Blasphemy & Genocide: Unpopular Green Day Opinions, Part 2

[-Puke-Stains-]

1 hour ago, Eric said:

Yeah nice try, you know better....

Hmm?

[LaughingClock]

6 hours ago, Kuromignonne said:

I've never thought of this phrase this way. I feel it more like, in a general way, "whenever I die, I want my love for you to remain" as the only thing he ultimately wants to save from himself. Although I wonder now, reading your post, if "losing everything in the fire" means necessarily dying, as it's what I've always thought, without really deepening it. I have a little doubt now especially since, when I think of this phrase, my mind drifts to the lyrics in 21 Guns, "did you stand too close to the fire" which I don't think are associated with death in that context. On the other hand, the last phrase in LNOE, "did I ever make it through ?" sounds like an ultimate questioning as he was really thinking of death.  

 

 

6 hours ago, Jane Lannister said:

I always interpreted "the fire" as any form of destruction. It could mean death, eventually. But it could be anything negative as well. 

The motive repeats on the album, you named 21 Guns as an example and there's also "I set the fire just to see the flame" in See The Light.

Now that I'm thinking of it more, I have come to the conclusion that Jane is right in that it is just a general statement about willing to lose everything for her love.  I didn't know honestly Billie said that he wrote it for 80 although it sure sounds like it and I would hope that he was never in this kind of love with a mistress and if he ever was, he probably wouldn't write a song and release it.  The line has always intrigued me and now thinking about it in light of your guys' opinion, I think he just means as I said "I would lose everything I have for my love for you regardless of the consequences, and maybe including death". I mean I always tell the few people that I mean this for, like my wife, and daughter, and a few others in my life that I would "kill and die for them (preferably kill)" as if I say that to you I mean it. Any person I have said that to, I meant it and I believe Billie would die for 80 so "If I lose everything in the fire" could definitely mean any material possession to the ultimate loss, life.

Billie, oh how your simple looking writing is anything but. That's Billie's greater asset if you ask me, is that he can make the most simple writing a fucking masterpiece with playfulness.  This isn't even a song that has much in it as fares depth but in the end, all of his writing sort of is just because he's so playful with his words.

 

Off topic, but I hate topics:

I was thinking the other day as I wrote a post in RN about how Billie used to write inwardly (like his slums in WTP, and himself in love in WICA, and himself in Basket Case "I'm crazy", and occasionally he we will write about a single other person She, Outlaws, Maria, but even then it's about him.  Even now, all the songs about political discourse he still writes inwardly "I'm not an American Idiot". "I"M not a part of a redneck agenda", "My name is Billie and I'm freaking out", "I'm the son of rage and love" "I'm running late to Somewhere Now that I DONT want to be"...literally I was going through song after song and all of a sudden I realized that even his political shit was still written in the MICRO which goes with my theory that he left the slums but they never left his mind.  I asked the question is America his new slum? And I don't even think he thinks about this (maybe he does) but always writes about how things are effecting HIM.  He is EXACTLY like John Lennon in that.  Paul was always the one writing songs about life "Live and Let Die", "Penny Lane", "Hey Jude". or anecdotes about a medicine student on a killing rampage "Mr. Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (that's what that song is about, it's amazing and most people don't know it because it's set to a happy tune. Pail writes love songs about himself or others but Lennon was always writing about the macro "Imagine there's no country, it's easy if you can".  "Let me tell you about Strawberry Fields"....etc...I could go on but I'm too stoned and this probe;ly makes no sense but it so does to me.

PEACE YALL

This song by Paul (Beatles) is about a medical student going on a killing spree.  It escaped me my whole life until someone told me about a year ago.

 

 

[UNICORN VOMIT]

Adam remember my short attention span

[Hermione]

4 hours ago, LaughingClock said:

Watch it a minimum of 20x and get back to us.

This is what I don't get. You can watch ANY of the songs on their setlist 20x and it'll be the same thing every time. With KFAD there will at least be some variation of antics, costumes, different band members singing, Billie's comments, covers etc. So why is it singled out as the only one that's "stale"???

