"Original Prankster" is a song by American rock band

the Offspring The Offspring is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland, Bryan "Dexter" Holland, ...

. It is featured as the third track from their sixth studio album, '' Conspiracy of One'', and was released as its first single on October 10, 2000. The song features additional vocals by Redman and is included on the band's 2005 '' Greatest Hits'' album. Prior to 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 (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

), which was awarded to a randomly selected participant who downloaded the song. "Original Prankster" reached the top 10 in several countries, including Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and went to the top 10 on the US and Canadian rock charts. The single went Platinum in Australia in 2001, becoming the third song by The Offspring to reach Platinum status in that country after " Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" and " Why Don't You Get a Job?."

Music video

The song follows the prankster, the subject of the song, through his life, pulling various pranks on his superiors, being motivated by Redman as a spiritual guide. As a

child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

, he slips his dog's

feces Feces (also known as faeces American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the ...

into his father's

sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

. In his teen years, he uses a bunsen burner on a perverted

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. When sent to the principal's office, he sets up the principal to be photographed in a compromising position with two students. Throughout the video, the band is shown to be playing around the Venice Fishing Pier in

Venice, Los Angeles Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

. 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

flare A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...

s to light the scene. At the end of the video,

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

strikes the prankster and disintegrates him.

Track listings

Version 1 Australia CD Maxi Promo CD

Personnel

The Offspring

* Dexter Holland – vocals, guitar * Noodles – guitar * Greg K. – bass * Ron Welty – drums

Additional musicians

* Redman – additional vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control The Offspring songs 2000 singles 2000 songs Columbia Records singles Comedy rock songs Epic Records singles Music videos directed by Dave Meyers (director) Songs written by Dexter Holland Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer)