View source for Dumpweed

{{short description|1999 song by Blink-182}}
{{Infobox song|
| name     = Dumpweed
| cover    =
| alt      =
| type     =
| artist   = [[Blink-182]]
| album    = [[Enema of the State]]
| released = June 1, 1999
| format   =
| recorded =
| studio   =
| venue    =
| genre    = [[Skate punk]]
| length   = 2:23
| label    = [[MCA Records|MCA]]
| writer   = {{hlist|[[Mark Hoppus]]|[[Tom DeLonge]]}}
| producer = [[Jerry Finn]]
}}
{{Infobox song|
| name     = Dumpweed (Live)
| cover    = Dumpweed (Live).png
| alt      =
| type     = [[Promotional recording|Promotional single]]
| artist   = [[Blink-182]]
| album    = [[The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back)]]
| released = November 2000
| format   =
| recorded = November 4, 1999 at [[Bill Graham Civic Auditorium]], [[San Francisco, California]]<br />November 5, 1999 at [[Universal Amphitheatre]], [[Universal City, California]]
| studio   =
| venue    =
| genre    =
| length   = 2:50
| label    = [[MCA Records|MCA]]
| producer = [[Jerry Finn]]
}}

"'''Dumpweed'''" is a song by American [[rock music|rock]] band [[Blink-182]]. It is the opening track from their third studio album, ''[[Enema of the State]]'' (1999). A live version of the song was released as a [[promotional single]] in November 2000 supporting the band's live album ''[[The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back)]]''. The song explores frustration in relationships.

==Background==
Though credited to both guitarist [[Tom DeLonge]] and bassist [[Mark Hoppus]], the song was written and sung by DeLonge. The song originated as a collection of unrelated guitar riffs, which he considered "catchy and intricate but simple", bridged with what he felt was a "very [[nursery rhyme]]" riff to augment the verse. The song opens ''Enema of the State''; DeLonge, in the 2016 documentary ''The Pursuit of Tone'', felt it was a good indication of the direction the band was heading in, and called it "probably the best opener we've ever had."<ref>{{cite AV media |people=DeLonge, Tom |date=2016 |title=The Pursuit of Tone: Tom DeLonge |medium= television |time=22:50–24:32|publisher= Audience Music}}</ref>

"Dumpweed" explores frustration with women.<ref name=rs>{{cite magazine|last=Chonin|first=Neva|title=''Enema of the State''|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|issue=816|date=July 8, 1999|publisher =[[Jann Wenner|Wenner Media]] [[Limited liability company|LLC]]|location =[[New York City]] | issn =0035-791X | url =https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/enema-of-the-state-20030709 | access-date =April 10, 2017}}</ref> Gavin Edwards of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' summarized the song as "about an ambivalent guy imagining the pain and the freedom of breaking up with his girlfriend, set to an unstoppable staccato rhythm."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/punk-guitar-fart-jokes-blink-182-20000120|title=Punk Guitar + Fart Jokes = Blink-182|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|last=Edwards|first=Gavin|date=January 20, 2000|access-date=April 8, 2017}}</ref> It has been described "callow complaint about girls not always doing exactly what you wish they would" by ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]''{{'s}} Nitsuh Abebe.<ref name="newyork">{{cite magazine|title=Sentimental Education |last=Abebe |first=Nitsuh |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=September 25, 2011 |url=http://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/reviews/blink-182-abebe-2011-10/ |access-date=April 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212060841/http://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/reviews/blink-182-abebe-2011-10/ |archive-date=December 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref> The song is based around the hook "I need a girl that I can train," as in [[dog training]]. DeLonge explains the song in a 2000 tour booklet: "Girls are so much smarter than guys and can see the future as well as never forget the past. So that leaves the dog as the only thing men are smarter than."<ref name="tourprogram1">{{cite book |last=DeLonge |first=Tom |title=Blink-182: The Mark Tom and Travis Show 2000 Official Program|year=2000 |publisher=MCA Records |page = 14}}</ref> In an interview with [[MTV News]] the previous year, he clarified that the line did not refer to his girlfriend: "I got a lot of shit from her for that one."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/515428/blink-182-clean-up-their-act-on-new-lp/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407060434/http://www.mtv.com/news/515428/blink-182-clean-up-their-act-on-new-lp/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 7, 2015|title=Blink-182 Clean Up Their Act on New LP|publisher=[[MTV News]]|last=Wallace|first=Brian|date=June 21, 1999|access-date=April 8, 2017}}</ref>

The promo single prepends a [[masturbation]] joke from ''The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back)'' to the beginning of the track.<ref name="bb"/>

==Reception==
Michael Paoletta, in a review of the promotional live single in 2000 for ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', wrote that "stylistically, [the song] represents frantic, manic [[ska]] at its adolescent best."<ref name="bb">{{cite magazine|title=Reviews & Previews: Rock Tracks: Blink-182 – "Dumpweed"|editor=Michael Paoletta |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=November 11, 2000|page=31|volume=112|issue=46|issn=0006-2510|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5RAEAAAAMBAJ&q=dumpweed+blink&pg=PA31}}</ref> Chris Payne, reviewing the album fifteen years later in ''Billboard'', felt the track "serves as scintillating sample of the bubblegum angst to come — yelped hooks, pogo riffs and drums from Travis Barker that go off like popcorn in the microwave."<ref name=billboardreview2014>{{cite magazine| last =Payne| first =Chris| date =May 30, 2014| title =Blink-182's 'Enema of the State' at 15: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review| magazine =[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] | publisher =[[Prometheus Global Media]]| url =http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/6106269/blink-182-enema-of-the-state-15-anniversary-classic-track-by-track-album-review |access-date = April 10, 2017}}</ref> [[Kelefa Sanneh]], writing for ''[[the New Yorker]]'' in 2016, describes it as a "downright giddy farewell to a "nightmare" girlfriend."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/blink-182s-california|title=Blink-182: Punk for All Ages|last=Sanneh|first=Kelefa|author-link=Kelefa Sanneh|date=July 25, 2016|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|access-date=April 8, 2017}}</ref>

The song's central dog training metaphor has been the subject of criticism. "It's a nasty idea but the rest of the song makes it obvious he is the one at heel," wrote Ann Powers in her original review of the album for ''[[the New York Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/18/movies/album-of-the-week.html|title=Album of the Week|work=[[The New York Times]]|last=Powers|first=Ann|date=June 18, 1999|access-date=April 8, 2017}}</ref>

===Legacy===
[[Four Year Strong]] performed a cover of the song for the tribute album ''A Tribute to Blink 182: Pacific Ridge Records Heroes of Pop Punk'' (2005).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/13_pop_punk_bands_covering_other_pop_punk_bands|title=13 pop-punk bands covering other pop-punk bands|last=Crane|first=Matt|work=[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]|date=September 17, 2014|access-date=April 10, 2017}}</ref> [[All Time Low]] frontman Alex Gaskarth included the song as part of a playlist of "songs that changed your life" for ''[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]'' in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/24playlist|title=The Songs That Changed My Life: 24 Special Playlist|work=[[Alternative Press (music magazine)|Alternative Press]]|date=June 1, 2009|access-date=April 10, 2017}}</ref>

==Track listing==
# "Dumpweed" (Live) – 2:50
# "Interview With Blink-182" (Hosted By Michael Halloran)
# "Interview With Blink-182" (Answers Only -- No Host)

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Blink-182 songs}}
{{Blink-182}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1999 songs]]
[[Category:2000 singles]]
[[Category:Blink-182 songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Mark Hoppus]]
[[Category:Songs written by Tom DeLonge]]