Will you remember this night?
Twenty years now lost.

Blink 182’s “Stay Together for the Kids” is one of their serious songs. Occasionally Blink put out a “serious” song; I believe this is when they did their best work. “Stay Together for the Kids” was one of these songs this pushed them into the discussion of best hard rock bands of the past 30 years or so. (They might appear again on this list).

Blink 182’s”Stay Together For the Kids” details a divorce from a child’s point of view.  The lyrics are one-sided and selfish: here the narrator is talking about a family breaking up and all he is talking about is his feelings. But that is the point of the song! He is taking us into the eyes of a young man who sees his parents divorcing and the child has many irrational thoughts. (And some not-so irrational thoughts). What we can sense is the anger in the vocals. That is why the song is a classic. It is able to capture a teenager’s rage while at the same time having an excellent melody.

The splitting of the lead vocals is a great twist. Hoppus voice comes across as the voice of reason during the versus. He says things things like “why can’t we fix this problem” whereas Delonge’s voice sounds like a spite-filled rage, blaming his family for ruining his life. It is perfect. Everyone, when dealing with a difficult situation feels with their heart and their head—and sometimes they say different things. Hoppus and Delonge attempt to give a voice to the conflicting feelings inside a young man who is about to lose his family.

Lyrics Stay Together For The Kids

It’s hard to wake up,
When the shades have been pulled shut.
This house is haunted
It’s so pathetic,
It makes no sense at all.
I’m ripe with things to say,
The words rot and fall away.
What stupid poem could fix this home,
I’d read it every day.

So here’s your holiday,
Hope you enjoy it this time
You gave it all away.
It was mine.
So when you’re dead and gone,
Will you remember this night
Twenty years now lost?
It’s not right!

Their anger hurts my ears.
Been running strong for seven years.
Rather than fix the problems
They never solve them
It makes no sense at all.
I see them everyday.
We get along, so why can’t they?
If this is what he wants
And this is what she wants
Then why is there so much pain?

So here’s your holiday.
Hope you enjoy it this time
You gave it all away.
It was mine.
So when you’re dead and gone
Will you remember this night
Twenty years now lost?
It’s not right!

So here’s your holiday.
Hope you enjoy it this time
You gave it all away.
It was mine.
So when you’re dead and gone
Will you remember this night
Twenty years now lost?
It’s not right.
It’s not right.
It’s not right.
It’s not right.

Written by: Mark Hoppus / Tom De Longe / Travis Barker / Travis L Barker (Blink 182)