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BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2004
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2
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[Q]
Billy Joe Armstrong: "There's an old James Dean photo where he's walking in New York and underneath it says 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams.' It's a great photo of him, so that's where I sort of nicked the title from." (VH1 Storytellers)
Rob Cavallo: "Originally, the band had wanted the outro to be something like the huge crescendo at the end of the Beatles' 'A Day in the Life.' Then they thought that maybe they'd try it with calliopes and circus music and craziness like that. I told them, 'Look, you're a rock band, let's just do it with guitars.' ..... So we had Billie plug in and just play the hardest, fastest chords he can. We just told him to push it as far as he could. And then, when we mixed it, we just kept telling [mixer] Chris [Lord-Alge] to push it. We'd be yelling, 'Push it! Push it!'"
**KILL ME**
[I]
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was written during a respite from pre-production on what would become the band's seventh album, American Idiot. Hoping to clear his head and develop new ideas for songs, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong traveled to New York City alone for a few weeks, renting a small loft in the East Village of Manhattan. He spent much of this time taking long walks and
participating in jam sessions in the basement of Hi-Fi, a bar in Manhattan. He began socializing with songwriters Ryan Adams and Jesse
Malin.
Armstrong wrote the song about his time in New York City, about "feeling alone" and trying to take power from that fact. Armstrong felt the
song fit nicely with the album's storyline, which is about "going away and getting the hell out, while at the same time fighting their own inner demons." The song's title is from a James Dean poster in which he is walking through New York with an overcoat on.(Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Rob Cavallo – piano
Jason Freese – saxophone
Produced: Rob Cavallo
Engineered: Doug McKean, Green Day
Recorded: Studio 880, Oakland, California, USA
.... and/or Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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GOOD RIDDANCE (Time of Your Life)
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1997
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(2a)
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[Q]
Billy Joe Armstrong: "At the time I wrote Good Riddance, I was breaking up with a girl that was moving to Ecuador, and I was trying to be as understanding about it as I could. I wrote the song as kind of a bon voyage. I was trying not to be bitter, but I think it came out a little bit bitter anyway... I thought that calling the song "Time of Your Life" was just a little too level-headed for me, so I had to come up with something different" (2005:Guitar Legends)
Billy Joe Armstrong: "That was really the first time we attempted a ballad. The first time we ever played that song was during an encore in New Jersey - I had to pound a beer backstage to get up the courage. I knew we were gonna take a tomato to the face." (2010:Spin)
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals
Conan McCallum – violin
Gabrial McNair – horns
Stephen Bradley – horns
David Campbell – strings arranger
Produced: Rob Cavallo; Green Day
Engineered: Ken Allardyce
Recorded: Conway Studios, Los Angeles, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2005
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6
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[I]
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" was written by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about his father, who died of cancer when he was ten. Armstrong at one point
dubbed the song the most autobiographical he had written to that point, considering it "therapeutic" but also difficult to perform. (Wikipedia)
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Rob Cavallo – piano
Jason Freese – saxophone
Produced: Rob Cavallo
Engineered: Doug McKean, Green Day
Recorded: Studio 880, Oakland, California, USA
.... and/or Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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WHEN I COME AROUND
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1995
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(1a)
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[I]
Billie Joe Armstrong wrote the song after breaking up with his girlfriend, Adrienne Nesser (whom he later married). (Life’d)
**KILL ME**
(Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong — lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt — bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool — drums
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Neill King, Casey McCranki
Recorded: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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OH LOVE
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2012
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97
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[Q]
Billy Joe Armstrong: "'Oh Love' is kind of like leading with your heart and not necessarily with your brain as much. And [also] kind of maybe losing your mind, and shooting a little bit more from the crotch area." (MTV News)
Billy Joe Armstrong: "What I really wanted to do was write real power-pop kind of music that had that old Green Day energy,so the original Green Day sound became 'ˇUno!'" (Billboard)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Jason White – guitar
Tré Cool – drums
Tom Kitt – string arrangements
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Chris Dugan
Recorded: Jingletown Studios, Oakland, California, USA, Feb 14–Jun 26, 2012
**KILL ME**
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WARNING
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2000
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(3a)
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[I]
Billie Joe Armstrong has said that the original concept was to create a song whose lyrics were made up of all signs and labels, and the idea grew from there. ... . It has been noted that the song's main guitar riff bears strong resemblance to The Kinks song "Picture Book". (Wikipedia)
This song is about how rules are made to be broken and warnings can be ignored. You live your own life, you make your own choices. (Songfacts)
[Q]
Mike Dirnt: "You gotta make your own decisions and choices. It's not so much about what to think, it's just to think. Question everything."
