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Walking Contradiction


pasalaska

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To commemorate Insomniac’s 16th birthday, this week’s Song of the Week is the album’s 14th and final track, Walking Contradiction. The song was the 4th single to be released off the album, and achieved modest success, reaching number 21 on the Billboard Modern Rock and the Billboard Alternative Songs charts in 1996. An awesome music video also accompanied the song’s release, but we’ll get to that later.

The thing I love most about this song is Billie’s word-play in the lyrics – the way that one line will (not very surprisingly) contradict another – it’s all rather clever. The lyrics also seem to be semi-autobiographical; there’s certain lines in the song that, if you read them a certain way, seem to point reference to Green Day’s success (“my wallet’s fat and so is my head”, “losers winning big on the lottery”) and the controversy surrounding their signing to a major label (“the shit’s so deep you can’t run away”, “constant refutation with myself, I’m a victim of a catch 22”). It seems that Billie’s saying that he’s the contradiction – making it big in the mainstream music world while still identifying with the strictly DIY, not-for-profit underground punk scene – it’s like he doesn’t belong in either world, hence he “aint got no right(s)”. Musically, to me at least, this song's not that special in comparison to a lot of Green Day's material - it's strength and focus lies in its lyrics, which works, because any sort of overpoweringly awesome music would detract attention away from the fab lyrics.

The music video for Walking Contradiction has to be one of the best music videos Green Day have made – it was even nominated for the ‘Best Music Video, Short Form’ Grammy Award in 1997. It reportedly cost around $300,000 to make, due to all the stunts and effects it has (I read this in a book somewhere so it must be true), a big departure from the relative simplicity of all their previous videos. The band did all their ‘stunts’ themselves, most notably Billie Joe, who nearly gets side-swiped by a ute while walking through an intersection (I still inwardly cringe each time I see that).

We have 2 videos this week for your viewing pleasure. First up is the official music video, simply because it’s just too good not to post here.

Secondly, this is a performance of Walking Contradiction from The Late Show with David Letterman filmed in 1996. It’s a great performance, but the highlight has to be Billie’s face at 0:57 (someone needs to make a .gif of that, yo).

(video credit: x86Jadedx)

Lyrics:

Do as I say not as I do because

The shit's so deep you can't run away

I beg to differ on the contrary

I agree with every word that you say

Talk is cheap and lies are expensive

My wallet's fat and so is my head

Hit and run and then I'll hit you again

I'm a smart ass but I'm playing dumb

Standards set and broken all the time

Control the chaos behind a gun

Call it as I see it even if

I was born deaf, blind and dumb

Losers winning big on the lottery

Rehab rejects still sniffing glue

Constant refutation with myself

I'm a victim of a catch 22

I have no belief

But I believe

I'm a walking contradiction

And I ain't got no right

Do as I say not as I do because

The shit's so deep you can't run away

I beg to differ on the contrary

I agree with every word that you say

Talk is cheap and lies are expensive

My wallet's fat and so is my head

Hit and run and then I'll hit you again

I'm a smart ass but I'm playing dumb

I have no belief

But I believe

I'm a walking contradiction

And I ain't got no right

I have no belief

But I believe

I'm a walking contradiction

And I ain't got no right

*********************************************************************************************************

You can nominate songs for discussion as Song of the Week in the SotW Nominations and Archive thread, which contains links to each previous Song of the Week in its first post.

Happy birthday Insomniac! All the cool kids have their birthday on October 10th :cool:

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Awesome song. It made me want to discover the whole Insomniac album.

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What an amazing introduction. I enjoyed reading it, as always.

The Walking Contradiction video might be one of my favorite music videos Green Day made. And the song's lyrics might be one of my favorites too. Just because of the same reasons you have already mentioned. Billie Joe's an amazing song writer and I think this song's obviously an evidence for it. :) (Okay. To be honest, every song is, in its own way.)

