I’ve come across quite a lot of fans that don’t like that song. They either think it’s been overplayed over the years (which is totally understandable) or they think it’s a poor song (which I don’t agree with). I guess part of my love for this song is irrational, since it’s probably one of the first GD-songs I heard and therefore probably is responsible for me getting into Green Day in the first place. But even so, I think it’s a great song. It’s slow / mid-tempo and repetitive yes, but packed with emotion imo. You just have to observe his emotional state when playing it live at various occasions to see what I’m on about. It also baffles me a bit when people don’t see its meaning / purpose in the story of AI (not saying you hold that position). To me it makes perfect sense, I interpret it in the following way: After being dumped by Whatsername (in Letterbomb) JOS is essentially pretty much at rock button, so in a lot of mental and emotional pain. WMUWSE is essentially a self-reflective song, a necessary part of every coming of age process / personal evolution. It’s true that Billie seems to be only talking about himself, but I would take his story and thoughts portrayed in the song as also a metaphor for what JOS might be thinking. He’s thinking about his past, the painful things that have happened to him that still hurt him today. At the same time though, it’s a song about trying to make sense of and ultimately accepting the past events as part of a personal evolution (‘’becoming who we are’’). Therefore, the song starts with a retrospective view of looking at the past, to then changing that attitude by looking forward towards the future. This evolution is necessary for JOS, because it causes him to accept what has happened (painful it may be) and think of a way forward. He therefore realises that things can’t go on as they have, nothing has turned out the way he hoped and that he needs to take action accordingly. That in turn then leads to Homecoming and the death of St. Jimmy. This song may not appear strictly necessary, as the story would probably work even without it, but I think it definitely has its place and importance.
Also, there’s something about the solo of this song that absolutely tears my heart out every time