The New Blink-182 Song About Tom Delonge That Mark Hoppus 'Didn't Want To Write'

Every Blink-182 fan would be familiar with the relationship between former band members Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge who were best friends for the better part of two decades before Delonge left the band for a second time early last year and everything went downhill. 

With last week's release of the group's new album California (the first to not include Delonge), producer John Feldmann has revealed that a track from the record, San Diego, was written by Hoppus about his old friend and growing up in the city. 

Speaking to Fuse, Feldmann said it was a song Hoppus did not want to write.

"The history of the song [is about] growing up in San Diego, having so many of their work partners being from San Diego and having a member who lives in San Diego who is no longer in the band...it was a song that Mark didn't want to write.

"I brought up the idea that you have to write about shit you don't want to write about. You have to write about shit that's right there on the surface."

It's believed that Hoppus and Delonge's relationship began to break down after Delonge formed side project Boxcar Racer with Blink drummer Travis Barker in 2001.

After Blink-182 went on an indefinite hiatus in 2005, the band reformed in 2009 only for Delonge to depart again last year in very messy circumstances.

"There's clearly a lot of feelings involved with having a best friend who is not in your band anymore, having a best friend with all that stuff that went down. Every band has these issues," Feldmann continued.

"To write a song, now, in their minds, to go back to San Diego, playing shows and tipping their hat to the city that allowed them to be a band...to me, Blink put San Diego on the map. If you think of its geographic location, they're the band that made San Diego relevant as a city. I say that with the utmost respect to San Diego because I was born in San Diego, I grew up in San Diego but no body gave a fuck about San Diego. It was just like a place and suddenly Blink happened and it was like Seattle. 

"The song acts as a bittersweet homage, a goodbye to this city that none of us live in anymore but owe so much to, while acknowledging the interpersonal relationships within the band."

Speaking to theMusic last month, Hoppus dismissed comments made by Delonge that he was talking to Barker about recording and touring together. 

"I don't know what [Delonge] is talking about because I haven't spoken with him at all about recording and touring," Hoppus said.

"I've spoken with Tom one time since 2014 and it was totally genial enough and it was fine. But it's not something that we're even talking about."

Read the full interview here. 

Barker revealed earlier this year that he and Delonge are still friends and in a new chat with Rock Zone Mag (via Alternative Nation), he said the possibility of Delonge re-joining the band is on the cards. 

"We do not talk about things like the band or music, but simply family, our lives, or we spend some time telling jokes," Barker said.

"We are friends, no grudge or anything like that because he is not in Blink-182 anymore. The opportunity for him to return will always be there.”