Side note I've probably watched over 50 different videos of it and seen it live 4 times and nowhere near bored yet  

[-Billiejoezee-]

5 minutes ago, Hermione said:

This is what I don't get. You can watch ANY of the songs on their setlist 20x and it'll be the same thing every time. With KFAD there will at least be some variation of antics, costumes, different band members singing, Billie's comments, covers etc. So why is it singled out as the only one that's "stale"???

Side note I've probably watched over 50 different videos of it and seen it live 4 times and nowhere near bored yet  

Yeah I actually agree with you on this 

4 hours ago, SHART said:

Is RHS considered a ballad?

 

Hmm I suppose it is, no one talk bad about it though or I will f I g h t

[DeJennsitized]

37 minutes ago, Hermione said:

This is what I don't get. You can watch ANY of the songs on their setlist 20x and it'll be the same thing every time. With KFAD there will at least be some variation of antics, costumes, different band members singing, Billie's comments, covers etc. So why is it singled out as the only one that's "stale"???

Side note I've probably watched over 50 different videos of it and seen it live 4 times and nowhere near bored yet  

I think the stale accusations come from that "variation" though - to first timers it seems spontaneous, but we know it's the same thing every time. It's different for other songs they play straight through in that sense. Does that make sense because I can't really explain it properly  just that, yeah they do covers but it's the same covers each time but we're meant to think it's off the cuff. Same with Tre being given the mic and the sax solo etc. I mean I love it, but I think the sense of jaded-ness comes from that. It's like when I went to see a panto several times, and each time there was a joke where we were meant to think an actor broke character to laugh, but he literally did it every night so it didn't feel as sincere.

[Starlight]

43 minutes ago, Hermione said:

This is what I don't get. You can watch ANY of the songs on their setlist 20x and it'll be the same thing every time. With KFAD there will at least be some variation of antics, costumes, different band members singing, Billie's comments, covers etc. So why is it singled out as the only one that's "stale"???

Side note I've probably watched over 50 different videos of it and seen it live 4 times and nowhere near bored yet  

Hating KFAD really does seem to be an unpopular opinion. At the Austin show I went to everyone went crazy the second the band started playing it. I even heard a girl behind me scream "oh my god this is my favorite song ever!" They were really into it. But maybe that's just Austin people, we're all a bunch of weirdos.

 

9 hours ago, herewegoagain said:

Also, probably an unpopular opinion: I find Billie's vocals really boring on Dookie compared to every single one of the other albums. Maybe it's just the mixing but it irks me.

How fucking dare you

[WhiteTim]

8 minutes ago, Starlight said:

Hating KFAD really does seem to be an unpopular opinion. At the Austin show I went to everyone went crazy the second the band started playing it. I even heard a girl behind me scream "oh my god this is my favorite song ever!" They were really into it. But maybe that's just Austin people, we're all a bunch of weirdos.

 

How fucking dare you

Austin ain’t as weird as it used to be 😞

[The Bellie]

3 hours ago, LaughingClock said:

Now that I'm thinking of it more, I have come to the conclusion that Jane is right in that it is just a general statement about willing to lose everything for her love. I think he just means as I said "I would lose everything I have for my love for you regardless of the consequences, and maybe including death".

I believe Billie would die for 80 so "If I lose everything in the fire" could definitely mean any material possession to the ultimate loss, life.

I believe too that Billie would die for Adie but I still don't hear this song as if he was thinking, willing to lose everything as the cost for her love. To me, he's thinking that when he will die, he wants her to know that he sends his love to her before it gets caught by the fire like everything else (his life also maybe) as he is "here to honor her" - here on Earth, as I hear it...

I feel more uncertain about the end of the song: " If I lose everything in the fire - Did I ever make it through?" Once he's lost everything in the fire, he figures himself somewhere wondering if he "ever made it through". Through what? Maybe this somewhere is not on Earth anymore, did I make it through sounds like a final outcome, like looking upon his life when it ends, and I feel it might be the line that gets out of the love ballad itself, to go back to something really personal. Did he ever make it through - the fire that are his inner demons at that time, that could be self-destructive enough for him to have in mind the idea of death or losing everything. So that would be, he might lose everything because of that fire.

