ash.loves.gd Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Like so many others, this song was the first song that ignited my love for the band and music in general. I was 11 and I remember being extremely annoyed by it, until the day I actually listened to it. When I don't feel like listening to Holiday before BOBD, I like to listen to Walking Alone, I like the transition of the lyrics from "Sometimes I still feel I'm walking alone" to "I walk alone, I walk alone". To me, those songs go together, or come somewhat from the same perspective. BOBD is the disturbing, desolate version of Walking Alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bam-Itz-GreenDay Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 This is the song that made me a fan. When i was 7 ish and in 2nd grade i got an MP3 player (remember the days of MP3...) and it had 2 Green Day songs on it. Boulvard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends. I hated all the other songs on it, and i remember specifically having Umbrella by Rihanna... Blehh... Anyways, so after awhile of just kinda forgetting about Green Day, my brother got Green Day Rock band in like the early 2010 or something. He played Boulvard of Broken Dreams and I stopped in my tracks. I realized that was them! The song i hadnt heard in forever! After that day I love Green Day, and are obsessed with Billie thats my story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of 1967 Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 BOBD is the song that put Green Day back on the radar for me years after I first became aware of them through "Good Riddance." From my "About Me" page: Fast-forward to the spring of 2005. I'd was in my mid-30s, and just a few months earlier had been through my "quarter-life crisis" -- a broken engagement, a financial meltdown, and having to pull my life back together again -- and BOBD hit the radio. I can't tell you how quickly that song sucked me in. I still had a good job and by that point had a wonderful new girlfriend (now my wife and mother of our little girl), but I guess I had reached the point where the "HOOOO that was close.....!!!" after-the-fact adrenaline had started to wallop me emotionally. Something about the pleading, yet accepting, loneliness of the music and Billie Joe's brilliant lyrics in BOBD just spoke volumes to me. Great SOTW pick to celebrate 7 years since AI's release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 ^See, that's exactly why this song "should" resonate with me. I'm in that mid-life transition, completely isolated and cut-off from everything I've ever known, where I know I can't go back ever again and life is irrevocably changed, and I've never felt more alone than I do in this moment of my life. But instead of this song comforting me, it only exacerbates the situation and makes me feel even more depressed and alone. I guess, for me, it's like country music, in that I try to avoid anything and everything that's negative and/or depressing when I'm feeling those things myself. It's a beautiful and poignant song, and musically brilliant, but I'm love-challenged when it comes to the way it makes me feel when I hear it. At this point in my life, when I'm feeling isolated and alone, like I've failed in some way, and all my hopes and dreams elude me, I want to hear songs like "Castaway," "Waiting," and especially "Hold On." Or something fun and funny like "Blood, Sex & Booze," "Longview," "The Grouch," "Nice Guys Finish Last," etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastard of 1967 Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 ^See, that's exactly why this song "should" resonate with me. I'm in that mid-life transition, completely isolated and cut-off from everything I've ever known, where I know I can't go back ever again and life is irrevocably changed, and I've never felt more alone than I do in this moment of my life. But instead of this song comforting me, it only exacerbates the situation and makes me feel even more depressed and alone. I guess, for me, it's like country music, in that I try to avoid anything and everything that's negative and/or depressing when I'm feeling those things myself. It's a beautiful and poignant song, and musically brilliant, but I'm love-challenged when it comes to the way it makes me feel when I hear it. At this point in my life, when I'm feeling isolated and alone, like I've failed in some way, and all my hopes and dreams elude me, I want to hear songs like "Castaway," "Waiting," and especially "Hold On." Or something fun and funny like "Blood, Sex & Booze," "Longview," "The Grouch," "Nice Guys Finish Last," etc... I didn't intend to suggest anything about the song helping me feel better. For me, what it did do was turn the spotlight on what I was feeling -- it flushed it out of the shadows, confronted me with it, and forced me to deal with it -- while at the same time, telling me it was perfectly OK for me to feel what I was feeling. Even if you don't "like" a song, it can still resonate with you. Billie's writing is very call-it-as-I-see-it realistic. He shows you what he sees, but does not attempt to suggest solutions. That part's up to each one of us individually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cre Tool. Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 Thanks to this song, I started loving Green Day. It entirely describes me. And its so amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 I didn't intend to suggest anything about the song helping me feel better. For me, what it did do was turn the spotlight on what I was feeling -- it flushed it out of the shadows, confronted me with it, and forced me to deal with it -- while at the same time, telling me it was perfectly OK for me to feel what I was feeling. Even if you don't "like" a song, it can still resonate with you. Billie's writing is very call-it-as-I-see-it realistic. He shows you what he sees, but does not attempt to suggest solutions. That part's up to each one of us individually. I know. I didn't think you did. For me though, I prefer to focus on music that gives me hope and inspiration instead of focusing on or confronting the misery, and I don't generally look to music to find solutions. That never even occurred to me. As a writer, I appreciate and admire BJA's songwriting more than anything else I love about Green Day's music. It's honest and exactly on point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disapperingirl Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 I can say that this is one of the most evocative, involving and simple outside ( we know Billie just used a few chords to create that amazing melody) but elaborate inside (for all the kind of feelings that forces you to face) song, and I absoluetely love it. I can't say this is the song that made me a Green Day fan, I first heard Wake Me Up When September Ends, but once you've listened to it, it's easy to understand why it became such a worldwide hit, and why so many people feel related to it. So many times I pictured myself walking on a lonely road, so many times I actually walked alone on the street, then sitting on the sidewalk and listening to this song. And thinking, and listening if there was someone else there, but I was still alone..."(Boulevard Of Broken Dreams) it's a real place in my heart". So true, so true... Sometimes I see this song like some kind of continuation, more mature but more "desperate" of Christie Road; both those street represente a dark moment (Christie Road more the state of boredom of young people), but both welcome you and your fears. I love how this song at the end "explodes", in a real outlet...like ok, I'm walking alone, this is the road I chose...if someone will join me good, if not, I'll keep walking, I don't care!! Another time a Green Day song explain better then tons of words what a lot people felt, feel, and will feel. Thank you for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigister Posted September 23, 2011 Share Posted September 23, 2011 It's sad that a lot of people see this song just like a "sellout" piece, it's much more than that. It's a very deep song, I never found a song that can describe the sensation of loneliness just like BOBD does, it's just brilliant. I really enjoy this song everytime I listen to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undómiel Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 I know I've already posted on this SoTW but something happened yesterday whilst I was listening to it which made me stop and think about it. I was listening to the AI album (and no it wasn't BoBD) I was actually listening to AWTW but as I turned the street corner of the city I was in, I saw a homeless guy sat down in a doorway, wrapped in some kind of knitted blanket. It made me think about the song I had just listened to because we all moan about not being on the right path and having a crappy day, but for that guy, he truly was sitting on his Boulevard of Broken Dreams (not to be overly cheesy) and it just struck me about how little most of us have to complain about in comparison to what some people are suffering. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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