Blasphemy & Genocide: Unpopular Green Day Opinions, Part 2

[The Bellie]

9 minutes ago, CherryBombs&Gasoline said:

But you are right, if you assume that the song is supposed to represent the life of Billie Joe Armstrong in 2016, it wouldn't be sincere.

But yes it could be sincere even so. Billie has written the song for the movie first, and then he felt it would perfectly fit to end RevRad. What sense would that make, if he wasn't perfectly sincere, regarding himself above all? I can totally picture him feeling this of his own life in 2016 : when he looks within himself, he may still find not to have much, in spite of all (and all what everyone else sees from the outside), but he has also found that what he has (and he only can tell what it is) is more than enough. That's not an easy thing to say, whether you're rich or poor, it doesn't matter, that what you find in ordinary world is more than enough. I think this is what makes the song universally relatable: we may all feel somehow incomplete in our ordinary life, especially when we consider what remains of our lives when we think of it in a deeper way than just material belonging. The song is about finding that the "not much" that you find that's left, has actually all you need.

[pacejunkie punk]

Billie once described the song as trying to answer the question of how do you live a life of purpose and meaning when you’re just doing your thing every day. Not having much is about wondering what you can contribute to your family, society, etc (other than material things).

[Hermione]

24 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

Nothing. I never said there was anything wrong with it. It’s just not what I want. It can be a beautiful thing for some people and I fully respect that. I just gravitate toward weird. 

 

It would help if the version of "ordinary" in the film wasn't portrayed as being treated like absolute shit by everyone you know and not being allowed to pursue anything that could give you personal fulfillment and success in life whatsoever and instead sacrificing every aspect of your wants and interests for others every minute of the day (rather than there being any kind of balance). The link to that badly written and depressing film does put me off the song a bit  

[pacejunkie punk]

4 minutes ago, Hermione said:

It would help if the version of "ordinary" in the film wasn't portrayed as being treated like absolute shit by everyone you know and not being allowed to pursue anything that could give you personal fulfillment and success in life whatsoever and instead sacrificing every aspect of your wants and interests for others every minute of the day (rather than there being any kind of balance). The link to that badly written and depressing film does put me off the song a bit  

Wow I’m sorry that was your takeaway. Are you a parent by any chance, because I found the movie totally relatable. And nobody was treating Perry like shit or denying him anything. In fact they wanted him to do something more it just took him time to figure out what that was because he was still hanging on to the past. It was a personal journey he wasn’t a victim.

[gaslight13]

Just now, Hermione said:

It would help if the version of "ordinary" in the film wasn't portrayed as being treated like absolute shit by everyone you know and not being allowed to pursue anything that could give you personal fulfillment and success in life whatsoever and instead sacrificing every aspect of your wants and interests for others (rather than there being any kind of balance). The link to that badly written and depressing film does put me off the song a bit  

I agree although I don’t know if I see him as a victim of what others wanted. More like a victim of himself because he had dreams, they didn’t work out, and instead of still going after something he just gave up.

I think the idea of an “ordinary life” is probably seen differently by different people too. When I say I run away from it it’s because I see it as that film. Aka, settling and not striving toward a life that challenges you or going after what you want. Some people are more comfortable with that and I think there’s nothing wrong with that. You have to do what’s right for you. But some would rather risk being uncomfortable in the hopes of something different, maybe even better (for them).

And yes I know the film ends with him realizing that he can still go after something he values and finding value in his life and all that. But I find 90% of it depressing, and the song by associations.

[The Bellie]

5 minutes ago, gaslight13 said:

I think the idea of an “ordinary life” is probably seen differently by different people too. When I say I run away from it it’s because I see it as that film. Aka, settling and not striving toward a life that challenges you or going after what you want. Some people are more comfortable with that and I think there’s nothing wrong with that. You have to do what’s right for you. But some would rather risk being uncomfortable in the hopes of something different, maybe even better (for them).

I see what you mean, and I do think we have to build the life we want, and that it still ought to stay in ordinary world. My life is very common in a way, but also crazy because I can't help but being and making it so. And to be honest, I feel myself this way, and fine with it now. It's me and I try to make my craziness fit in ordinary world instead of avoiding this world, or avoiding to be crazy, which I can't. Since I've known of Billie and Green Day I have already made a long way, which I'm proud of, because I feel happy with all the common stuff in my life now, that I learn to put the craziness of myself in. This brings me joy and daily motivation. I could be billionaire (I'm very very far from it ) and I believe it wouldn't change.

I don't stick so much to the character's example in the movie OW, it's a quite painful example I think, his situation may seem quite depressing indeed, but the good part is it's very realistic and I find his feelings in the movie to be quite common feelings people can have coming from their daily life. Even in Billie's real life, they could fit, although his situation isn't the same as his character. The way he works on his situation is the most relatable part to me.