Another thought comes in mind while I'm writing this: he thinks of the moment he loses everything as the moment of death, but this does not occur because of the fire he's in prey to, his death might just occur at that moment when he's still caught in this fire. So maybe the last sentence would mean: "will I have managed to make it through this fire by the time my life ends?"

3 hours ago, LaughingClock said:

Billie, oh how your simple looking writing is anything but. That's Billie's greater asset if you ask me, is that he can make the most simple writing a fucking masterpiece with playfulness.  This isn't even a song that has much in it as fares depth but in the end, all of his writing sort of is just because he's so playful with his words.

45 minutes ago, Starlight said:

Hating KFAD really does seem to be an unpopular opinion. At the Austin show I went to everyone went crazy the second the band started playing it. I even heard a girl behind me scream "oh my god this is my favorite song ever!" They were really into it. But maybe that's just Austin people, we're all a bunch of weirdos.

 

How fucking dare you

I love KFAD - like the great majority of the boys' songs  -, I love hearing it album version (one of the very earliest songs when I find Billie's voice to become really sexy ) and I can totally hear it 50 times over and over without getting bored when it gets me . I go through one-song-periods like this with many, various GD songs. However, KFAD is not a song I use to watch live over and over. Recently I got into it because it preceded the "Shout" cover with the "punching Nazis speech" 

[herewegoagain]

3 hours ago, Starlight said:

How fucking dare you

Sorry   I know it's awesome how he did them in like two days or whatever it was. They sound muffled and, imo, lack both that deep, twangy sound that I love from 1039/Kerplunk, and the more powerful quality that's immediately noticeable again from Insomniac and onwards. Again I'm sure it has to do with the production but it spoils the album somewhat for me.

[solongfromthestars]

Someone mentioned to me that they interpret Last Night on Earth as a suicide letter and I'd never thought of that but it would make sense. It'd fit into the concept of the characters with Christian being a self-destructive type. But then both the mistress interpretation and just the "I'm willing to die for you" interpretation could also work. That's one of the things I love about Billie's writing, it can be interpreted in so many different ways.

[Little Boy Named Booze]

20 hours ago, MillenniumFan said:

1.) The trilogy is massively overrated on this forum! I think it easily the worst material they have ever released in their career all things considered.

I don't hate the trilogy THAT much, but I believe that the choice of single for Uno Dos and Tré was reaaaaaally bad. Oh Love, Let Yourself Go, Stray Heart and The Forgotten I mean..... not bad choices, but they're better songs on the trilogy.

[DeJennsitized]

Just now, Patrick Lamontagne said:

I don't hate the trilogy THAT much, but I believe that the choice of single for Uno Dos and Tré was reaaaaaally bad. Oh Love, Let Yourself Go, Stray Heart and The Forgotten I mean..... not bad choices, but they're better songs on the trilogy.

I agree, I think it could have done a lot better than it did with the right songs. I think Brutal Love could have been really good as a single. Walk Away as well, just because it's really catchy. I do get though that they weren't able to focus on promo much after Billie's rehab.

[LaughingClock]

7 hours ago, Hermione said:

This is what I don't get. You can watch ANY of the songs on their setlist 20x and it'll be the same thing every time. With KFAD there will at least be some variation of antics, costumes, different band members singing, Billie's comments, covers etc. So why is it singled out as the only one that's "stale"???

Side note I've probably watched over 50 different videos of it and seen it live 4 times and nowhere near bored yet  

Because it's not really different and unlike Jesus of Surbibia, it grates on your nerves the 10th time. Only time I like it is when I'm bringing someone new.

Hey, I'm glad you still like it. Wished I did.

It's a very interesting take and "did I ever make it through" could be taken in a majority of ways.

 

Certainly there is a after death thing to it as is if "fire" does indeed mean death did I make it through to somewhere else or if "fire" means anything like "I would do anything for you" and "make it through" could mean "did I get my love across to you". I think it's unknown and interesting and I want to know and don't think what someone wrote on the internet is gospel unless it's from the sources mouth.

