Original Prankster

The song follows a person and the pranks he pulls throughout his life. He is helped by the "Original Prankster", who is played by Reggie Noble, aka Redman, who also appears in the song's music video. For a period of time before the release of Conspiracy of One, The Offspring distributed the track for free as a downloadable MP3 file on their official website. A competition was held, featuring a prize of $1 million U.S. dollars awarded to a randomly selected participant who downloaded the song.

Track listing

Version 1

1. "Original Prankster"
2. "Come Out Swinging"
3. "Staring at the Sun (Live)"

Version 2

1. "Original Prankster"
2. "Dammit, I Changed Again"
3. "Come Out Swinging"
4. "Gone Away (Live)"
5. "Staring at the Sun (Live)"

Music video

The song follows the prankster, the subject of the song, through his life, pulling various crimes on his superiors. As a child, he slips his dog's faeces into his father's sandwich. In his teen years, he uses a bunsen burner on a perverted science teacher. When sent to the principal's office, he sets up the principal to be photoed molesting two students. Throughout this part of the video, the band is shown to be playing in a sunny beach setting.

Finally, in the present, he switches off the whole city's power supply, though the band still manages to play in the dark and the crowd use flares to light the scene. As the song ends, the prankster is suddenly hit by a bolt of lightning and dissolves.

References to popular culture

References in the song include Janet Reno and a line from the Adam Sandler comedy, The Waterboy: "You can do it!". The song also references David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, and his arson crimes. This song was also featured in the 2001 comedy The Animal.

Personnel

• Dexter Holland - Vocals/Guitar
• Noodles - Guitar
• Greg Kriesel - Bass
• Ron Welty - Drums
• Produced and mixed by: Brendan O'Brien
• Engineered: Nick Didia
• Mastered by: Eddy Schreyer
• Track 4 and Track 5 Recorded by: Russ Fowler at Wembley Arena