[Hermione]

36 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Wow I’m sorry that was your takeaway. Are you a parent by any chance, because I found the movie totally relatable. And nobody was treating Perry like shit or denying him anything. In fact they wanted him to do something more it just took him time to figure out what that was because he was still hanging on to the past. It was a personal journey he wasn’t a victim.

I get that that was the aim but I felt it was extremely badly executed and the plot and characters were ridiculous. The acting was decent (including Billie which was a nice surprise) but I hated everything else about it  

[gaslight13]

24 minutes ago, Kuromignonne said:

I see what you mean, and I do think we have to build the life we want, and that it still ought to stay in ordinary world. My life is very common in a way, but also crazy because I can't help but being and making it so. And to be honest, I feel myself this way, and fine with it now. It's me and I try to make my craziness fit in ordinary world instead of avoiding this world, or avoiding to be crazy, which I can't. Since I've known of Billie and Green Day I have already made a long way, which I'm proud of, because I feel happy with all the common stuff in my life now, that I learn to put the craziness of myself in. This brings me joy and daily motivation. I could be billionaire (I'm very very far from it ) and I believe it wouldn't change.

I don't stick so much to the character's example in the movie OW, it's a quite painful example I think, his situation may seem quite depressing indeed, but the good part is it's very realistic and I find his feelings in the movie to be quite common feelings people can have coming from their daily life. Even in Billie's real life, they could fit, although his situation isn't the same as his character. The way he works on his situation is the most relatable part to me.

I don't know the details of your life but perhaps I would consider it not ordinary and you might consider what my life is, and what I hope it to be, as ordinary. Who knows! I do think it's kind of a customizable definition in a way. I'm not trying to imply that not-ordinary means living a wild and crazy life of sex, drugs, and rock and roll with tons of money or else it's ordinary. I think not being ordinary just means not always choosing the "safe" route but instead taking the path not followed whenever you can in order to experience as much as you can and challenging yourself. So I guess I'm not sure what you mean by it "ought to stay in an ordinary world"? I don't think anyone's life needs to fit within any rules like that provided they're not hurting anyone else. But to each his own and I'm glad that no matter how you define your world, you feel good about it. That's all that really matters  

Regarding the movie, I agree that it's realistic and relatable and that's why I don't like it, haha. I think I'd be able to view it the way you are if it didn't so directly hit on my own biggest fear. If it was more just a relatable concept instead. Sort of like, I might relate to someone being scared of snakes but I could enjoy a movie about them. But I'm very afraid of spiders so I don't want to watch a movie on them. And to me, the song is just like the entire movie in 3 minutes, haha.

40 minutes ago, Hermione said:

I get that that was the aim but I felt it was extremely badly executed and the plot and characters were ridiculous. The acting was decent (including Billie which was a nice surprise) but I hated everything else about it  

The screenwriter in me wants to rewrite it so baddddd. I don't feel that way about terrible movies and I don't feel that way about great movies, but this is one of those where I'm like "You almost had something and then what the hell happened?" I don't think it was irredeemable, but I think a few small changes could've made a massive difference.

[solongfromthestars]

To me "we don't have much" isn't literal, even in the context of the movie. I interpret it as meaning that the narrator's relationship comes with difficulties and challenges that mean it may never be truly fulfilling, but that it's "more than enough" regardless. It's not perfect, in fact quite the opposite, but they'd rather have that than anything else. It resonates with me a lot. My relationship might seem desirable to some people, but it's actually incredibly difficult because of external circumstances. Yet it's still more than enough and I'll "walk to the end of the earth and afar" before I give it up.

Love the song, but I do find the movie extremely depressing  

[emmericanidiot]

I can pick about 3 or 4 songs I genuinely like and will happily listen to on both 1039/Smooth and Kerplunk, I used to be all like 'oh yeah I love the older stuff it's so cool to like everything pre-Dookie' but now I can admit to not liking it all that much. It all sounds the same to me.

[Christian's Inferno!]

1 minute ago, emmericanidiot said:

I can pick about 3 or 4 songs I genuinely like and will happily listen to on both 1039/Smooth and Kerplunk, I used to be all like 'oh yeah I love the older stuff it's so cool to like everything pre-Dookie' but now I can admit to not liking it all that much. It all sounds the same to me.

I agree, especially about 1,039. But with Kerplunk, there are times that I listen to songs that I haven't heard for a while and really enjoy them.

[Hermione]

1000 Hours EP and Sweet Children EP are very samey but I don't think Kerplunk is (like, Dookie and Insomniac are at least as samey as Kerplunk if not more), and even 39/Smooth has a fair amount of variety in there. They sounded quite samey when I first heard them but now when I listen to them it's like any of their albums, there's a style that connects the songs but I know them all very well distinctly from each other.

