Franklin was playing this little ditty today and he said "Rummy, here's one for ya to post. Who am I to deny one of the best piano tuners on the planet. :-)

From Wiki:

The Decline is a punk EP by NOFX. The CD version consisted of only the 18-minute title track, but the vinyl included a different version of "Clams Have Feelings Too" (from Pump Up the Valuum) on the B-side. The Decline is largely a satire of American politics and law, with an overwhelming concern for blind behaviors of the masses, such as complacency, indifference, and conformity, as well as destruction of constitutional rights, and condemnation of the religious right. Although the lyrics are somewhat disjointed, they all refer back to the unifying theme of the "decline" of America. The trombone is played by Lars Nylander of Skankin' Pickle.

According to the band, the recording of The Decline was a:

"Nightmare! Recording this fuck was a total nightmare. Writing it was a total nightmare. I'm glad we did it but I wouldn't do it again. We went back to the studio 3 different times and added stuff and remixed and remastered 4 times. It ain't no rock opera like The Song Remains the Same or nothing. We got the idea from Subhumans, not Rush. Why an 18 minute song? Just to do something different. We've done enough short songs, time for a long one. Anyway, my advice, never try this song at home.

"

The Subhumans song Fat Mike is most likely referring to is the title track to From the Cradle to the Grave, which is just under 17 minutes in length.

The first 155 copies were pressed on clear vinyl, a version which is no longer available.

The cover of the album is of a boy holding a model airplane. In the Pink Floyd movie The Wall, 18 minutes into the film (which is about how long The Decline is) there is a scene in which a boy runs around with a plane, in the same fashion as the boy on the cover of The Decline. Some variations of the rumour even suggest that The Decline could be played along with The Wall in the same way as Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon supposedly could with The Wizard of Oz. Fat Mike, however, when queried on this matter, just replied: "You are insane."

The first 1 min and 20 seconds of a live version of The Decline is played as an encore after Stickin' In My Eye on They've Actually Gotten Worse Live!(2007) before being faded out.[4] The entire song is occasionally played live, often as an encore, although they played it whole several times in their 2006 South American and Canadian tours, and preferred to do so in the smaller venues, as a gift for fans that were aware of them playing in such small venues.

On the Dallas, TX stop of Warped Tour 2006, NOFX was one of the last bands to play the Main Stage. A song into their set, rain and small sizes of hail began to fall. They were told to cut their set short and could only play one song. As a joke, they chose to play all 18 minutes of The Decline with Fat Mike first informing the crowd that "Kevin says we can only play one more song. Too bad this next one is 18 minutes long."