Songfacts®:

• "Leave It Alone" is a sardonic commentary on how most of us conform to conventional rules and norms instead of challenging them. Frontman Fat Mike spends most of the song explaining that it's best to just "leave it alone," since there's no use fighting it. But by the end of the song, it's clear he's being sarcastic when he sings, "Roll over and shake and beg for the bone." If we follow along, we're just like well-trained dogs.
• This was released as a single from NOFX' Punk In Drublic album, released in 1994 when The Offspring and Green Day were taking punk rock mainstream, bringing bands like NOFX along for the ride. It's a song that certainly could have charted if NOFX marketed it to do so, but they made a conscious decision to repel any promotional opportunities they found degrading. This meant no radio station concerts and limited interviews. And it meant staying on their indie label, Epitaph Records, instead of moving to one of the major labels that wanted to sign them.
  
  It worked out well for the band because they kept their autonomy and their fan base, which remained very supportive throughout the rest of their run (their final tour began in 2023). Green Day and The Offspring also endured, but in a different lane than NOFX was comfortable with.
• NOFX made a video for this song, but didn't supply it to MTV. This was mostly retaliation for the band never playing their earlier videos back when they really could have used the exposure. Now that punk was exploding and MTV wanted NOFX on their airwaves, the band felt they didn't need their help. They didn't make another video for another 12 years.