Kick Him When He's Down

I think this song is about sticking up for yourself when things get tense and chaotic. It seems like the song was written about a real life situation, and the repeated reference to the "little men" refers to the crowd or the bystanders. Sometimes in group fights, you get a situation where multiple people express one side of it, piling down on a defenseless person because there's a window to do it. However, the winner is the one who can take on multiple people at once, and emerge from the fight with no regrets or remorse:

"Beat me all the way I'll take it all night Kick him when he's down Hey, don't worry, I'll get along home alright"

Dexter Holland is blending the singular first person view as the one being "kicked when they're down" with the view of the angry mob, the second person view. It's as if his survival in a dog-eat-dog world depends on looking for a good opportunity to strike his enemies. It's probably a song about planning revenge.

[Edit: chorus line is second person, not plural 3rd person.]

I absolutely LOVE this song... same kinda meaning as Smash: be yourself, don't be like everyone else. My fave line is "Hey, everybody's supposed to be the same, so how come they're so lame? It's like taking a fall, keep on running back into that wall" That line is probably one of my favorites, ever, even though this song isn't my absolute favorite (it's up there though). AWESOME song.

Yeah id say battybat nailed it there, you get this vibe a lot in offspring songs, does it bother us NOPE because theyre all cool. Natty song

This is my 2nd favorite Offspring song. battybat already explained it, so I don't have to.

I'm sure you all knew this, but Vultures was actually written before this song, and this song was an evolutuion of it. This one just wasn't scraped at first.

yeh id agree with batty, my previous theory was corporaions kickin the little man out of the competion , 'little man tries, dont get a lot don't get alot done', but find no peace from their success. But batty's explantion seems more feasable.

dope sound dope song doope band HEY EVERYBODIES SUPPOSED 2 BE THE SAME WELL HOW COME THEY'RE SOOOOO LAMEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! b uRSElF!!!!!!!!

my all time favorite offspring song, it'll never get old to me.

i listen to this when i'm feeling somewhat frustrated with friends or people i know. i actually listened to it a lot when thinking about this girl who had turned out to be a huge mistake. "hey you're a riddle i say as i move aside, like i really need your advice" is a freakin great line. for me it was like saying that to the girl, but i really don't think it has much to do with the song. i really think the nail has already been hit on the head, it's a sarcastic look at a society which makes one feel oppressed or not in control, i get the feeling he's talking to the "big-wigs" of the society with this song.

either way it's obviously about somebody making him feel like sh*t and he's sarcastically saying, "yeah, don't worry about me, i'll make it home alright, it's alright"

police brutality, particularly in the context of the la race riots.

I think this song is about being paranoid...