Moyeszet Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Billie certainly isn't a prodigy. I think he knows how to use words, how to place them and fill them with his emotions and memories. His lyrics have always been a passion for me. I think the better lyrics are the 21st Century Breakdown and American Idiot ones, though 21stCBD is like the one I like the least with Shenanigans. Lyrics like "What the hell's your name? What's your pleasure, what is your pain? Do you dream too much? Do you think what you need is a crutch?" are simple, but for e it's so emotional, so perfect it's genius, for me. I mean, even his early lyrics, I think about Disappearing boy, were pretty intelligent. I think, for example, that the "don't call me up cause I'm not home, my whereabouts are now unknown, I vanished from your joy" ARE indeed great lyrics. For his IQ...I think he isn't the kind of scholar mind ; he may be a gifted kind of guy. Gifted kids are often not interested in school. Even though they have a high IQ .Their mind don't function like most kids : they function in a way that can be assumed irrational, and the lack of comprehension can make them very bad students. However, most of them are very talented in other domains than school, like music, writing, or art. It wouldn't amaze me if Beej has been or is actually gifted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Yeah, gifted no doubt, which does make it hard for them in school, especially if it isn't recognized by the adults around them. Test scores and grades really aren't a true indicator of intelligence, especially when it comes to creative talent. Even Larry Livermore said when he first heard them after Tre Cool joined the band, he knew they were special. It was like the perfect convergence of talent with BJA's lyrics, Mike Dirnt's guitar skills and Tre Cool on the drums. Even BJA's snotty, fuck you voice helped with creating the perfect punk rock band that would transcend them to the big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 At times I cannot understand the lyrics for 21st Century Breakdown... Im still trying to figure out the meaning of songs like East Jesus Nowhere and Viva La Gloria? They just have those strongs lines, and complicated vocabulary; or simply lines and words that have more meaning to Billie than to anyone else.. American Idiot took a while to understand as well, but I think I finally figured it out... American Idiot was just pure genius. I think one of the main reasons for winning the Grammy for AI is Billie's lyrics. You cant tell a great story with lines and vocab that a Freshman in High School creates... And yes, for someone thats gifted, it can simply affect how they are in school because they may think the learning material is boring. I think Billie would of rather dropped out (as he did) and devoted his time to his music than school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Exactly! A structured school environment just isn't the right place for some people. The lyrics to American Idiot were probably the easiest for me to understand because I related to it so much. Being from the South, I was pretty much surrounded by it, so for me It was like he wrote exactly what I was thinking and feeling at the time, though my interpretation was a bit different from the storyline they created for the musical, so he must have had other things in mind. I saw American Idiot as the literal representation to all the rubes who got sucked into the propaganda and bullshit that was going on at the time. And JOS to me was a metaphor for it, not just that one person. And 21st Century Breakdown was an edgier, more intense extension of it. All the religious and political frustration thrown into this hard in your face mocking storyline. Those two albums were definitely an evolution to what started with Warning, and an easy escalation of his talent. Though, I think Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool contributed a lot of the same attitude that led to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 When I did my research, I read BJA wrote his first song "Why Do You Want Him" at age 15 in anger about his stepfather when his mother started dating, because he and his siblings really disliked the guy. Can someone confirm that? Did I get it wrong? That was out there for a long time but Billie Joe finally proved it wrong in either the 92Y interview with Jordan Roth or the Times Talk (one of those two long ones with Michael Mayer, I think it was Times Talk)... they asked him directly about that song and he said no, it's not about his stepfather, it's about a girl he liked who liked another guy (and then he proceeded to sing the Beatles "you're gonna lose that girl...") Just an FYI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 That was out there for a long time but Billie Joe finally proved it wrong in either the 92Y interview with Jordan Roth or the Times Talk (one of those two long ones with Michael Mayer, I think it was Times Talk)... they asked him directly about that song and he said no, it's not about his stepfather, it's about a girl he liked who liked another guy (and then he proceeded to sing the Beatles "you're gonna lose that girl...") Just an FYI. Thanks for the info! I hadn't heard that story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertrose Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thanks for the info! I hadn't heard that story. at 49:30 he begins talking about his songwriting and asked about writing the song "Why Do You Want Him", a song NOT about his mother according to Billie Joe. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4X3IQCM4xM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greendaytodeathandback Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 I know Billie wasn't a podigy, but I suppose he was just a guy with an ear for music, who would one day be seen as an amazing musician and song-writter. Although he was obviously talented from a young age, not a prodigy. THAT is a child prodigy!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertrose Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 thought this interesting about him writing songs for 21CBD on the piano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 I think writing on and playing around with the piano and new music is a great way to get more outcome. The piano is easily one of the most classic instruments and very well used in any genre of music. I think when Billie Joe decided to add the piano in his music is when it really got good. When was that? Warning? American Idiot? I think he made the music that much better when he decided to try things on the piano in mainly American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. It also shows that he is pure punk. Punk is really just whatever the artist wants to create and how they create it. Punk is you. Green Day and Billie Joe really understand that.This is from http://bluerailroad.wordpress.com/ix-billie-joe-armstrong-green-day/ and how even though writing Good Riddance, they were still punk. Though Green Day’s presence on the world stage shifted from popular to astronomical because of this song, many of their old fans felt alienated by their secret heroes’ injection into the mainstream. “[`Time of Your Life’] was a drastic change for us to record,” Billie Joe said. “We knew that there were going to be some people that weren’t going to like it because it’s not a 1-2-3-4-Let’s-go-punk-rock tune. Mike [Dirnt] said, `This is a real beautiful song, who cares what people think?’ So we just went for it. Long term thinking, you know. Punk is not just the sound, the music. Punk is a life-style. We’re just as much punk as we used to be.