Josie (Blink-182 Song)

"Josie" (sometimes subtitled "Everything's Gonna Be Fine") is a song by American rock band Blink-182, released on November 17, 1998, as the fourth single from the group's second studio album, ''Dude Ranch'' (1997). "Josie" was primarily written by bassist Mark Hoppus about an idealized girlfriend, and the song includes references to the bands Unwritten Law and Dance Hall Crashers, bands the trio toured with between 1995 and 1996.

The single, which was remixed by Tom Lord-Alge, reached number 31 in Australia. The single remix of "Josie" was later featured on the band's ''Greatest Hits''. The music video for "Josie" stars Alyssa Milano as the object of Hoppus' affection in a high school setting. The original video was to depict the band performing on a sinking cruise liner, but the video was scrapped after filming.

It is the band's last single to feature drummer Scott Raynor.

Background

"Josie" is an ode to the perfect relationship companion. Bassist Mark Hoppus wrote the song imagining the ideal girlfriend; "It is about a common feeling that everyone can understand, which is being stoked on a girl," Hoppus told ''Billboard'' in 1998. Though the song is fictional, it was named after a dog owned by Elyse Rogers, vocalist for ska-punk quartet Dance Hall Crashers, whom Hoppus dated in the mid-1990s. Hoppus namedrops the band, as well as fellow Poway pop-punkers Unwritten Law, in the lyric "My girlfriend likes UL and DHC". The trio recorded a demo of the song with Warren Fitzgerald of the Vandals; this edition is featured in the 1996 surf film ''Drifting'', directed by filmmaker Taylor Steele.

Its final version was recorded with producer Mark Trombino for the band's second album, ''Dude Ranch'', between 1996–97. The song also alludes to Sombrero Mexican Food, a restaurant chain in San Diego, that the trio ate at frequently when recording.Hoppus, 2001. p. 70 The group later partnered with the chain with the lyrics emblazoned on shirts. The band wrote a sequel to the song, "Online Songs", for their 2001 album '' Take Off Your Pants and Jacket''.

The song is composed in the key of B major and is set in time signature of common time with a very fast tempo of 200 beats per minute. Hoppus's vocal range spans from G#₃ to F#₄. In Australia, the song spent eight weeks in the top 50 and 24 weeks in the top 100, where it peaked at number 31 on July 6.

Music video

For the group's third music video, the band attempted to take a more serious route and turned to director Jason Matzner and his collaborator Brendan Lambe. Hoppus' original idea was that the band would be playing on the deck of an old cruise liner as it sank. The band would play in real time as everything around them exploded in slow motion. Gradually, the ship would reach catastrophe ("people running, sparks flying, superstructure collapsing") before the ship sinks into the dark waters as the songs ends with the line "everything's gonna be fine." As that video would have cost the band's label, MCA, millions of dollars, an alternative was settled on: the band is performing in a basement when one musician hits a pipe with his guitar, causing the room to flood. The video was shot in the Universal Studios Lot and was director Matzner's first video. "Filming the first 'Josie' video was awful," Hoppus remembered in 2000. "We had to bring old equipment that we were willing to ruin." The trio were unhappy with the shockingly cold water, and DeLonge cut his head open on shrapnel that was floating around in water. When the band received the first edit, the band members decided to scrap it and start over. A snippet of the original video surfaced online in 2011.

The final music video for "Josie" was directed by Darren Doane

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