02 - Bang Bang

[UNICORN VOMIT]

1 hour ago, localinsomniac said:

I don't, unfortunately. They introduced themselves individually and then the song, but I don't recall anything else.

Well that's new.

I can't believe these journalist get paid to write this tripe. 

[tresexy101]

12 hours ago, JJ1964 said:

There actually is a psychological link with mass shooters and sexual frustration.  They replace their lack of sex with destruction.  I think that line is just brilliant.  

That made me think of the Orlando PULSE club shooter....  the shooter had mention he hated gays and the LGBT community, yet, the shooter was on gay websites looking for hookups.  His own father said he was gay and the shooter had also has been known to hit on men at this club.   Good catch JJ1964.

[Karlachu]

14 hours ago, Jenn123 said:

Edit: @Comrade, I don't question your love of the band btw. I'm a huge fan of a TV show that could do better a lot of the time and I rag on it a lot, but it's my show, y'know? I want what's best for it. And I can see it's the same for you and GD. I just don't agree with your assessment of the song on this occasion. And that's totally fine!

Is that tv show PLL because i yell at that show everytime i watch it because it's so dumb, but i love it and watch it religously. lol!

[DookieLukie]

I think Billie's lyrics and message are far more accurate and neutral in their political stance than many of the interpretations of the lyrics I've seen. This song isn't about how men are simple-minded people who exchange sex for violence (it can happen, though), it's not about taking away all of our guns, and it's not about berating and mocking shooters or people who are mentally disturbed. The song to me is about media attention and the culture of social media "stars" and how it mashes with mental disorder and the social situation of our country. I don't think Billie is saying "All men are crazy" or "All mass shooters deserve punishment." I think he's making a commentary on how all of these factors create a criminal. So PLEASE don't parade this notion that terrorists and shooters are so one-dimensional and "fuck them" or "fuck men" (like I'm seeing on FB). I'm not going to stand up for murderers, but looking at the situation in such black and white and extremist ways doesn't fix the problem.

[Whatsinaname]

I don't know how to quote, but I live in Valparaiso, Indiana. So nice we are one community here! And I heard it played twice today on Q101. The first single is getting air time! 

 

[UNICORN VOMIT]

12 minutes ago, Whatsinaname said:

I don't know how to quote, but I live in Valparaiso, Indiana. So nice we are one community here! And I heard it played twice today on Q101. The first single is getting air time! 

 

Press quote.

[Thatsername]

6 hours ago, DookieLukie said:

I think Billie's lyrics and message are far more accurate and neutral in their political stance than many of the interpretations of the lyrics I've seen. This song isn't about how men are simple-minded people who exchange sex for violence (it can happen, though), it's not about taking away all of our guns, and it's not about berating and mocking shooters or people who are mentally disturbed. The song to me is about media attention and the culture of social media "stars" and how it mashes with mental disorder and the social situation of our country. I don't think Billie is saying "All men are crazy" or "All mass shooters deserve punishment." I think he's making a commentary on how all of these factors create a criminal. So PLEASE don't parade this notion that terrorists and shooters are so one-dimensional and "fuck them" or "fuck men" (like I'm seeing on FB). I'm not going to stand up for murderers, but looking at the situation in such black and white and extremist ways doesn't fix the problem.

That's exactly what I'm thinking. In the world we live in today, terrible things like mass shootings and the social-media-hype (turning the actor into a celebrity martyr) are so close together; the one can't exist without the other one anymore, so it seems. That's why my favourite line in the song is "Hurrah - bang bang - hurrah - bang bang - The hero of the hour". For me, that line shows perfectly how a horrible attack like that gets perverted into a mass-media-event, and it also encompasses the sensationalism of all of us. And it's not only about the USA. We had a mass shooting in Munich some months ago, and when I listenend to "Bang Bang" for the first time, I couldn't stop thinking that Billie wrote the song right after the Munich shooting. Really scary shit. God I love that song.

Edited August 20, 2016 by MMwhatsername

[Harry Potter.]

On 8/19/2016 at 4:26 AM, tresexy101 said:

 And I was also wondering, since GD put out a lyrics video, and NOFX did...has this become a thing? 

Long ago.

