Tré Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt of Green Day.Photo:Alice Baxley
Alice Baxley
Green Dayis rocking on.
The band will release their 14th studio album,Saviors,on Friday. And even after nearly 40 years onstage, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong’s punk-rock ethos remains steadfast.
“I still try to maintain that kind of spirit about what we do,” the Oakland-based singer, 51, says, “which is just being independent and free to express yourself the way that you want.”
Billie Joe Armstrong performing in February 2020.Kevin Winter/Getty
Kevin Winter/Getty
Here, Armstrong — who will hit the road with Green Day in May for theirSaviors World Tour— opens up to PEOPLE and looks back on some of the band’s most beloved hits.
“BASKET CASE”
That song [from 1994’sDookie] was written about panic attacks, but it was a way of being self-deprecating, and that was the way of dealing with it. I wasn’t so sure about that song — I didn’t think it was going to be a single, so when it came out and got so big, I was really surprised. It’s become this song that has been in our set for the last 30 years.
“WHEN I COME AROUND”
I was living my life as just a pre-bachelor or something. I was carousing around a little bit, and I didn’t really have any connections. I just felt like, “Ah, whatever happens, happens. That’s life.” I wish I had a little bit more of that attitude now. I’m way more stressed-out now than I was when I wrote “When I Come Around.” But I still love the groove that it had. It was a different sort of feel, and we knew that song was going to be a special one on the album [Dookie].
“GOOD RIDDANCE (TIME OF YOUR LIFE)”
“BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS”
“HOLIDAY”
I think there was a false narrative that was created to go into war after 9/11. It was like we were looking at our generation’s Vietnam. I wrote that about how scary it was watching cable news, watching as the tanks were rolling in to search and destroy. It was the first time I really felt a big divide in our country. That song [fromAmerican Idiot] is just anti-war.
“WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS”
My father died in September of ’82, and I purposely, up until that point, never went there. I think really what I was doing was processing that loss that I had with this person that I never really knew. So I wrote that song [fromAmerican Idiot] for my father and about that loss and how 20 years had passed. I remember right after I wrote it, I felt this huge weight off my shoulders.
“STILL BREATHING”
There’s a band called5 Seconds of Summerwho wanted me to write a song for them. All of a sudden I was writing the lyrics, and I was like, “Oh my God, there’s no f—ing way I’m giving these guys this song.” There’s all those [lyrics] where it’s the last moment of someone’s life — it’s so intense. It’s just a song [from 2016’sRevolution Radio] about being a survivor.
source: people.com
