Day Nine

Bullet in a Bible-

For the theme song, I'm thinking American Idiot live off Bullet in a Bible, or Jesus of Suburbia. I'm not sure which yet. 

Day Eight II

I'm pretty sure Tre Cool is the most quotable person on the planet.

"It's tough competition, but we always step it up. We're not worried, we'll play after anybody. We're Green Day, dude."

Day Eight

I Want to be an American Idiot

My heart skips a beat every time I hear the angry proclamation of his pick against guitar strings. My pulse pounds to the rhythm of the chaos battering from his drums. My brain tries to match fingers to frets as the hum of his bass strings echo both rhythm and sound. Jesus makes me cry. (Tales from another broken home), Jimmy makes me crazy (With an angel’s face and a taste for suicidal), Whatsername makes me jealous (She’s the salt of the earth and she’s dangerous), and I love it. I live it. American Idiot.
I don’t even know how it happened. The radio drew me in. The band got me hooked. The CD made me an addict. I’m addicted to a story anyone can live, but no one wants to admit to living. I’m in love with a boy who every one has been, but no one can be. I’m mourning a loss I didn’t lose, but I feel. American Idiot.
This project will venture the depths of both lyrical genius and musical compilation. It will explore the relationship between the Jesus of Suburbia (track 2) and Saint Jimmy (track 6). It will defy the assumptions of what this record is supposed to be about, and discover the true inspiration and intention of each lyric. This project will analyze the progressions of acoustic and electric guitar, surges of emotion, and character relationships. It will reveal both personal and political influences and relate them to everyday life. This project will decipher the hardest time in a person’s life. Leaving home.

“To live and not to breathe

Is to die In tragedy

To run, to run away

To find what you believe…”

(Finished Statement of Purpose)

Day Seven

I listened to the CD in its entirety today. 

I can't put my finger on why I love it so much, but every time "American Idiot" starts playing, my mind just relaxes and I know I have a full story ahead of me. The differences in music taste and rhythm just take you through the CD. The way it flows from one song to the next. Its amazing. I love it. 

Day Six II

I Want to be an American Idiot

My heart skips a beat every time I hear the angry proclamation of his pick against guitar strings. My pulse pounds to the rhythm of the chaos battering from his drums. My brain tries to match fingers to frets as the hum of his bass strings echo both rhythm and sound. Jesus makes me cry. (Tales from another broken home), Jimmy makes me crazy (With an angel’s face and a taste for suicidal), Whatsername makes me jealous (She’s the salt of the earth and she’s dangerous), and I love it. I live it. American Idiot.
I don’t even know how it happened. The radio drew me in. The band got me hooked. The CD made me an addict. I’m addicted to a story anyone can live, but no one wants to admit to living. I’m in love with a boy who every one has been, but no one can be. I’m mourning for a loss that I haven’t experienced, but I feel. American Idiot.

[The beginning of my statement of purpose. Steal it, and die]

Day Six

Request for interview email- 11:14am

Hi, my name is Jen Leno. I'm in eleventh grade at Mark T. Sheehan Highschool in Wallingford, CT. For my psychology class, we are required to do a project on something we are either very interested in or totally passionate about. I chose American Idiot as the main subject for this project, and I will be spending the next four weeks analyzing lyrics, understanding the story line, and uncovering the relationship between Saint Jimmy, and the Jesus of Suburbia. I'm fascinated by the way this record involved such a plethora of music styles, song lengths, characters, and literally carried me through a year of my life.

This project is completely multi-media and one of the requirements is that we have an interview. I only have a few short questions and I would appreciate it imensely if I could get in touch with either Billie, Tre, Mike, or really anyone involved in making this record the success that it was. I understand that with the release of 21st Century Breakdown, things must be crazy now, but it would mean the world to me. If you could get back to me as soon as possible, that would be amazing. Thank you for your time.

-Jen Leno

Day Five II

Green Day members, from left, Tre Cool, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt pose at the Mercer Hotel in New York, on May 15, 2009.  (AP Photo/Bruce Gilbert)

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(CBS)  "Time of Your Life" was a huge hit for Green Day, the rock band that this weekend has the No. 1 album in the country. After years in the business, Green Day continues to make records - and news.Tracy Smith has "A Summer Song."

---

Call it punk rock for grownups. In an age where many rock bands have the lifespan of a butterfly, Green Day has gone the distance and they've done it by going their own way. 

They've sold roughly 50 million albums, filled stadiums worldwide, and filled the airwaves with a brash, aggressive - and often politically charged - sound. 

They've also created pop classics, some of which have found their way into movie and TV soundtracks, including one of the final episodes of "Seinfeld." 

