The Decline

The Decline is a single 18-minute song from NOFX, released on 23 November 1999 through Fat Wreck Chords. The CD carried only the title track, while the vinyl added a different version of "Clams Have Feelings Too" from Pump Up the Valuum on the B-side. Lars Nylander of Skankin' Pickle plays trombone.

It is a satire of American politics and law, taking aim at complacency, indifference, gun violence, drug use, conformity, eroded constitutional rights and the religious right. The lyrics are loosely stitched together, but the idea of a country in decline holds them together. The band said the idea came from Subhumans, and that making it was a nightmare, with three return trips to the studio and four remixes and remasters. They did it, they said, simply to try something different after plenty of short songs. It stayed with them: it was the last song of their final show, on 6 October 2024 in San Pedro.