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Nice choice for song of the week, i love this song, and the music video!!! Couldnt have picked a better song to sort of represent insomniac

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I love this song, it was always one of my favourites from Insomniac. I remember a lot of times back in the day when I could relate to it (or at least a few parts of it). Very powerful lyrics and an awesome video. I'd write something epic about it if I had more time.

(someone needs to make a .gif of that, yo)

badass0.gif

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I love Walking Contradiction. I remember when I first got into Green Day I looked on Wikipedia to find out more about them and I found a song and the description of the music video was funny. I couldn't watch it for a long time (because of the swear words) and when I did I instantly fell in love with both the song and the video. I love the lyrics and the creativity in the video. I once read in an interview that Billie Joe refused to do his own stunts until the end. This song is still to this day my favorite song from Insomniac. It's just so...cool.

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One of my favorites. Don't even have to mention the video, it's just fantastic!

(and all the cool kids have their birthday on October 10th indeed! 8))

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Ahhh, this is possibly my favorite track on Insomniac. I keep the video on my iPod for those days when I need a cheap smile. The cadences on this track are perfect ("Call it as I see it even if [slightly extended pause] I was born deaf, blind, and dumb."), as they add to the disjointed feel of Billie's lyrics. Based on my observations, this song symbolizes exactly where he was during the Insomniac era. A new father, but still a lad who liked to play with his own snot. A new husband, but a guy who was still adjusting to getting chased around by fan girls. His whole reality had gone from pretty simple to an inextricably complicated web of contradictions. This track is a way of expressing, "My life is a roller coaster of disaster, so I might as well sit back and get my money's worth out of the ride."

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I like more the video than the song actually, everything's like perfect and funny. Specially Billie's parts :lol:

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I remember we got to hear them play this live at their soundcheck in Paris last year - but in my video of the historical moment most of what you hear is Aussies arguing with French dumbass security trying to get us to move away from the fence where we were standing, ever so quietly, just listening. That whole situation was just so ridiculous arrgh! :pinch:

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I remember we got to hear them play this live at their soundcheck in Paris last year - but in my video of the historical moment most of what you hear is Aussies arguing with French dumbass security trying to get us to move away from the fence where we were standing, ever so quietly, just listening. That whole situation was just so ridiculous arrgh! :pinch:

There's a video of that? That guy was such a dick!

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There's a video of that? That guy was such a dick!

I was filming during most of the soundcheck, yes. It's not really worth watching though, as far as I remember, I haven't seen it myself in ages. You don't really hear a lot of them playing - like I said, I think it was mostly arguing during that particular song :lol:

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I was filming during most of the soundcheck, yes. It's not really worth watching though, as far as I remember, I haven't seen it myself in ages. You don't really hear a lot of them playing - like I said, I think it was mostly arguing during that particular song :lol:

Is it on youtube? I really wanna re-live the moment. I remember thinking 'just shut up and let us listen you fucktard' :dry:

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Is it on youtube? I really wanna re-live the moment. I remember thinking 'just shut up and let us listen you fucktard' :dry:

Naw it's not. I'll find it and upload it if you really want me to, but I really don't remember how much of the song OR the argument you actually heard, like I said I haven't watched it in ages so it might be nothing. And yes, I was thinking much the same thing :lol:

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Awesome song! I love the music video to this as well, when they're causing trouble :P

This song and many other makes Insomniac my favourite album. :)

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I love the song and video. The lyrics are just so clever. This is one of the many songs that shows what I love about GD-humour. Billie is humourous with his put downs about himself, but it's still barbed. Thinking about it, the song is quite dark and shows how conficted he was. After the success with Dookie they were in a strange place, hated by some-loved by others. I suppose the song shows how they felt that they didn't fit in with the punks (or Gilman) anymore, where they had previously been a part of. There lives were full of change-the money, popularity, family life etc so they had a lot to accept, and like someone said different roles to fulfil-businessmen, 'rockstar's, familymen that I suppose would be 'contradictions' to each other.

