In Debt to Green Day
I know how many people say that Green Day changed their lives. I also know I'm one of them. I wouldn't be the outgoing, sarcastic, punk rocker I am today without the guys. Though I can't say they literally saved my life, they did in some ways.
I was 12 and deep in depression. I didn't have any logical reason to be. But I was. I'd recently developed a crush on a now really lame actor. I desperately wanted to meet him. I guess you could blame it on the newfound hormones, but I cried over him. Then one day I went to my friends birthday party, where she received International Superhits. She called me later that week and told me all about it. "There's this song where you hear this little boy being interviewed. He sounds so adorable!" she rambled. "That's great, Sari" I replied. I had no clue who Green Day was, and she picked up on that. "Do you know who they are?" she asked eventually. "Not really, but I may have heard some of their songs and just didn't know it was them" I said offhandedly. "Ever heard the song Holiday or Boulevard of Broken Dreams?" she inquired. "Oh yeah, I know those. I love those songs!". So I finally had a name for the group who did those kickass songs. Sari was always bored and had to keep herself busy, so she burned American Idiot for me. (She left off Jesus of Suburbia for some inane reason, but I eventually bought AI in whole.) So I began listening to it everyday, over and over, nonstop. The lyrics for Extraordinary Girl held a lot of meaning for me.
Then Christmas came, and I had to get stuff for my friend. I went to the now deceased Tower Records, and bought a GD collage poster for my friend. I also got a GD poster with a white backdrop for myself. Then I got a poster out of Tiger Beat (sick, I know) of them. Then another and another. I fell head over heels with Billie Joe. I learned all of their names, their kids names, their wives or ex-wives names, their b-days, their kids b-days, etc. I remember when I found out Billie was not 20-something, but 33. All my allowance money went to GD cd's before anything else. By the time I was 13 and a half, I had 15 posters, a biography, 6 cds, Bullet In A Bible, and pictures out my ass. Then my affections fell upon Tre, and I got depressed again. I knew I'd never meet them. I cried my eyes out, and my family got pissed. I had no reason to cry over 33 year olds. I did not have a horrible life. I had a roof over my head and food on the table. But these guys surpassed incredible. They were gods. They ruled my destiny, as far as I was concerned. I couldn't live without listening to them for 6 hours staright. I wanted to die.
But then my brother died. A heroine overdose, supposedly. I had to face my own mortality. I have done nothing to benefit anyone, and my brother had. He went places, he met people. I was crying like a baby over a rock band. So I grew. I became a vegetarian, a looked at the world and read the news, considered becoming Buddhist or started reading again, and got crazy. I wanted to expand as a person and have fun doing it. And Green Day coached me through it. They helped me broaden my musical taste past them. I had to be more than some girl crying over them. They'd think me pathetic. So I got a guitar and am learning to play it well.
A lot of their songs hold meaning for me like nothing else. And they can make me laugh like no one else can. But most importantly, they were there for me when I needed them. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
Now I cannot speak.
I lost my voice.
I'm speechless and redundant
Cause I love you's not enough
I'm lost for words.
Redundant, Green Day
I was 12 and deep in depression. I didn't have any logical reason to be. But I was. I'd recently developed a crush on a now really lame actor. I desperately wanted to meet him. I guess you could blame it on the newfound hormones, but I cried over him. Then one day I went to my friends birthday party, where she received International Superhits. She called me later that week and told me all about it. "There's this song where you hear this little boy being interviewed. He sounds so adorable!" she rambled. "That's great, Sari" I replied. I had no clue who Green Day was, and she picked up on that. "Do you know who they are?" she asked eventually. "Not really, but I may have heard some of their songs and just didn't know it was them" I said offhandedly. "Ever heard the song Holiday or Boulevard of Broken Dreams?" she inquired. "Oh yeah, I know those. I love those songs!". So I finally had a name for the group who did those kickass songs. Sari was always bored and had to keep herself busy, so she burned American Idiot for me. (She left off Jesus of Suburbia for some inane reason, but I eventually bought AI in whole.) So I began listening to it everyday, over and over, nonstop. The lyrics for Extraordinary Girl held a lot of meaning for me.
