"Re-Offender" is a song by Scottish
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band
Travis, released as the first single from their fourth studio album, ''
12 Memories
''12 Memories'' is the fourth studio album from Scottish alternative rock band Travis. The album was released on 11 October 2003 on Epic Records. In comparison to their other works, the album is more lyrically dark, focusing on issues such as ...
''. It was released as a single in the UK on 29 September 2003 and peaked at number seven on the
UK Singles Chart. The song featured in two episodes of
One Tree Hill and is included in the compilation album
One Tree Hill – Music from the WB Television Series, Vol. 1.
Background
Re-Offender is about singer
Fran Healy's dad's abusive behaviour towards to his mum. In a 2020 interview with
Jaxsta
Jaxsta is an Australia-based database of official music credits, including performers, artists, engineers, producers and songwriters. Jaxsta's data is content-owner supplied rather than crowd-sourced.
History
Jaxsta was founded in Sydney in 20 ...
, Healy revealed he had asked his mum why she stayed in the relationship for so long: 'She just always said the same thing: ‘He said, “I’m so sorry, I’ll never do it again.”’ And then he did it again.'
The song reflects the darker themes of 12 Memories compared to the band's previous releases. In August 2003 Healy told NME: “I’ve always written about love and now that I’ve found that I’ve unblocked that particular thing. I’m writing about different things now. I had to change the subject matter. I’ve changed the whole way I approach songwriting".
NME retrieved 27/06/2023
Music video
The music video depicts the band playing small venues in and around Glasgow. In the beginning the band are travelling in the same car but after several fall-outs and physical fights by the end the band are each travelling in separate vehicles. The video was directed by Anton Corbijn
Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...
.
Track listing
* UK CD1
# "Re-Offender" – 3:47
# "Definition of Wrong" – 2:44
# "Enemy" – 3:22
* UK CD2
# "Re-Offender" – 3:47
# "The Sea" – 4:18
# "Don't Be Shy" – 4:46
* 7" vinyl
# "Re-Offender" – 3:47
# "Definition of Wrong" – 2:44
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2003 singles
2003 songs
Independiente (record label) singles
Song recordings produced by Tchad Blake
Songs written by Fran Healy (musician)
Travis (band) songs