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Research dossier · Arts & Letters

All the Small Things

original song written, composed, and performed by Blink-182

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ520856
Source-derived summary

"All the Small Things" is a song by the American rock band Blink-182. It was released in September 1999 as the second single from the band's third studio album, Enema of the State, through MCA Records. Built on bright, three-chord pop-punk and a "na na na" hook, the song was written primarily by guitarist Tom DeLonge as an ode to his girlfriend. He structured it as a deliberately simple, radio-ready pop song, drawing inspiration from the direct, melodic minimalism of the Ramones. The song was produced by Jerry Finn.

The accompanying music video, directed by Marcos Siega, became a defining element of the song's impact. It parodies the visual language of contemporary teen-pop acts such as the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, featuring exaggerated choreography, stylized beach photo shoots, and tongue-in-cheek recreations of boy-band tropes. The clip became a staple on MTV, where its self-aware comic sensibility and high rotation significantly expanded the band's audience. It also pushed the band into the pop spotlight they were skewering and sparked debate; some critics argued the line between spoof and participation had grown thin.

Upon release, "All the Small Things" quickly emerged as one of the era's most commercially successful pop-punk singles, charting internationally and propelling Blink-182 to mainstream stardom.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “All the Small Things” is original song written, composed, and performed by Blink-182. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Small, Things and original, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1999—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2000-01-18. For this dossier, Small, Things and original is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “original song written, composed, and performed by Blink-182” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q520856. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “All the Small Things”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow All the Small Things primary sources, All the Small Things archive and Small research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “All the Small Things”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from All the Small Things” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.