Heather. 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. He's bi to the extent that he wouldn't be opposed to having sex with a guy if he wasn't married. I see him more as a monogamous pansexual, but then again, I'm a crazed liberal myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 25, 2012 Author Share Posted January 25, 2012 yeah havent you all heard King for A Day and Coming Clean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 He's bi to the extent that he wouldn't be opposed to having sex with a guy if he wasn't married. I see him more as a monogamous pansexual, but then again, I'm a crazed liberal myself. Monogamous pansexual! Bwahaha! Love that term. Being also a crazed liberal, it doesn't matter to me either way. Whatever makes him happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 yeah havent you all heard King for A Day and Coming Clean? Yeah, but that's not necessarily derived from personal experience. Though I'm sure a lot of people going through it found the song very relatable and inspiring, creating a loyal fanbase from the LGBT community. Like I said, he's very accepting and supportive of those issues, but nobody can convince me he's really confused about his sexuality, and I don't think he's as open as he pretends to having sex with a man. He just wouldn't have been able to maintain a marriage like he has if he had those feelings. No way he'd be satisfied with a heterosexual relationship for that long otherwise. To paraphrase one of my oldest, closest friends who's also gay, men claiming to be bi-sexual are really just gay. I'm just basing this on research I've done and people I've talked to who went through the same things and left their marriages because of it. Then again, what the fuck do I know? Only he can say who he really is and what he really thinks and feels. If he told me himself, I'd believe him and consider it a non-issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 This is from an article on a support gays website: "Front man Billie Joe Armstrong has stated that this song is about coming out of the closet. Billie Joe himself stated "I think I've always been bisexual" in a 1995 issue ofThe Advocate. He also brings up his thoughts on the issues of heterosexuality and homosexuality in the music world." and "I think mostly it's been kept in my head. I've never really had a relationship with another man. But it is something that comes up as a struggle in me. It especially came up when I was about 16 or 17. In high school people think you have to be so macho. People get attacked just because someone insinuates something about their sexuality. I think that's gruesome." So he supports it and may go along with it, but its usually just in his head and doesn't express it often.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Haha! Exactly. The majority of his songs are about girls and his wife, and that seems to be where he really leans. He just isn't bigoted about it in others and considers violence against that lifestyle to be nonsensical or "gruesome." Honestly, I think he just has a live and let live attitude about life in general and just wants to live in the moment enjoying every minute. There's a lot of truth in "Good Riddance, Time of Your Life," in that it isn't just about an ex-girlfriend. I think it goes deeper in that he expresses embracing change and choices and consequences, and hopes others embrace it as well as they look to the future with no regret instead of living in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moyeszet Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I think Amanda dumped him... that would be why. I think it marked him in some way. And so, to let it out, he got out the character of Whatsername. When talking about the bi thing. Personally I think he just really love Adrienne. But I think he's not against guys too. I mean, you look at most married men, that doesn't take them away of looking at and fantasize over other women than their wives. I think that, mainly, he does the same, but for guys too. Or is it just provocation? I can't say. But I think it's great he supports LGBTs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertrose Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 this taken from a VH1 interview VH1: How much of Dookie is a love letter to your wife Adrienne? Billie Joe: There really weren't any songs about her at that time. A lot of the songs are about this girl from San Diego, who went to Cal Berkeley. Adrienne and I weren't going out at the time. We lost contact with each other for about a year. She got engaged to a guy in Minneapolis. Then I got involved with this other girl. I lived in the basement in Berkeley with all these guys from the East Bay and she lived upstairs in the apartment. We ended up having this year-long relationship. The song "She" was about her. VH1: How did you come to write it? Billie Joe: She gave me this poem about this empowering woman, which I think is called "She." I wrote the song as an answer back to her. My now ex-girlfriend is also on the songs "Sassafras Roots" and "Chump." VH1: So how did you and Adrienne get back together? Billie Joe: My ex-girlfriend was moving to Ecuador to live there for the spring semester. At that point we were going to go on our tour and just keep going. So we had a hasty breakup. I never really talked to her ever again. VH1: So what's