"Dammit" | ||||
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Single by Blink-182 | ||||
from the album Dude Ranch | ||||
Released | September 23, 1997 | |||
Format | CD | |||
Recorded | December 1996–January 1997 Big Fish Studios (Encinitas, California) |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 2:45 | |||
Label | ||||
Writer(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Mark Trombino | |||
Blink-182 singles chronology | ||||
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"Dammit" (sometimes subtitled "Growing Up") is a song by American rock band Blink-182, released on September 23, 1997 as the second single from the group's second studio album, Dude Ranch (1997). Written by bassist Mark Hoppus, the song concerns maturity and growing older. It was written about a fictional breakup and the difficulty of seeing a former partner with another.
The song became the band's first hit single, reaching number 11 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and receiving heavy airplay on several key US stations in 1998. The song's music video was shot by directors Darren Doane and Ken Daurio, previous collaborators with the group, and depicts the trio attending a "sneak preview" at a cinema where Hoppus attempts to win his ex-girlfriend back. "Dammit" was later featured on the band's Greatest Hits (with a drumroll added), and it has been covered by a number of artists.
Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus wrote the song in a short span of time concerning a fictional breakup with a girlfriend. Hoppus described a scenario, detailed in the lyrics, where former lovers meet in public and one is with someone new. "It really hurts when you aren't the person feeling the love, but you have to act like it's cool to save face," he said in 1998. He felt the song's creation, which was spontaneous, worked to its favor: "If you work on a song for weeks and weeks, you're forcing it." The signature guitar line for "Dammit" was created on an acoustic guitar that was missing two strings. Guitarist Tom DeLonge considered the song a breakthrough in the band's songwriting.
The song was recorded between December 1996–January 1997 at Big Fish Studios in Encinitas, California. The song was written just outside Hoppus' vocal range, requiring him to strain to sing it (the song has a noticeably rougher and scratchier vocal track than the rest of the album). Hoppus was having vocal problems during the recording of the album regardless, due to lack of vocal warm-ups and constant smoking. These factors, combined with the stress of recording "Dammit", led Hoppus to strain his vocal cords significantly, forcing the band to cancel the final week of recording the album in December 1996. "I actually like my voice a lot on 'Dammit'. It sounds really raw and cool," said Hoppus in 2001. "But it's not a technique I would recommend for getting a good vocal sound. You know, smoking, yelling, all that." As a result of this incident, the chorus has always been sung by Tom DeLonge in live performances. Guitarist/vocalist Matt Skiba would also take the lead on the chorus after replacing DeLonge in 2015.