Pull up your iTunes, Play Music, or you use for your music library.  Sort your song by number of plays.  What comes out on top?

It might not be your favorite song or your favorite band.  The chances are that you can’t make a good argument as to the song’s quality.  But it is the most played song in your library.

For me, it’s a song that has dominated my library playlist for years: “Original Prankster” by 90’s California pop punk band The Offspring. You know… those guys who weren’t Green Day.  The Offspring hit it pretty big in a formative time in my life, namely college, and thus for good or for ill are indelibly imprinted in my mind.

The song has been played a total of 251 times. Oddly, it only has a tenuous lead.  Number 2 is “Lean On” by Major Laser, played 250 times.  “Original Prankster” was originally released in 2000 on the album Conspiracy of One.  It’s a tribute to practical jokers and goofs with repeated words and references to Janet Reno, Prozac, and Son of Sam.  Basically, it’s the Gen-X’s version of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” but far more nonsensical.

It’s not a good song.  It’s loud, brash, and not that well-crafted.  (Dexter Holland’s voice is distinct, but it’s not pleasant.). With lines like “You gotta keep your head up through it all”, though, it works as a pick-me-up and a sing-a-long for the drive home.  Plus Redman does some catchy additional vocals.

So, Guacs, what’s the number one song in your library, and why is it there?