First Date

Blink-182's manager Rick DeVoe walked into the studio during the Take Off Your Pants and Jacket sessions and told the band they needed another upbeat single. Tom DeLonge went home and wrote "First Date" in about twenty minutes, basing the lyrics on his own nervous early dates. Mark Hoppus, meanwhile, was writing "The Rock Show", the two songs ended up as the album's back-to-back singles, released just months apart in 2001.

The track opens with a fuzzy guitar riff that gives way to DeLonge's nasal delivery, describing a teenage boy trying not to mess things up: "In the car, I just can't wait / To pick you up on our very first date." It's classic Blink-182, fast power chords, a shout-along chorus, and a bridge that slows down before exploding back into the hook. Jerry Finn, who had produced Enema of the State, handled production, keeping the sound clean but punchy.

Released on September 21, 2001, the single climbed to number six on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart and stayed there for nearly six months. It also reached number four on the UK Rock Chart and number 31 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video, directed by The Malloys, ditched the band's usual skate-punk aesthetic for a 1970s setting: the three members play hippies driving a Volkswagen van, eventually getting into a food fight at a water park and getting kicked out. As of 2025, the video has over 230 million views on YouTube.[edit]