@Kuromignonne

[Eric]

40 minutes ago, LaughingClock said:

Because it's not really different and unlike Jesus of Surbibia, it grates on your nerves the 10th time. Only time I like it is when I'm bringing someone new.

Hey, I'm glad you still like it. Wished I did.

It's a very interesting take and "did I ever make it through" could be taken in a majority of ways.

 

Certainly there is a after death thing to it as is if "fire" does indeed mean death did I make it through to somewhere else or if "fire" means anything like "I would do anything for you" and "make it through" could mean "did I get my love across to you". I think it's unknown and interesting and I want to know and don't think what someone wrote on the internet is gospel unless it's from the sources mouth.

@Kuromignonne

Any song that many times will get on your nerves.

 

KFAD at least is fun and different. 

[Chin for a Day]

Funny, it's JOS that grates on my nerves not KFAD. I just don't think it plays well live at all. KFAD is at least fun and you can jump and scream and overall just act like a 2 year old and no one will care.  

[gaslight13]

Regarding Last Night On Earth:
This is a quote from Billie in a Billboard interview....
 ""Last Night On Earth" is a love song I wrote for my wife. I wrote it on piano and then sang it. It's one of those things where it's only directed toward one person, like an intimate moment."
Source: http://bit.ly/2k5yoNf

I recall another interview where someone asked if it was about his wife and he said something like "It better be, or else I'm in big trouble". I don't recall where I saw that though. No idea if it's about suicide at all. I always took it to be more of a apocalypse scenario. Like a final solitary moment with the one you love while everything around goes up in flames and the earth is destroyed. Think, the last part of the  21 guns video but instead of bullets it's hellfire, haha.

Regarding KFAD:
I think it's the medley that makes it feel overplayed. At least for me. I think KFAD is fun but once it's over, I want them to move on to another song (of theirs) not go into this whole medley and eat up another 10 minutes of the show. 

[Eric]

3 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

Regarding Last Night On Earth:
This is a quote from Billie in a Billboard interview....
 ""Last Night On Earth" is a love song I wrote for my wife. I wrote it on piano and then sang it. It's one of those things where it's only directed toward one person, like an intimate moment."
Source: http://bit.ly/2k5yoNf

I recall another interview where someone asked if it was about his wife and he said something like "It better be, or else I'm in big trouble". I don't recall where I saw that though. No idea if it's about suicide at all. I always took it to be more of a apocalypse scenario. Like a final solitary moment with the one you love while everything around goes up in flames and the earth is destroyed. Think, the last part of the  21 guns video but instead of bullets it's hellfire, haha.

Regarding KFAD:
I think it's the medley that makes it feel overplayed. At least for me. I think KFAD is fun but once it's over, I want them to move on to another song (of theirs) not go into this whole medley and eat up another 10 minutes of the show. 

But it's not eating up the show, its just a time for them to have fun and do something different, you no like fun and different? There is like 26 other songs lmao

[pacejunkie punk]

10 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

Regarding Last Night On Earth:
This is a quote from Billie in a Billboard interview....
 ""Last Night On Earth" is a love song I wrote for my wife. I wrote it on piano and then sang it. It's one of those things where it's only directed toward one person, like an intimate moment."
Source: http://bit.ly/2k5yoNf

I recall another interview where someone asked if it was about his wife and he said something like "It better be, or else I'm in big trouble". I don't recall where I saw that though. 

It might have been Bill Maher where he said that.

[Hermione]

I will say they could do with switching up the covers during Shout, since they've been sticking with the same ones for a while. But that's my only criticism of it  

12 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

Regarding Last Night On Earth:
This is a quote from Billie in a Billboard interview....
 ""Last Night On Earth" is a love song I wrote for my wife. I wrote it on piano and then sang it. It's one of those things where it's only directed toward one person, like an intimate moment."
Source: http://bit.ly/2k5yoNf

I recall another interview where someone asked if it was about his wife and he said something like "It better be, or else I'm in big trouble". I don't recall where I saw that though. No idea if it's about suicide at all. I always took it to be more of a apocalypse scenario. Like a final solitary moment with the one you love while everything around goes up in flames and the earth is destroyed. Think, the last part of the  21 guns video but instead of bullets it's hellfire, haha.
 