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This was the first song that made me smile and sing in public.

I didn't (as usual) know the lyrics.

I only knew "shit's so deep you can't run away". Best phrase EVER!

The riff is identical to some song by the Kinks, that, for me, is a quality stamp.

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Fucking fucking love this song - one of my utter favorite GD songs, so smart and streaming wordplay like little gem-couplets in every line, slogan-statements, things turned on their heads and always coming back with a question, fuck it's brilliant -

Another walking song, propulsive on the basement-black Insomniac guitars that sound somewhere like garbage bin-lids banging on a pavement, this walk is

fucking OUT THE DOOR with all of this stuff going round in your head, contradictions, who the fuck am I if what I say and what I do contradict themselves, I ain't got no right, yet

HERE I AM, this is how I am -

'standards set and broken all the time' mirrors 21 Guns, 'nothing's ever built to last', because this walk goes on and on, and the road is the road. This song is so pissed with itself !! This song is so kicking its own ass and at the same time, coming to some kind of acceptance with itself.

The video's fucking great - love the hyper-colors, and the housing scheme at the start always reminds me of the Edward Scissorhands suburb. The video says just keep going your way, regardless of the fallout, so it kind of answers the strife of the song. Favorite moments are Billie Joe trailing the stick along the white picket fences, and that mirror-flash.

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The band did all their ‘stunts’ themselves, most notably Billie Joe, who nearly gets side-swiped by a ute while walking through an intersection (I still inwardly cringe each time I see that).

I'm amazed no one's questioned what a ute is yet.

If I've learned anything from Red Rooster ads it's that people outside of Australia get confused by the word "ute".

Anyway, I just had a look through my iPod and was shocked to discover I don't have WC on here under Insomniac! I only have the International Superhits version :o I know they're the same but I wonder where the Insomniac version went.

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Always been my favorite song from Insomniac.

I think it's some of Billie's most clever writing. We know he has an admiration for Elvis Costello, a man well-known for his wordplay. I think of this song as under his tutelage or a testament to that kind of skill.

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This is definitely one of the best songs from Insomniac. The video clip was just AMAZING. Those stunts were just EPIC. Great idea with making Song of the Week this song with Insomniac's 16th birthday coming up (it's the day I go back to school from holidays, my first day of year 8 was Dookie's birthday, what is this!) The lyrics of this song are just great. Definitely a great choice this week, like every week.

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This is one amazing song! The word play in the song is so funny and awesome! This is one of my fav songs of Insomniac! :D And I swear, I'm in stiches everytime I watch the video! :P

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This is one of the most awesome songs I have ever heard. I love it! And the music video is my favorite :D

The thing I love most about this song is Billie’s word-play in the lyrics – the way that one line will (not very surprisingly) contradict another – it’s all rather clever. The lyrics also seem to be semi-autobiographical; there’s certain lines in the song that, if you read them a certain way, seem to point reference to Green Day’s success (“my wallet’s fat and so is my head”, “losers winning big on the lottery”) and the controversy surrounding their signing to a major label (“the shit’s so deep you can’t run away”, “constant refutation with myself, I’m a victim of a catch 22”). It seems that Billie’s saying that he’s the contradiction – making it big in the mainstream music world while still identifying with the strictly DIY, not-for-profit underground punk scene – it’s like he doesn’t belong in either world, hence he “aint got no right(s)”. Musically, to me at least, this song's not that special in comparison to a lot of Green Day's material - it's strength and focus lies in its lyrics, which works, because any sort of overpoweringly awesome music would detract attention away from the fab lyrics.

Thank you for that :thumbsup: I have always wondered what it's actually about, even though I have always loved the lyrics

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This song and Brain Stew made me start to listen to Insomniac, great song! :D not my fave in that album, but still great :)

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It's a really good song, I think it's my favourite from Insomniac! =D

Awesome lyrics, I really love the word play he does there, also the way Billie sings the song xD

The video is my all time favourite :P

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