Castaway song meaning
This song is about a decision to do something against everyone's opinion - the "sentimental journey", the choice to walk the "desolation road" against social opinion. They say the song might be expressing Armstrong's feelings about recording music that is not exactly punk, which obviously arouses disapproval of the punk community and fans of Green Day's earlier albums. Indeed, this might be the inspiration for the song, but the meaning is not limited to just that. When you decide to do something that is likely to arouse condemnation, you always experience doubt and have a war inside your own mind. But if you know you're doing what is right for you, you sooner or later realize it's better to go against the public opinion than against yourself. In Castaway the narrator is convincing himself to shed all doubt and do what he thinks is right.