Wasting Time (Blink-182 song)

"Wasting Time"
Single by Blink-182
from the album Cheshire Cat
Released	June 28, 1996
Format	CD
Recorded	1994 at Westbeach Recorders, Los Angeles, California
Length	2:49
Label	Cargo Music / Grilled Cheese / Rapido
Writer(s)	Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge
Producer(s)	O (Otis Barthoulameu), Blink-182
Blink-182 singles chronology
"M+M's" (1995) "Wasting Time" (1995) "Dammit (Growing Up)" (1997)

"Wasting Time" is a song by American rock band Blink-182, released on June 28, 1996 as the second and final single from the group's debut studio album, Cheshire Cat (1995).

Background

An early version of "Wasting Time" appears on the band’s 1994 split 7-inch with the Iconoclasts, Short Bus.

"Wasting Time" largely centers on an attempt to gain the attention of a girl, to the point of writing a song about her. The line "In my town, you can’t drive naked" was suggested by engineer Jeff Forrest when Hoppus was recording vocals for the track at Doubletime Studios in San Diego. "Jeff never offered any further insight into what may have been the source material for this pro-active free association, and we never asked," remembered drummer Scott Raynor in 2010.

Mike Halloran of XETRA-FM and producer O considered "Wasting Time" to be the band's debut single, but chose "M+M's" instead. "Wasting Time" was released as a single by Cargo/Grilled Cheese in the summer of 1996, and was the final single from Cheshire Cat. It was released as an "Australian Tour EP", and contains early versions of two songs later re-recorded for the band's major label debut, Dude Ranch: "Lemmings" and "Enthused".

Reception

MTV News journalist James Montgomery wrote that "I grew up a Blink fan [...] I used to blare "Wasting Time" in my 1988 Caprice Classic and put it on a mixtape for my high school girlfriend."

Format and track listing

CD (1996)

1. "Wasting Time" – 2:46
2. "Wrecked Him" - 2:56
3. "Lemmings" - 2:50
4. "Enthused" - 2:43

Chart positions

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	90