If you call this living - 27th Ave Shuffle

I have no idea why the song is called 27th Ave Shuffle. The title actually kept me from listening to the song for quite a while. But I love it. Its one of my favorite songs now.

Now, hopefully you're aware that this is a song from Stop Drop and Roll by the Foxboro Hot Tubs. If not, be aware my friend : this is a Green Day website!

The song, if you've not yet heard it, sounds rather jolly. It sounds happy and dancey. If you don't hear the lyrics, it sounds like maybe its about a girl. Not a specific girl, just a girl. Like a broken-heart song, because the most comprehendable lyrics in the entire song are "I just wanna hang my head and cry".

But if you listen closely, it tugs at your heart. Or at least mine. Because its about pills and alchohol and being lost. And contemplation of suicide ("I can see the ledge now"Wink.

And that line...it just makes me want to hug Billie Joe. Just give him a big ol' hug and tell him it'll be okay. I sound unbelievably lame but I cannot lie in writing.

He sings "If you call this living, well I just wanna hang my head and cry". Maybe because I know what its like to be alive but not feel alive. Except he has serious issues and I'm just a whiny sixteen year old. But now that I think about it, that line reminds me of another famous lyric. I'm sure you've heard it. In fact, if you haven't, I will come to your house and rape your ears:

"To live and not to breathe is to die in tragedy"
"If you call this living, well I just want to hang my head and cry."

The song is about dependency on drugs and alchohol. That dependency prevents the narrator, who may or be not be Billie, from breathing. He can't call that living. Like...maybe that's what happened to the Jesus of Suburbia after Jimmy gave him novocaine. Maybe that's why the Extraordinary Girl was wiping the tears from her eyes.

Maybe after she went away and he took a different path, he became The Pedestrian.

I never thought of all this. I will jot down my findings and make a seperate blog.
Posted on September 3rd, 2008 at 02:11pm

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