it like now for Adrienne to be married to you and your biggest record is filled with songs about another woman? Billie Joe: I know she likes that song! I've been married for almost eight years, so Adrienne and I are comfortable enough that I've had a past. She's got a past, too. She was engaged, had boyfriends, had flings, and I'm comfortable with that, otherwise I wouldn't be married to her. Adrienne is the only woman I'll ever love. VH1: What do you feel you were addressing in "Basket Case?" Billie Joe: "Basket Case" was about anxiety attacks and feeling like you're ready to go crazy. At times I probably was. I've suffered from panic disorders my entire life. I thought I was just losing my mind. The only way I could know what the hell was going on was to write a song about it. It was only years later that I figured out I had a panic disorder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farley drexel hatcher Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I don't think it's fair to assume what causes strain on Billie and Adrienne's relationship based on some songs he's written, and I don't think it's fair to discuss just "how bisexual he is" either. It shouldn't matter. Like Billie said, the inspiration for one song can turn into inspiration for many. I can see why he would delve into his past to get inspiration for songs if he needs to, it's much safer than going the self distructive route like with say, American Idiot. I don't think there's anyone as supportive of Billie's writing as Adrienne, and now we know she sings/writes too, how do we know she hasn't written some songs for ex boyfriends XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I guess the point is we don't know. I mean, you really never know a person completely inside out. And speculation about celebrities is pointless because you really only see what they want you to see. Like I said, I wouldn't believe any of it unless it was told to me personally from him, Adrienne, whoever, and even then I'd have to go with my gut on it and "feel" whether or not he's bullshitting me. Inspiration comes from all kinds of places. A lot of the characters I write are alter-egos of me in some way. Doesn't mean I've personally experienced what they're going through. For instance, I've never been a street whore or raped or done heavy amounts of drugs or played in a punk rock band or even worked in a library. And the dream that inspired my Slappy Hours script definitely didn't happen in real life. I mean, I've never sat in a music studio with Billie Joe Armstrong and discussed his lyrics with him or advised him on what was "edgier" but I woke up with the entire story laid out before me and wrote it in six days, without even knowing Green Day's music from the 90's prior to writing it. Sometimes it's a general idea, or a picture in my head, or just something somebody says that becomes a story. I imagine it works that way for him too. Though I'm sure a lot of what he writes comes from his own perspective or is very personal to him. I can't write anything unless I feel something personal about it or it reflects my own perspective on the subject. "Last Night On Earth" from 21st Century Breakdown sounds like something personal from him to Adrienne. At least that's what I thought the first time I heard it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Unrelated to all this talk, but I liked when Tre said in some interview for 21CB that he was rereading the lyrics to Viva la Gloria and he was like "Shit there's a fire reference in every verse!" and how he's always discovering new things in Billie's lyrics. "He does this kind of stuff, it makes me crazy." High compliments from Tre! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Unrelated to all this talk, but I liked when Tre said in some interview for 21CB that he was rereading the lyrics to Viva la Gloria and he was like "Shit there's a fire reference in every verse!" and how he's always discovering new things in Billie's lyrics. "He does this kind of stuff, it makes me crazy." High compliments from Tre! Haha! I love that. Even Tre has to decipher it and keep deciphering it. This could go on forever. That is the genius of Billie Joe's songwriting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankiessister Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 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, and the interviewer referring to him as being a child prodigy. Along with his and Mike's songwriting. Wow, I've never seen this one! Was it in the download section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 Wow, I've never seen this one! Was it in the download section? lol i was happy to watch that too!! Thanks for finding that for us!! I have seen some articles on Wake Me Up When Semptember Ends on the lyrics, but dont know if much is true. Why do you think Billie chose "7 years" and "20 years"? There is obviously a meaning to both. I would guess that "7 years" means the time when Sweet Children was created, 7 years after Billies fathers death. But what about "20 years"? Is it the time in which he wrote the song, 20 years after his fathers death, in 2002? I did see something about how Green Day was gonna put WMUWSE on Shenanigans but held it for American Idiot. But who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 I think the years were significant for the reasons you