[Hermione]

9 hours ago, DookieLukie said:

I think Billie's lyrics and message are far more accurate and neutral in their political stance than many of the interpretations of the lyrics I've seen. This song isn't about how men are simple-minded people who exchange sex for violence (it can happen, though), it's not about taking away all of our guns, and it's not about berating and mocking shooters or people who are mentally disturbed. The song to me is about media attention and the culture of social media "stars" and how it mashes with mental disorder and the social situation of our country. I don't think Billie is saying "All men are crazy" or "All mass shooters deserve punishment." I think he's making a commentary on how all of these factors create a criminal. So PLEASE don't parade this notion that terrorists and shooters are so one-dimensional and "fuck them" or "fuck men" (like I'm seeing on FB). I'm not going to stand up for murderers, but looking at the situation in such black and white and extremist ways doesn't fix the problem.

Are people really interpreting this song as meaning "fuck men"? Jesus. I agree with your interpretation but I haven't seen much in this thread that contradicts it, maybe it's a good thing I haven't been reading many elsewhere.

[DeJennsitized]

10 hours ago, Karlachu said:

Is that tv show PLL because i yell at that show everytime i watch it because it's so dumb, but i love it and watch it religously. lol!

No, it's actually Supernatural, lol 😁

[localinsomniac]

8 hours ago, Whatsinaname said:

I don't know how to quote, but I live in Valparaiso, Indiana. So nice we are one community here! And I heard it played twice today on Q101. The first single is getting air time! 

 

I don't live in Valpo, but my wife has a ton of family there. We just got home (south of Boston) from a 2-week visit.

[Mary711]

Heard it for the first time on the radio yesterday and it was amazing. 

[gerardsangel4977]

16 hours ago, Matt. said:

3. I'd argue "Daddy's little nightmare and mommy's little soldier"
 

I would actually say that "I wanna be a celebrity martyr" is the hook for the song, since that's what seems to getting stuck in everyone's heads.

 

15 hours ago, Jenn123 said:

To be fair, I don't think the song 'perfectly captures' the mindset of a shooter, because do we really know that mindset? And are all those mindsets the same? But I think Billie Joe was just exploring the possibilities of it - because of course he has no genuine connection with a mass shooter, come on!
Some of the lyrics are jarring, contradictory, maybe even a bit clumsy, but I'm pretty sure that's intentional.

That's not me trying to change anyone's mind - just explaining why I personally love the lyrics. I love the song. There've been songs I haven't liked, and I don't think it's fair to insinuate that because people love this song, they love everything the band put out. Though even if they do, lol who even cares? Good for them, whatever. It doesn't affect my opinions of the music.

Edit: @Comrade, I don't question your love of the band btw. I'm a huge fan of a TV show that could do better a lot of the time and I rag on it a lot, but it's my show, y'know? I want what's best for it. And I can see it's the same for you and GD. I just don't agree with your assessment of the song on this occasion. And that's totally fine!

Lemme guess...Supernatural? xD

But re: the lyrics, I find myself in between here. I don't think they are amazing--certainly not the best he's ever written--but they aren't horrible either. There's some really good lines in there, but I don't think it quite fully comes together. I would even say that maybe some past songs he's written, like Having A Blast, Christian's Inferno, and even Know Your Enemy, probably do a better job at capturing that same sense of anger and disillusionment that makes up these people's mindset more than this song does, albeit unintentionally. "Bang Bang" reads more like a satire piece to me than actually writing from the viewpoint of a shooter.

That being said, the music is awesome enough to make up for any lyrical shortcomings imo.

2 hours ago, Jenn123 said:

No, it's actually Supernatural, lol 😁

LOL computer didn't show me this til after I posted. 

[DeJennsitized]

45 minutes ago, gerardsangel4977 said:

Lemme guess...Supernatural? xD

But re: the lyrics, I find myself in between here. I don't think they are amazing--certainly not the best he's ever written--but they aren't horrible either. There's some really good lines in there, but I don't think it quite fully comes together. I would even say that maybe some past songs he's written, like Having A Blast, Christian's Inferno, and even Know Your Enemy, probably do a better job at capturing that same sense of anger and disillusionment that makes up these people's mindset more than this song does, albeit unintentionally. "Bang Bang" reads more like a satire piece to me than actually writing from the viewpoint of a shooter.

That being said, the music is awesome enough to make up for any lyrical shortcomings imo.

LOL computer didn't show me this til after I posted. 

Haha! How'd you guess? 

I actually agree with you in that it's more of a satire piece than a real analysis of a shooter POV. The lyrics aren't rational, nor do they attempt to justify or even explore that viewpoint (because how can they really.) It's full of sarcasm and mocking of what a shooter might be thinking. And a lot of it doesn't make sense because who the fuck can make sense of something like that?