[emmericanidiot]

1 minute ago, Hermione said:

1000 Hours EP and Sweet Children EP are very samey but I don't think Kerplunk is (like, Dookie and Insomniac are at least as samey as Kerplunk if not more), and even 39/Smooth has a fair amount of variety. They sounded quite samey when I first heard them but now when I listen to them it's like any of their albums, there's a style that connects the songs but I know them all very well distinctly from each other.

Yeah Insomniac is one of the best examples of similarities between styles, but for some reason I much prefer that to anything else, maybe it's because I prefer the angrier vibe of the later stuff.

10 minutes ago, MysticManiac said:

I agree, especially about 1,039. But with Kerplunk, there are times that I listen to songs that I haven't heard for a while and really enjoy them.

To be fair I do prefer Kerplunk to 1039, perhaps because there's less of it. With 1039 there's just a few too many songs for me and by the time I'm halfway through the album I start getting bored.

[Christian's Inferno!]

5 minutes ago, Hermione said:

1000 Hours EP and Sweet Children EP are very samey but I don't think Kerplunk is (like, Dookie and Insomniac are at least as samey as Kerplunk if not more), and even 39/Smooth has a fair amount of variety in there. They sounded quite samey when I first heard them but now when I listen to them it's like any of their albums, there's a style that connects the songs but I know them all very well distinctly from each other.

Yeah I think Dookie and Insomniac are samey but I think the sound of those albums is good enough that I don't really get bored of the Dookie sound or the Insomniac sound. At least not as much.

4 minutes ago, emmericanidiot said:

Yeah Insomniac is one of the best examples of similarities between styles, but for some reason I much prefer that to anything else, maybe it's because I prefer the angrier vibe of the later stuff.

To be fair I do prefer Kerplunk to 1039, perhaps because there's less of it. With 1039 there's just a few too many songs for me and by the time I'm halfway through the album I start getting bored.

Yeah I agree that 1,039 is just too long to get through. I mean listening to 39/Smooth on its own or just the EP's is ok but all together, it's quite hard to listen to

[pacejunkie punk]

Why didn’t Warners just combine the three EPs into one LP and leave the LPs alone?

[Libertine Angel]

I love 1039 and Kerplunk, only song I'd ever skip from any of them is Rest.

[Beathe.]

1039 were my favorite album when I was a teenager. Still listen to it a lot, same with Kerplunk. 

[pouty bitch]

13 minutes ago, Libertine Angel said:

I love 1039 and Kerplunk, only song I'd ever skip from any of them is Rest.

Rest is definitely my least favourite from 1039. I usually skip it, but the other day when it came on shuffle, I didn't skip it and it actually felt really refreshing to listen to it after I hadn't heard it in so long.

[Hermione]

Rest is super cheesy but it's too cute to skip! Nice harmonies and a nice change of pace. I think the worst song on 1039 is I Want To Be Alone. Handy for me that it's the last song so no skipping required.

The song Green Day is pretty bad too. Such a disappointment for the song Green Day is named after not to actually contain the words Green Day , it would be so much more entertaining if it did.

[MillenniumFan]

42 minutes ago, Beathe. said:

1039 were my favorite album when I was a teenager. Still listen to it a lot, same with Kerplunk. 

That was American Idiot for me and though in my opinion 1039 isn't Green Day's album (that place is still reserved to the trilogy), I really don't think it's that great. There are a few good songs, but the band isn't at all tight (as they are now ever since Dookie), the drumming is terrible and so is the production. A lot of the songs also sound very similar, which makes listening to the whole thing a bit boring.

A lot of the same things can be said about Kerplunk, though atleast the classic GD sound is starting to come together (Tre's drumming for example changes everything, though the band as a whole still sounds a bit off).  Mike's bass lines are also brilliant on this album and Billie's lyrics are already much better. It's a much better album, but still falls slightly short due to the slightly sloppy playing and still bad production.

[AimieeSmith]

I really like 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours out of all their discography this is a unique album due to amount of song's - with insane guitar solos .

Not a real fan of Kerplunk - only One Of My Lies and Christie Road really relate to me :). 

 

[Libertine Angel]

I actually like the drumming on 1039 a fair bit, don't see why people are against it.

[Christian's Inferno!]

Green Day is actually one of my favourite tracks on 1,039, if not my favourite. At the Library and Going to Pasalacqua seem to be the favourites from this album and I don't really think that highly of them. And Rest is a pretty decent track imo

[Hermione]

I love 16 and Road To Acceptance, those lyrics . And Going To Pasalacqua because how can you not love a song that contains the phrase "what the hey!"

I think it must be unpopular or at least rare that I really love The One I Want. Guitar solo gives me chills.

[solongfromthestars]

There are a few songs I love on Kerplunk but otherwise it's my least favourite Green Day album. I find it more dull and samey than 1039, which I actually really like. The only song I'll definitely skip is Rest and I don't even dislike that as much as I used to. I know Billie hates 1000 Hours but I like it