said, and that they held it for American Idiot because September is so significant to the turning point that provoked all the stupidity of the Bush Administration in the form of 9/11. That one event changed so much in so many ways and just seemed to go on and on as the excuse for the "Holiday" from sanity the entire world seemed to be on. Though the song was originally about his father's death, it became about the death of America as we knew it and was way too good to be on Shenanigans. Isn't Shenanigans a compilation of B-sides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 lol i was happy to watch that too!! Thanks for finding that for us!! I have seen some articles on Wake Me Up When Semptember Ends on the lyrics, but dont know if much is true. Why do you think Billie chose "7 years" and "20 years"? There is obviously a meaning to both. I would guess that "7 years" means the time when Sweet Children was created, 7 years after Billies fathers death. But what about "20 years"? Is it the time in which he wrote the song, 20 years after his fathers death, in 2002? I did see something about how Green Day was gonna put WMUWSE on Shenanigans but held it for American Idiot. But who knows? Billie has said that WMUWSE was the first song he wrote for AI (contradicting the whole Homecoming thing.... but I take it to mean he had written WMUWSE, but the concept for the album didn't come up until they wrote Homecoming. WMUWSE was always kind of an anomaly on the story of the album anyway). So I think he probably wrote it around 20 years after his father died, and just rounded for the sake of lyrics. I don't think this was confirmed, but I asked about the 7 years thing once and someone mentioned it was 7 years since his youngest son was born.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farley drexel hatcher Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Yeah, his son's birthday is in September as well, so there's a chance it could be interlinked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 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. This is the first time I've seen that interview. Wow, it answers so many questions and ties into everything we've been talking about here. Plus exactly into another forum topic about the politics of American Idiot... and I think I love Michael Mayer. He's so adorable and funny. Thank you so much for sharing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather. Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Michael Mayer is like addictive to listen to. He really knows how to speak. Damn these theater folk, always making my favorite rock stars and movie stars sound so inarticulate in interviews by comparison :angry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Haha! He really is addictive to listen to. I don't know why, but I was expecting him to be much older. You know, one of those old school theater icons, not someone my own age who's so accomplished and relateable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonia. Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Just saw this topic And wanted to know if anyone else thinks that BOBD and Macy's day parade have anything in common....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScatteredPictures Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 This thread really is helpfull and interesting. I've been asking me a lot lately why Billie Joe put in that ah...ah....ah...ah.. thing in Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. It sounds so beautiful...but why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissawebster Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 You could probably make a connection between "Macy's Day Parade" and "BOBD" with the overall theme. They're both about going it alone and being disillusioned. Though I think "Macy's Day Parade" is more optimistic and hopeful that it really can get better. "BOBD" seems to be more about acceptance with being alone and different. It's depressing and sad and hopeless, which is why it isn't exactly a favorite of mine as far as Green Day songs go, but I do appreciate it as a musical masterpiece. Not sure about the "ah, ah, ah..." thing. Maybe because it makes the music interesting and sounds good? Kind of like other bands who say "Do do da da" and "Yeah yeah yeah" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VisionsofGreenDay115 Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 I think I remember reading something about when Billie Joe was at his dads funeral, he went into another room because he was just so sad. Some one walked in (maybe his mom or brother) and he said "just wake me up when September ends" and that's where the title came from. But I don't of that's accurate info. BOBD and Macy's Day Parade may have some thin in common. I would say probably not. For I understand that BOBD is part of the AI story, but I don't what it really means to Billie. As well as MDP, I don't how he came to the idea for both songs soni can't say much. But I would say that they probably dont have anything in common, but I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rancid punk:LTD Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hasn't Billie compared his song writing to The Beach Boys a few times? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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