Running Up The Charts - The Offspring and "(Can't Get My) Head Around You"

Another track that starts slow and explodes, "(Can't Get My) Head Around You" is two minutes of punk-rock bliss that keeps your heart pumping

Offspring - “(Can't Get My) Head Around You”

Chart peak:

• #6 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart (May 29, 2004)

Full disclosure: I love The Offspring. They were the band that opened my eyes to a world of music outside of my dad’s ‘60s and ‘70s wheelhouse and my mom’s 1980s radio-friendly pop standards. I remember the first time I heard the band’s timeless track “Self Esteem,” on a high school trip in the fall or winter of 1994 riding in a school van whose driver was fine with us blasting premade mix tapes of our favorite songs. The upperclassmen on the trip had a tape full of current alt-rock hits, and I remember just falling in love with the track right from the moment Dexter Holland’s obnoxious caterwauling gave way to the one-two punch of his and Noodles’ driving guitar riffs. I was hooked for life.

And don’t get me wrong: “Self Esteem” would be a really great track to have on a workout playlist. Indeed, most of The Offspring’s biggest alt-rock hits would do well on this or any collection of songs intended to push your run or lifting session into overdrive. But for whatever reason, this band hasn’t played a big role in my workout lists over the years. Maybe it’s because I treasure the diversity of voices and sounds that help complete an overall mood I’m trying to set with my workouts. It’s nice to have a wide collection of songs to keep things fresh. Or maybe these lists harken back to a time like my high school anecdote above, where you had to be selective about what songs you added to a list, because you only had so much tape available. Every track counts.

So while I count many of The Offspring’s songs among my all-time favorites, the one track I keep coming back to on my workout list is “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You,” a two-minute adrenalin rush I put up in my top tier of favorites and one that captures the essence of what I’m looking for in a workout song.

(As I type and retype the song’s name, I’m finding it cumbersome that the band used a completely unnecessary parenthetical in the track’s title. I’m further annoyed about this after composing a recent article about another song with another unnecessary parenthetical. Maybe I should create a playlist full of songs with unnecessary parentheticals, and then title the workout list something equally stupid, like “Unnecessary (Parentheticals) List.” But I digress.)

At first glance, “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You” doesn’t seem like it’s meant to pump you up lyrically. If anything, the song is kind of a downer at its core. Holland laments investing time in trying to figure out what’s going on with someone close to him, and agonizes over his inability to get a good read on that person’s emotions. It’s frustrating to him, and he goes through the song trying to come to grips with that frustration:

Deep inside your soul there's a hole you don't want to see
Coverin' it up like a cut with the likes of me
You know I've really tried, I can't do any more about you

And in the end, as the song reaches its all-too-quick climax, Holland screams and gives up trying to figure it out, admitting defeat and accepting the Sisyphean task of having to manage the toll of this person’s emotional baggage. A lesser man might give up, but even though it’s tough, he throws his hands up in the end and says, “Ah well, I guess I’ll never know, but I’ll keep trying anyway.”

Yeah, the cut's getting deeper
Yeah, the hill's getting steeper
I guess I'll never know what's really going on inside you

In that sense, the desire to give up out of frustration but continuing in the face of adversity makes this a perfect song for a tiring or difficult workout. As I continue to try to overcome the limitations of my age, weight, and relative lack of physical ability, it’s easy to want to give up at times. There’s a mental game at play, where your head wants to quit even if your body is capable of continuing. I often try to wrap my head around my mental reasoning for wanting to throw in the towel on a long run, but I push past it, even if I can never figure out how to overcome it. From that perspective, “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You” is the right song for you if you find working out to be especially challenging psychologically.

This song peaked at #6 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart as the second single off the album “Splinter,” whose first single “Hit That” will be the subject of a future MRT #1 article. It stayed on the charts for five months during the summer of 2004, ultimately earning a slot on the band’s greatest hits album the following year.

The Offspring has an amazing legacy and while “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You” may not rank near the top of their all-time biggest hits among mainstream rock and alternative fans, it’s one that’s near and dear to my heart. You can’t go wrong with any of the band’s music on your workout lists, but this one should find a spot there if you have the room.

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Running Progress - #DadBod2BeastMode

As I mentioned in my first “Running Up The Charts” article, I am training for a 10-mile race in September 2024 called “Beast On The Bay,” which is taking place 304 days from the date this article is published. I’ve been working out as frequently as life and time permits, but happy to say I’ve been consistent with my workout plan so far.

I haven’t run a 5k distance in a couple of weeks, owing to some disjointed scheduling issues, Halloween shenanigans, and the unwelcome return of Standard Time. I put together a couple of shorter runs over the past two weeks, but have also incorporated some weight lifting in the gym as well, so I’m still on track even if my focus shifted away from long runs recently.

When I post the next song in this series, I will report on my 5k distance progress and hopefully note continued improvement.

Do you have songs that you use in your workout playlist? Do you like “(Can’t Get My) Head Around You” as a workout song? What songs would you put on a playlist titled “Unnecessary (Parentheticals) List”? Let me know in the comments. I’m eager to hear more about the songs that inspire and ignite your workouts, or inspire you to compose titles with unnecessary parentheticals.