In balls-out promotional mode for their Dogs Eating Dogs EP (out December 18), Blink-182 have offered a bittersweet second taste of the upcoming independent release. The cynical but sentimental “When I Was Young” starts out with an Arcade Fire-channeling pipe organ that gets kicked over by Tom DeLonge’s serrated power chords and Travis Barker’s skittish hi-hats. “It’s the worst damn day of my life / Made a mess today,” DeLonge whines, with bassist Mark Hoppus answering in deadpan, “It doesn’t hurt that much.”
Blink-182 have described their follow-up to 2011’s Neighborhoods as eclectic, and “When I Was Young” is a markedly different flavor than the previously teased Dogs track, the downer day-after-Christmas acoustic “Boxing Day.” As its title implies, the new song revisits childhood from an adult perspective: “When I was young / The world it was smaller / The cities were vast / The buildings were taller,” DeLonge recalls. “The memories, the burdens, the pictures we made / They still form a pattern / They cautiously say / Does it all matter?” I guess this is growing up.
Fans can pre-order the Dogs Eating Dogs EP at the band’s website.