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, piano
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion, accordion
Stephen Bradley – horn
Gary Meek – saxophone
James Creepies – vibraslap
David Campbell – string arrangements
Produced: Green Day, Rob Cavallo (exec.)
Engineered: Ken Allardyce
Recorded: Studio 880, Oakland, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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21 GUNS
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2009
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22
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[Q]
Billy Joe Armstrong: "It brings up 21st Century Breakdown in a lot of ways, and the 21-gun salute for someone that's fallen, but done in an arena rock 'n' roll sort of way." (2009:Q magazine)
**KILL ME**
[I]
"21 Guns" addresses the topic of patriotism. ()
**KILL ME**
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, piano
Mike Dirnt – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Produced: Butch Vig, Green Day
Engineered: Chris Dugan
Recorded: 2008
**KILL ME**
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HOLIDAY
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2005
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19
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[Q]
Billy Joe Armstrong: "This song is not anti-American, its anti-war." (Bullet In A Bible DVD)
Billy Joe Armstrong: "I am anti-war, so a lot of [the album] has to do with that, and there's different sides of it too. Like, there's one line that sort of messes with liberals a little too, where it says, 'Hear the drum pounding out of time/ Another protester has crossed the line/ To find the money's on the other side.' ..... That song ['Holiday'] is about this mishmash of people with all these strong opinions who really can't agree, and leaving [decisions] to the person who's sort of standing in the middle confused and overwhelmed." (MTV)
**KILL ME**
[I]
"Holiday" took two months to finish writing, as Armstrong continually felt his lyrics were not good enough. Aided by the encouragement of Cavallo, he completed the song.
"Holiday" was inspired by the music of Bob Dylan. Armstrong wanted to write something
stronger than "American Idiot", with harsh language to illustrate his points. The song takes aim at American conservatism. Armstrong felt that Republican politicians were "strategic" in alienating one group of people—for example, the gay community—in order to buy the votes of another. He later characterized the song as an outspoken "fuck you" to Bush. The chorus's refrain—"This is our lives on holiday"—was intended to reflect the average American’s ambivalence on the issues of the day.
(Wikipedia)
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Produced: Rob Cavallo
Engineered: Doug McKean, Green Day
Recorded: Studio 880, Oakland, California, USA
.... and/or Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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BANG BANG
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2016
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(1)
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[Q]
Billy Joe Armstrong: "It's about the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media. There's this sort of rage happening, but it's also now being filmed and we all have ourselves under surveillance. To me, that is so twisted. To get into the brain of someone like that was freaky. It freaked me out. After I wrote it, all I wanted to do was get that out of my brain because it just freaked me out."
Billy Joe Armstrong: "There are so many mass shootings we're desensitized. There was a kid in Santa Barbara, who went on a killing spree, a couple of years ago, and he did these blogs like a manifesto, beforehand. He was suffering from his own insecurity and mental illness. The song's written in the first person, where I tried to put myself in his place. ..... Bang Bang' is the most aggressive single we've ever had. I didn't plan on it being that way. I don't want to be the old guy saying 'We're going to show these young whippersnappers how it's done.' It was just 'F--k, this sounds really good.'" (Q magazine)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitars, piano
Mike Dirnt – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Produced: Green Day
Engineered: Chris Dugan
Recorded: OTIS studio, Oakland, California, U.S.A.
**KILL ME**
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BASKET CASE
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1994
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(1a)
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[I]
Green Day vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong said "Basket Case" is about his struggle with anxiety; before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder years afterward, he thought he was going crazy. ..... "Basket Case" was one of the songs producer Rob Cavallo heard when he received Green Day's demo tape. He ended up signing the band to Reprise Records in mid-1993. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
Billie Joe Armstrong: "The only way I could know what the hell was going on was to write a song about it."
Billie Joe Armstrong: "I wanted to challenge myself and whoever the listener might be. It's also looking at the world and saying, 'It's not as black and white as you think. This isn't your grandfather's prostitute – or maybe it was.'"