[Billie Hoe]

Me reading that MTV article

 

[Libertine Angel]

59 minutes ago, Jake69 said:

Bang bang is one of the most funniest songs to play on guitar. I was just rocking out in front of my mirror having a blast.

[platypus136]

Its a greaaat song *-*
Love it !! <3

 

BANG BAANG

[okotavio]

Is there an ending guitar fade on the beggining of the song (kinda like Holiday/BOBD) or am I completely crazy?

Also I was wondering how I thought Bang Bang was a terrible title but I ended up loving it after listening to the song for this past few weeks. Maybe the other plausible title would be Celebrity Martyr but Bang Bang sounds amazing to me now

[gerardsangel4977]

9 hours ago, Jenn123 said:

Haha! How'd you guess? 

I actually agree with you in that it's more of a satire piece than a real analysis of a shooter POV. The lyrics aren't rational, nor do they attempt to justify or even explore that viewpoint (because how can they really.) It's full of sarcasm and mocking of what a shooter might be thinking. And a lot of it doesn't make sense because who the fuck can make sense of something like that?

Easy. No one hates Supernatural more than Supernatural fans 

And yeah, many people have tried to get into that head space, of course: Writers, actors, psychologists, detectives, special ops.....in the end, the only one who really knows is the people who do it. Though behavioral psychology has come a long way in attempting to describe it and detect warning signs. That being said, even the most docile person can be pushed to murder under the right circumstances....mass shooters are no different in that regard--they don't just wake up one day and decide to kill a bunch of people--but the pathology is often much more complicated and sinister than one person killing another person in the heat of the moment.

[Christian's Inferno!]

11 minutes ago, Otávio Vidal said:

Is there an ending guitar fade on the beggining of the song (kinda like Holiday/BOBD) or am I completely crazy?

Also I was wondering how I thought Bang Bang was a terrible title but I ended up loving it after listening to the song for this past few weeks. Maybe the other plausible title would be Celebrity Martyr but Bang Bang sounds amazing to me now

Yeah I thought the Bang Bang title was crap too but after listening to the song I'm starting to like the title. I guess I disliked it at first because it reminded me of that shit  Jessie J, Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande song.

[DookieLukie]

14 hours ago, Hermione said:

Are people really interpreting this song as meaning "fuck men"? Jesus. I agree with your interpretation but I haven't seen much in this thread that contradicts it, maybe it's a good thing I haven't been reading many elsewhere.

Been seeing a lot of Tumblr stuff about "fuck men" interpretations, and also some stuff from some friends on Facebook (they're teen girls but that's besides the point). I've also heard the term "toxic masculinity" being thrown around a lot with this song. To that, yeah I get what they're trying to say, but masculinity in itself isn't a bad thing. "Toxic" masculinity is just as bad as toxic femininity, both which can pertain to social media, so idk why it's a men's issue only.

[Karlachu]

14 hours ago, Jenn123 said:

No, it's actually Supernatural, lol 😁

oooohh i love Supernatural too! But it doesn't get my as upset as PLL does hahah!

[Second favourite son]

3 hours ago, Otávio Vidal said:

Is there an ending guitar fade on the beggining of the song (kinda like Holiday/BOBD) or am I completely crazy?

Someone said this before, but even when I'm listening out for one I just can't hear it.  If there is one it must be very subtle, but it could just as easily be a lead in to the static/news reports that isn't linked to another song.  I don't think you're crazy though.

[UNICORN VOMIT]

7 minutes ago, Second favourite son said:

Someone said this before, but even when I'm listening out for one I just can't hear it.  If there is one it must be very subtle, but it could just as easily be a lead in to the static/news reports that isn't linked to another song.  I don't think you're crazy though.

I'm trying hard to hear it - but can't.  

[Hermione]

3 hours ago, DookieLukie said:

Been seeing a lot of Tumblr stuff about "fuck men" interpretations, and also some stuff from some friends on Facebook (they're teen girls but that's besides the point). I've also heard the term "toxic masculinity" being thrown around a lot with this song. To that, yeah I get what they're trying to say, but masculinity in itself isn't a bad thing. "Toxic" masculinity is just as bad as toxic femininity, both which can pertain to social media, so idk why it's a men's issue only.

I mean, there is a possible reference to the feeling of entitlement to sex leading to violence ("give me death or give me head", inspired by the Elliot Rodger case maybe) which is an example of a culture that promotes certain things as being expected or owed as part of being male being harmful. But it's really a stretch to make out the song is condemning men from that, like you said it's looking at how many different factors can combine to cause someone to commit violence and isn't about condemning a group or placing the blame in one place, and about media sensationalism more than anything.