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales) |
||
 Australia (ARIA)
|
 4 × platinum
|
280,000 |
 Belgium (BEA)
|
platinum
|
50,000 |
 Germany (BVMI)
|
 gold
|
250,000 |
 France (SNEP)
|
gold
|
250,000 |
 Italy (FIMI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
 Netherlands (NVPI)
|
gold
|
50,000 |
 Norway (IFPI)
|
2 × platinum
|
20,000 |
 Austria (IFPI)
|
gold
|
25,000 |
 Sweden (IFPI)
|
3 × platinum
|
90,000 |
 United Kingdom (BPI)
|
platinum
|
600,000 |
| All in all |
4 × gold 11 × platinum |
1,640,000 |
Main article: The Offspring / Music Sales Awards
Web links
- Lyrics with interpretations on genius.com
- German translation of the lyrics on golyr.de
- Music video on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Offspring - Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) - lyrics. genius.com, accessed September 29, 2019 .
- ↑ FAQ. In: home.wanadoo.nl. Archived from the original on August 15, 2010 ; accessed on October 3, 2019 .
- ↑ The Offspring - Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) (Official Video). youtube.com, accessed September 29, 2019 .
- ↑ The Offspring - Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) - single cover. amazon.com, accessed September 29, 2019 .
- ^ The Offspring - Pretty Fly (for a White Guy). officialcharts.de, accessed on September 29, 2019 .
- ↑ Top 100 annual single charts 1999. officialcharts.de, accessed on September 29, 2019 .
- ^ The Offspring - Pretty Fly (for a White Guy). hitparade.ch, accessed on September 29, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ a b c d 1999 annual charts: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Gold / platinum database. musikindustrie.de, accessed on September 29, 2019 .
- ^ BRIT Certified. bpi.co.uk, accessed September 29, 2019 .
