All the Small Things

This song was written for Tom Delonge's wife Jennifer Jenkins, she complained that he always wrote songs about other girls, so he wrote this one for her. He was worried it would be really shit and she would be annoyed so he kept telling her that it was really terrible but turned out to be a hit! And for the lyrics "she left me roses by the stairs" is actually true, when Delonge was working late Jenkins left him roses on top of the stairs :-)

The whole meaning of the song is summed up in the first two lines:

"All the small things True care, truth brings"

The theme of "All the Small Things" addresses the importance of caring about others and showing them how important they are, even in the smallest way, because sometimes the "smallest way" can make all the difference in the world to someone. If we were to look directly at the plot, the song tells the story of a young man (the narrator) who has someone close to him (probably a girlfriend, best friend, or relative) who shows him his importance in his/her life and how much he/she cares about him with his/her small actions, and these actions ultimately make the narrator feel better about himself because he learns that his true value as a person is priceless. The two verses includes three examples:

1. "I'll take one lift Your ride--best trip"

Here, the person offers the narrator a simple car ride somewhere -- perhaps somewhere as common as the grocery store -- and he feels so grateful that the car ride seems like the best thing in the world.

2. "Always, I know You'll be at my show Watching, waiting, Commiserating"

This quote obviously references the boys' feelings about being on tour and away from their homes all the time. As far as the song goes, the person shows his/her loyalty to the narrator by going to one of his concerts and watching him perform and supporting him, no matter how the show goes.

3. "Late night, come home Work sucks, I know She left me roses by the stairs Suprises let me know she cares"

Here, the narrator tells that he's had a bad day and he's ready for it to end, but when he arrives home he finds a package of roses on his stairs left by his girlfriend (no mysteries as to the identity of the person in this verse), and suddenly the whole day seems worth while.

Now for the chorus:

"Say it ain't so; I will not go Turn the lights off; carry me home"

Whether it be to the store, the rock show (ha-ha!), or work, the narrator does NOT want to go anywhere but home. The idea of "home" is often associated with being around people who care about you, therefore, he wants to be with people who care about him. Furthermore, he implies that he is exhausted (possibly from being around uncaring people all day) and when it comes time to leave wherever he is (thus "turn the lights off"), he cannot be forced to "go" anywhere else -- he must be "carried" home by someone who cares about him.

Finally, the end:

"Keep your head still I'll be your thrill The night will go on My little windmill"

Adding to the second verse, this part of the song implies the person to be the narrator's girlfriend (though the caring person could actually be a mixture of girlfriends, friends, and relatives of blink-182). Taking this to be the case, he tells her to relax a bit ("keep your head still") while he returns the care that she's shown him all day ("I'll be your thrill"). The narrator then says that after the long, hard day is finished (brought back from "turn the lights off" in the chorus), they still have the long, easy night ("The night will go on"). To round the whole song off, he addresses her as his "little windmill," implying that she provides him with the power and energy to continue his life, much like a windmill provides power and energy for towns and farms.

Overall, "All the Small Things" stands as a rare catchy-but-meaningful radio tune. Who cares if it's punk, pop, neither, or both? It has HEART, and that's what matters.

All you guys who think that Blink 182 are posers or sellouts or not punk... dont you have anything better to do with your time than post these things? Jeez... get a hobby or a job or something... And besides, even if they are "pop" or "sell-outs", who cares? Does you calling them pop change the value of their music? You seem to be limiting yourself to the fact that if they're not labeled "punk", then they're automatically not good...? Try new things, if you don't like it oh well, but we don't want you here dissing these bands... just cuz YOU think they suck...

Anyway... this song is great... No matter if they sold out or not... One of their best...

and does it really matter what category they fall under? categorising stuff is so goddam stupid. if you like it you like it. the end.

So glad they're back together :)!

i totally just got that this song is about the small things people do to show they care wow i never got that until now, 8 years after i first heard this song haha

Pretty sure this is about a guy whose girl friend does all these small things that are nice and he apprciates them. :)

i freaked on nobody, and dont tell me who i can and cannot defend!!!!!!

This song aint their best although it's what made them popular. They're so many versions of punk. I think they're fast-punk type. And they can't be like BSB just cause' they talk about girl probs. Enema wasnt that great, too poppy. Thank God the new album sounded so much better. Blink's punk and they aint sell-outs.

I really like this song, it's one of my favorites. it's so simple yet so good. i don't think that they're posers, i think that blink-182 made really good music. if they became popular, it's because their music is good, and they are very sucessful, they are really a one of a kind band, they are themselves.