Then Christmas came, and I had to get stuff for my friend. I went to the now deceased Tower Records, and bought a GD collage poster for my friend. I also got a GD poster with a white backdrop for myself. Then I got a poster out of Tiger Beat (sick, I know) of them. Then another and another. I fell head over heels with Billie Joe. I learned all of their names, their kids names, their wives or ex-wives names, their b-days, their kids b-days, etc. I remember when I found out Billie was not 20-something, but 33. All my allowance money went to GD cd's before anything else. By the time I was 13 and a half, I had 15 posters, a biography, 6 cds, Bullet In A Bible, and pictures out my ass. Then my affections fell upon Tre, and I got depressed again. I knew I'd never meet them. I cried my eyes out, and my family got pissed. I had no reason to cry over 33 year olds. I did not have a horrible life. I had a roof over my head and food on the table. But these guys surpassed incredible. They were gods. They ruled my destiny, as far as I was concerned. I couldn't live without listening to them for 6 hours staright. I wanted to die.
But then my brother died. A heroine overdose, supposedly. I had to face my own mortality. I have done nothing to benefit anyone, and my brother had. He went places, he met people. I was crying like a baby over a rock band. So I grew. I became a vegetarian, a looked at the world and read the news, considered becoming Buddhist or started reading again, and got crazy. I wanted to expand as a person and have fun doing it. And Green Day coached me through it. They helped me broaden my musical taste past them. I had to be more than some girl crying over them. They'd think me pathetic. So I got a guitar and am learning to play it well.
A lot of their songs hold meaning for me like nothing else. And they can make me laugh like no one else can. But most importantly, they were there for me when I needed them. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
Now I cannot speak.
I lost my voice.
I'm speechless and redundant
Cause I love you's not enough
I'm lost for words.
Redundant, Green Day
"I also know I'm one of them. I wouldn't be the outgoing, sarcastic, punk rocker I am today without the guys. Though I can't say they literally saved my life, they did in some ways."
"I was 12 and deep in depression. I didn't have any logical reason to be. But I was. I'd recently developed a crush on a now really lame actor."
"The lyrics for Extraordinary Girl held a lot of meaning for me."
O_o
Amazing. That's like...my story. WHAT THE f*ck ARE YOU DOING WITH MY STORY? lmfao. Kidding. <3
Tulve, March 21st, 2008 at 05:25:53pm
Yeah Green Day change my life 2 in some ways 2!! i never even heard of them until i went to jr. high!!! sad i know!!
Billie J. Armstrong, February 20th, 2008 at 01:11:12am
very well said i feel the same way sometimes green day helped me through a lot of sh*t in my life too.
other than that BRAVO
Drummergirl, December 9th, 2007 at 12:41:39am
Reduntant means alot to me, too.
Green Day made me the girl I am today.
:D
Steph:DonaNobisPacem, November 29th, 2007 at 06:33:43am
wow, i love that band for oding such wonderful things.
Because of Billie Joe, i took up the guitar 2 and a half years ago, im glad i did so...
Vegemite, November 27th, 2007 at 02:35:56pm
OMFG! It's like I wrote this journal, the song "Extraordinary girl" got me through one of the darkest parts of my life, I was depressed all the time and that song helped me get through it.
Rachel Sorrows, November 27th, 2007 at 01:08:01pm
I use to cry all the time as well!
Yes. They are amazing...
Dobbemort_8thHorcrux, November 27th, 2007 at 11:43:33am
They're just so awesome aren't they?
I love them. :D
vonny, November 27th, 2007 at 09:29:13am
I feel the same way.
When I think about Green Day and how much they changed my life, there's so much that just links back to them.
Without their music and attitudes, I don't think I'd be as much of the person I am today either. Now I know what's going on in the world, I care. I've developed a passion for music, and I would never have gotten into bands like The Clash and Sex Pistols without them.
I learnt guitar to be like my hero, Billie. I met f*cking amazing people by joining GSB.
My passion for writing was asserted and expanded by joining Mibba after GSB. It's weird linking how much writing takes up of my life to Green Day.
I've become more politically aware, and much to the despise of my family, more stubborn and assertive in my opinions.
And most of all - they showed me it was okay to be who I am, and to let the world know what you think. Their release of American Idiot just showed that everybody had a voice - and you had to use it.
You can't just sit on your hands for the rest of your life, following the majority even if you hate it.
You have to branch off if your heart so desires.
When you think about how much three punk rockers have affected millions of individuals' lives worldwide, it just seems nearly impossible.
Even though its not. ;)
The Brightside., November 27th, 2007 at 08:28:03am
I concur.
captain america, November 27th, 2007 at 02:39:44am
It's blogs like these that show how much of a difference one amazing band has made. =)
threeam., November 27th, 2007 at 02:14:30am
Aww...
-sings along-
captain america, November 26th, 2007 at 11:28:30pm