Yeah this is one time when he's spelled out the overall meaning/intent of the song pretty clearly. I like/agree with your description of it as an apocalyptic thing, with the grand themes of the album I think he's expressing his love through a literal "last night on earth" situation.

[Riotgrrl_GD]

19 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

Regarding Last Night On Earth:
This is a quote from Billie in a Billboard interview....
 ""Last Night On Earth" is a love song I wrote for my wife. I wrote it on piano and then sang it. It's one of those things where it's only directed toward one person, like an intimate moment."
Source: http://bit.ly/2k5yoNf

I recall another interview where someone asked if it was about his wife and he said something like "It better be, or else I'm in big trouble". I don't recall where I saw that though. No idea if it's about suicide at all. I always took it to be more of a apocalypse scenario. Like a final solitary moment with the one you love while everything around goes up in flames and the earth is destroyed. Think, the last part of the  21 guns video but instead of bullets it's hellfire, haha.

Regarding KFAD:
I think it's the medley that makes it feel overplayed. At least for me. I think KFAD is fun but once it's over, I want them to move on to another song (of theirs) not go into this whole medley and eat up another 10 minutes of the show. 

It'd be neat for them to switch up the songs in the medley.  

EDIT: @Hermione beat me to it!  

[-Puke-Stains-]

2 hours ago, Scattered Wreck said:

Funny, it's JOS that grates on my nerves not KFAD. I just don't think it plays well live at all. KFAD is at least fun and you can jump and scream and overall just act like a 2 year old and no one will care.  

As someone who used to listen to JOS on repeat every morning through my high school years to give me the confidence to get up and face my demons head on, that song will always have a special place in my heart. One of the very very few songs I wouldn't mind hearing 50+ times live. It's always incredibly strong for me. 

[solongfromthestars]

I really don't mind KFAD that much The one part I'm sick of/don't care about at all is the sax solo but it's not a huge deal.

2 hours ago, gaslight13 said:

I recall another interview where someone asked if it was about his wife and he said something like "It better be, or else I'm in big trouble". I don't recall where I saw that though. No idea if it's about suicide at all. I always took it to be more of a apocalypse scenario. Like a final solitary moment with the one you love while everything around goes up in flames and the earth is destroyed. Think, the last part of the  21 guns video but instead of bullets it's hellfire, haha.

Oh I actually remember when he said that! It was in these two videos:

It could be an apocalypse scenario too. That was my original interpretation before the suicide thing came up. Both would fit with the theme of the album and characters.

[-Puke-Stains-]

2 hours ago, gaslight13 said:

Regarding KFAD:
I think it's the medley that makes it feel overplayed. At least for me. I think KFAD is fun but once it's over, I want them to move on to another song (of theirs) not go into this whole medley and eat up another 10 minutes of the show. 

That's the only time during a show Billie gets to take a breather and lay down, his old ass isn't gonna give that up. 

[gaslight13]

2 hours ago, Eric said:

But it's not eating up the show, its just a time for them to have fun and do something different, you no like fun and different? There is like 26 other songs lmao

I like fun and different. I'd love to be there the day they decide to play different fun songs in the medley. Shout is fun, I'll give you that. And I like the other songs but honestly unless you're lucky enough to be on the barricade right where Billie's laying on the stage floor, it's just kind of boring. I find myself staring off into space. Just saying, I think that's why people pick on KFAD more than like 1000 Light Years Away or any other song in the set list that's been overplayed at this point. 
 

10 minutes ago, -Puke-Stains- said:

That's the only time during a show Billie gets to take a breather and lay down, his old ass isn't gonna give that up. 

 Honestly, I'm 19 years younger than him and I could use a breather at that point in the show too. But like, he could play a slow song. Or do a different medley, or sit down and talk for a few minutes, etc. They really don't put a lot of slow songs in their shows so no wonder he needs a break. I think it would be the perfect opportunity to do one.