Songfacts®:

• Back in 1946, Louis Jordan declared "Let The Good Times Roll." Released a year after World War II, the bandleader just wanted to party. Now, 75 years later, faced with the COVID pandemic and problems with racism and segregation, the Offspring are asking us whether we want to do the opposite.
  
  Gonna build a wall, let you decide
  Apathy or suicide
  Oh, baby, let the bad times roll
  
  Vocalist Dexter Holland said: "Folks are saying, if it's all going to hell, we might as well make the most out of it, or at least go out swinging. 'Let The Bad Times Roll'!"
• This is one of The Offpring's more political tracks. Guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman told Minnesota radio station 93X he doesn't consider them a political band, but they do like to ask questions. "It could be about society, about personal relationships, or it could be about what we see happening in the world," he said. "In this case, it's what we see happening in the world on both the political stage and on the personal stage. So it's more kind of an expression of ideas that pose a question. At least that's what we're hoping for - rather than try to tell people what to think."
• Written in late 2019, The Offspring recorded "Let The Bad Times Roll" at various locations, including the band's studio in Huntington Beach, California. The band released the track on February 24, 2021, as the lead single and title track of their 10th studio album. It is the first original song dropped by the group since their 2015 standalone single "Coming For You."
• Bob Rock (Motley Crue, Metallica) produced the Let The Bad Times Roll album. The legendary producer helmed the previous two Offspring records, Days Go By and Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.
• The song's music video takes a satirical look at people's mental state during the coronavirus pandemic. Among the surreal images in the clip are talking rolls of toilet paper, giant cockroaches wearing masks, scorpion cell phones and huge COVID-19 particles.
• Guitarist Noodles told ABC Audio he feels that the contrast of the dark verses with the "dance-y" choruses reflects the song's message. "We kinda wanted to look at what's going on in the world around us, but then also kinda go, 'Oh, well, what are you gonna do? Might as well dance!'" he said.
• This topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart to become the band's third #1 on the tally, following "Gone Away" in 1997 and "Coming For You" in 2015.