Billie Joe Armstrong: "It's an anthem for weirdos. It's about losing your mind. Most people have had that experience." (2017:Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong — lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt — bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool — drums
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Neill King, Casey McCranki
Recorded: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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LONGVIEW
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1994
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(1a)
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[Q]
Billie Armstrong: "I was just in a creative rut. I was in-between houses sleeping on people's couches. It's a song about trying not to feel pathetic and lonely. I didn't think that masturbation was really seen from the point of view that I was looking at it. In songs like 'Turning Japanese' it always seemed more about people pulling a pud or something. I was coming from a lonely guy's perspective: No girlfriend, no life, complete loser." (VH1)
Billie Armstrong: "It's about boredom, and smoking dope."
Billie Armstrong: "I guess it was just living in the suburbs in a sort of shit town where you can't even pull in a good radio station. I was living in Rodeo, California, about 20 minutes outside of Oakland. There was nothing to do there, and it was a real boring place." (2005:Guitar Legends)
Mike Dirnt: "When Billie gave me a shuffle beat for Longview, I was frying on acid so hard. I was laying up against the wall with my bass lying on my lap. It just came to me. I said, 'Billie, check this out. Isn't this the wackiest thing you've ever heard?' Later, it took me a long time to be able to play it, but it made sense when I was on drugs" (1995:Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[I]
The song describes intense boredom. Lyrically, the song is about a day spent sitting around the house, doing absolutely nothing of importance, masturbating, and smoking marijuana until the days are no longer fun. The song captured the attention of many youth at the time with its overt allusions to masturbation. Bassist Mike Dirnt has stated that the famous bass line intro to this song was written one night while he was high on LSD, and what remains on the album is what he and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong could recall in the morning. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
(Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong — lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt — bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool — drums
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Neill King, Casey McCranki
Recorded: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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WELCOME TO PARADISE
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1994
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(7a)
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[I]
It is based on the band's experience moving out of their parents' houses and into an abandoned house in Oakland, California where the band members, along with a number of others, lived without paying rent. The house was quite broken-down but to them it became home, and this sentiment is described in the song. The song is sung as Billie Joe Armstrong is talking or sending a message to his mother, after moving out of her house. The first verse is Armstrong talking to his mother after three weeks of leaving her place, telling her that he's scared about being on his own. The second part describes Armstrong writing to her after six months of living at his own place, now being happy to live on his own.(Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
Billie Armstrong: "It's about West Oakland, living in a warehouse with a lot of people, a bunch of artists and musicians, punks and whatever just lived all up and down, bums and junkies and thugs and gang members and stuff that just lived in that area. It's no place you want to walk around at night, but it's a neat warehouse where you can play basketball and stuff."
Tré Cool: "It's like, 'Everything sucks but we're having fun anyway.' We'll look you in the eye and still smile, even if horrible things are happening."
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong — lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt — bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool — drums
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Neill King, Casey McCranki
Recorded: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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SHE
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1995
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(5a)
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[I]
The song was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about a former girlfriend who showed him a feminist poem with an identical title. In return, Armstrong wrote the lyrics of "She" and showed them to her. She later dumped him and moved to Ecuador, prompting Armstrong to put "She" on the album. The same ex-girlfriend is the topic of the songs "Sassafras Roots", "Chump", and "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
Billie Armstrong: "I will play 'She' for the rest of my life. It has aged well with me." (2014:Rolling Stone)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong — lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt — bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool — drums
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Neill King, Casey McCranki
Recorded: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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J.A.R.
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1995
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(1a)
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[I]
The song was a previously unreleased track from the Dookie sessions but it was later featured on the soundtrack to the movie Angus in 1995. The acronym stands for 'Jason Andrew Relva', a childhood friend of Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt. Jason Relva was born on November 16, 1972 and died at the age of 19 on April 18, 1992 as the result of injuries sustained from a car accident. Mike Dirnt wrote the song in remembrance of him. In August 1995. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
(Billie Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong — lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt — bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool — drums
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Neill King, Casey McCranki
Recorded: Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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MINORITY
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2000
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(1a)
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[Q]
Billie Joe Armstrong: "The song is about being an individual and how you have to drift through the darkness to find where you belong."