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy's Little Nightmare Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I've always wondered if Macy's Day Parade and BOBD had anything to do with each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I've always wondered if Macy's Day Parade and BOBD had anything to do with each other. It definitely feels like an evolution of a continuing theme from Warning to American Idiot to 21st Century Breakdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigister Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Well, the whastername girl (Amanda), he has said was Good Riddance... so yes, those are all the same inspiration... but I think the songs communicate different emotions, however nuanced. Amanda? Mate he's been married to Adrienne since July 1994, how could it be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 Amanda? Mate he's been married to Adrienne since July 1994, how could it be? yeah but he still wrote about perhaps the same girl... he was married to Adrienne when Good Riddance was released as well as Whatsername. most of the love songs is about/to Adrienne like LOTAG and LNOE. American Idiot was more about the girl in his past (if it was Amanda?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigister Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 yeah but he still wrote about perhaps the same girl... he was married to Adrienne when Good Riddance was released as well as Whatsername. most of the love songs is about/to Adrienne like LOTAG and LNOE. American Idiot was more about the girl in his past (if it was Amanda?) Sounds weird that he wrote a song about a girl he was with 15 years before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Sounds weird that he wrote a song about a girl he was with 15 years before Not to mention how disrespectful it would be to his wife if the girl was a real-life ex-girlfriend he's still thinking about and writing songs about and obviously has feelings for. I don't think BJA would do that, even if it were what he really feels inside. I mean, imagine what the fuck kind of reaction Adrienne would have and the strain it would put on their marriage. It would hurt her a lot, and he goes out of his way to be respectful to his wife. Though Billie Joe does write about the past frequently, I think the actual people are a fictitious metaphorical expression of himself, like alter-egos. Or simply ideas in his head of situations and people that he puts to music, and not necessarily his own personal experience. Though he does incorporate his own experiences a lot of the time. As a writer, it's impossible not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigister Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Not to mention how disrespectful it would be to his wife if the girl was a real-life ex-girlfriend he's still thinking about and writing songs about and obviously has feelings for. I don't think BJA would do that, even if it were what he really feels inside. I mean, imagine what the fuck kind of reaction Adrienne would have and the strain it would put on their marriage. It would hurt her a lot, and he goes out of his way to be respectful to his wife. Though Billie Joe does write about the past frequently, I think the actual people are a fictitious metaphorical expression of himself, like alter-egos. Or simply ideas in his head of situations and people that he puts to music, and not necessarily his own personal experience. Though he does incorporate his own experiences a lot of the time. As a writer, it's impossible not to. I agree with all of this. Thanks for drawing up my thoughts because I was too lazy to do that properly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy's Little Nightmare Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Good Riddance was undeniably about Amanda. He'd written that between Kerplunk and Dookie. It just wasn't released until Nimrod. As for Whatsername, I think he made mention of Amanda in reference to it, but mainly it was meant to fit the story of American Idiot. I don't think it was specific, so much as a break-up from his past that he used for inspiration to fit in and wrap the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Yeah, that makes sense. As long as it's put in that context, except in that context, it draws up a lot of questions about the new material they've come out with at the surprise shows. Isn't one of the songs actually called "Amanda"? And my impression of the theme of the new songs is that the theme is about lost love or forbidden love and his regret and longing. Surely that's not the case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I think Billie and Adrienne have both said that they are very comfortable with each other's pasts and accepting because they know what they have together. They have a stable enough marriage that Billie can use an ex-girlfriend for inspiration for a song (because, as he says, "there are no new girlfriends in my life to write about") because it brings out some specific emotion in him. Billie has also said of his songwriting that people tend to look at his songs and think that's what his whole life is, when really it's about a specific MOMENT. (For example, he said that in the context of "Uptight" when asked about suicide... it's not like he's suicidal, but in that one moment, he was feeling pretty low and wrote that song). Same goes for any kind of forbidden love or ex... she'll cross his mind from time to time, he'll write the song. I don't think it has any bearing on his "love" for his wife or means he's OBSESSED with thinking about "Amanda". He has to find song topics anywhere he can, and seeing as his current love life is, apparently, uneventful, he has to look backwards. And then maybe intentionally hype it up for the sake of creating a character like Whastername. Come on, the song is called "Good Riddance" for a reason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Come on, the song is called "Good Riddance" for a reason Haha! Good point. Though, if it were my husband, it would probably bother me on some level, if for no other reason than because it draws speculation, like us talking about it right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Haha! Good point. Though, if it were my husband, it would probably bother me on some level, if for no other reason than because it draws speculation, like us talking about it right now. Case in point, we're not as awesome as Adrienne It's obvious in more ways than one that it takes a saint to marry (and stay with) a creature like Billie for 20 years! (Not that she's also not very lucky, I'm sure he's great haha) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Case in point, we're not as awesome as Adrienne It's obvious in more ways than one that it takes a saint to marry (and stay with) a creature like Billie for 20 years! (Not that she's also not very lucky, I'm sure he's great haha) So true and you never really know what goes on behind closed doors. Solid communication probably takes a lot of the anxiety and insecurity out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 I think Billie and Adrienne have both said that they are very comfortable with each other's pasts and accepting because they know what they have together. They have a stable enough marriage that Billie can use an ex-girlfriend for inspiration for a song (because, as he says, "there are no new girlfriends in my life to write about") because it brings out some specific emotion in him. yeah kinda like Adrienne is comfortable with Billie being bi and kissing guys on stage and what not she knows its mainly for who he is as a person and who he always has been Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'm not completely convinced Billie Joe Armstrong is bi. I think that may be just for image, and because he's hugely accepting and supportive of alternative lifestyles. His support of LGBT issues has helped a lot in furthering their civil rights and making others also more accepting and supportive. For that, he's a source of inspiration and deserves respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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