Songfacts®:

• Suffering is a common theme in punk rock, but it's usually the punk rockers who are suffering under the weight of their oppressors. Bad Religion look at it from a different angle on this song, which is summed up in the chorus:
  
  The masses of humanity have always had to suffer
  
  The song takes a broad, historical look at suffering and sees that it's an inevitable outcome in just about any society. All those people you see everyday are suffering just like you, just in different ways.
• The song was co-written by Bad Religion lead singer Greg Graffin and guitarist Brett Gurewitz. They elevated the punk rock genre with songs that were more melodic and had some real depth in their lyrics. Graffin went on to earn a PhD in zoology and lecture at UCLA. He was always keenly interested in how societies interact.
• "Suffer" is the title track to the third Bad Religion album, a key release in the history of punk rock. The band's first two albums were released in 1982 and 1983 when the Los Angeles punk scene was gaining momentum. The scene was decimated by crackdowns at the clubs, which left it for dead in the mid-'80s. When Bad Religion released Suffer, it helped revive the genre and inspired a fresh wave of bands, many of whom signed to Brett Gurewitz' label, Epitaph Records. Rancid and The Offspring led the way.
• NOFX is one of the most successful bands that was signed to Epitaph Records and produced by Brett Gurewitz. Their frontman, Fat Mike, used this song as motivation to write insightful, carefully constructed lyrics. "'Suffer' by Bad Religion has some of the greatest lyrics I've ever read," he said in a Songfacts interview.