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, piano
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion, accordion
Stephen Bradley – horn
Gary Meek – saxophone
James Creepies – vibraslap
David Campbell – string arrangements
Produced: Green Day, Rob Cavallo (exec.)
Engineered: Ken Allardyce
Recorded: Studio 880, Oakland, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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X-KID
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2013
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(35)
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[I]
This song was written in response to the 2009 suicide of a close friend that Armstrong grew up with in Rodeo, CA. (Wikipedia)
**KILL ME**
Billy Joe Armstrong: "The guy in "X-Kid" died from the same habits I had. ˇUno! is definitely the sense of 'Be young, be free.'”" (2013:Rolling Stone)
Billy Joe Armstrong: “It was a friend of ours who took an early exit. He was a very close friend and he just never grew up. He just lived with his glory days behind him and didn't realize that his glory days were now in front of him. We love him dearly but life happened.” (The Sun)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar, piano
Jason White - guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Chris Dugan, Brad Kobylczak, Lee Bothwick
Recorded: Jingletown Studios in Oakland, California, USA, Feb 14–Jun 26, 2012
**KILL ME**
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KNOW YOUR ENEMY
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2009
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28
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[Q]
Billie Joe Armstrong: "It's a rallying song. It's about liberating yourself from a lot of bullshit that you see on TV. " (2009:Q magazine)
Billie Joe Armstrong: (this) "was the first song we were really into. I thought, 'Yep this is kinda saying something. I've never really written a song like that before. I've always liked songs like Freefalling by Tom Petty - it's the same riff over and over again. And that's hard to do - firing on one riff." (2009:The Sun)
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, acoustic/electric guitars, piano
Mike Dirnt – bass guitar, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Produced: Butch Vig, Green Day
Engineered: Chris Dugan
Recorded: 2008
**KILL ME**
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LET YOURSELF GO
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2012
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(18)
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Billy Joe Armstrong: "'" ()
Billy Joe Armstrong: "" ()
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Jason White – guitar
Tré Cool – drums
Tom Kitt – string arrangements
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Chris Dugan
Recorded: Jingletown Studios, Oakland, California, USA, Feb 14–Jun 26, 2012
**KILL ME**
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AMERICAN IDIOT
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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2004
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61
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[I]
"American Idiot" contends that mass media has orchestrated paranoia and idiocy among
the public. The song evolved from Armstrong viewing cable news coverage of the Iraq War: “They had all these Geraldo-like journalists in the tanks with the soldiers, getting the play-by-play." He felt with that, American news crossed the line from journalism to reality television, showcasing violent footage intercut with advertisements. The song emphasizes strong
language, juxtaposing the homophobic slur "faggot" and "America", to create what he imagined would be a voice for the disenfranchised.
Billie Joe Armstrong was inspired to write the song after hearing the Lynyrd Skynyrd song "That's How I Like It" on his car radio. ..... Armstrong was also inspired by a song by the Australian group Midnight Oil that his wife had introduced him to, titled US Forces, that inspired the song’s format.[4] Dirnt felt many people would be insulted by the track until they realized that, rather than it being a finger-pointing song of anger, it could be viewed as a "call for individuality." (Wikipedia)
[Q]
Billy Joe Armstrong: "It was like, 'I'm proud to be a redneck' and I was like, 'oh my God, why would you be proud of something like that?' This is exactly what I'm against." ()
Billy Joe Armstrong: "" ()
**KILL ME**
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums, percussion
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Chris Dugan; Doug McKean
Recorded: Studio 880, Oakland, California, USA
.... and/or Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
**KILL ME**
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GREEK STINK BREATH
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Billie Joe Armstrong
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1995
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(3a)
|
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[I]
The lyrics tell of the singer leading a "path of self-destruction" through the use of methamphetamine, and the effects of this drug on his body. The lyrics were inspired by Armstrong's own experiences, as well as the people around him that he saw lose control of their lives because of their addictions. Featuring a hard rocking three chord riff, the song pays homage to the band's 1970s punk influences, including the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. (Wikipedia)
[P]
(Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool)
Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals
Tré Cool – drums
Produced: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Engineered: Kevin Army
Recorded: Hyde Street Studios, San Francisco, California, USA, 1994
**KILL ME**
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STATE OF THE ARTIST
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ACTIVE
The core group of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and JTré Cool has been solid since the second album and tour extensively.
Sample Setlist 2018
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