Green Day began as a grade school friendship between Billy Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt, two working class kids from refinery towns near Oakland, Calif. 

They say the bonded over music. 

"I think we ended up playing our first show together and we played I think it was the seventh grade at, like, the - like, the middle school dance or something like that," Armstrong said. "And it ended up being really fun." 

The gigs got bigger, and by the early 90s the band was touring nonstop, with drummer Tre Cool's father driving the bus. 

"What was it like having your chaperone dad with you on tour?" Smith asked. 

"It was fine until he started like crossing the line of - of like being a father and being a a bus driver. Like he would complain about dirty socks and stuff," Cool said. "It's like, 'Dude, we're a punk band. We - we are dirty socks.'" 

By 1994 they had a new label and a new album - "Dookie" - a major milestone in a journey that would take them out of dirty socks and into the rock music stratosphere. 

"'Dookie' came out and it was, like, the most dramatic thing that ever happened to us at the time, you know?" Armstrong said. 

"We got a roadie," Cool said. "Everything was stepped up - you know, another notch. And then, you know, there's - we had fans." 

"Everything was new," Dirnt said. "Every day, everything was new." 

It was new, all right: "Dookie" went on to sell more than 10 million copies. And, almost overnight, Green Day became the band of a generation -- irreverent, even obnoxious punks with the skills and the smarts to get away with it. 

But between shows they lead relatively quiet lives. Mike Dirnt, who at one time supported himself as a cook, is now part owner of Rudie's Can't Fail Café, named for a song by The Clash. 

"I grew up hanging out in coffee shops at one and two in the morning and I thought it'd be really cool to have a place open seven days a week where we could get a coffee or a beer and also bring a kid in and not have to wait an hour and a half for a waffle," he said. 

Now, of course, getting a good table is easy. Spending time on tour away from his two children - a bit tougher. 

"It could be worse," Dirnt said. "I could have to go overseas and go to war and not come back at all. And as long as you keep those things in mind you're going to wake up on the right side of the bed with a purpose." 

Asked if he always had such a positive attitude, Dirnt replied, "No, it ebbs and flows. You caught me on a good morning. I've had my coffee already." 

Lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong - who, like all members of Green Day, still lives in the East Bay - 
is also the father of two. 

"I consider myself a conservative parent, believe it or not, in a lot of ways," he said. "There's different sides of everybody. I think I just worry like every other parent does. You worry about education; you worry about where they're getting their information from. You hear things you never thought you'd hear coming out of your baby's mouth. But it's a trip. It's all part of it, you know?" 

"You mention education. You dropped out of high school. How do you explain that to your kid?" Smith asked. "What do you say about education?" 

You know, my oldest son, I talked with him about it recently I never brought it up before. And what I told him was I'm the luckiest bastard on the planet for doing what I've been able to do. As a musician and get to the heights we've gone to or at least the level we've gone to and it's something I never take for granted and it doesn't happen to everybody and, you know, my kids like music too," Armstrong said. 

But, "it's not a family business. It's not like he's going to suddenly take over at the office or something," Armstrong said. His son won't be playing tambourine onstage. 

Armstrong himself took to music early, cutting his first record at age five. 

"I started learning standards and stuff at a young age," he said. 

"You had the sweetest little voice," said Smith of the five-year-old Armstrong singing "Look for Love." 

"How the hell did she hear the song?" 

"The internet!" 

"Oh, well, there you go." 

He's come a long way since "Look for Love." Armstrong has written the lyrics to a number of hit singles, including the platinum record, "Wake Me Up When September Ends." 

Some believed it was a reference to the attacks on 9/11, but Armstrong says it's more personal. 

"It was about my father, who died in September of 1982. And I - that was first time I ever tackled anything that had to do with my dad - my dad passing - a long time ago. And so it was kind of awkward," Armstrong said. "Actually, of all the songs I've written, I - that was the one song that - I was surprised - I surprised myself 'cause I'd never sang a song about him before or written anything about him before." 

The song was on the 2004 album "American Idiot," a rallying cry against the political status-quo. Written as a cohesive rock opera, the album was a complete departure for Green Day, and a commercial and critical smash. 

"There's a succession of albums, and then comes the - and I've heard this term over and over again - masterpiece "American Idiot," Smith said. "What do you think of that term?" 

"It's not really strong enough," Armstrong joked, "in the term to describe such a opus of sorts." 

"American Idiot" won two Grammies and sold 12 million copies worldwide. But the band says it was only a prelude to their latest effort "21st Century Breakdown," an even more ambitious concept album that is, right now, No. 1 in America. 

"It's chaos and desperation and, you know, there's an angry mob, there's a city on fire while you're making out with your girlfriend in the middle of it," Armstrong said. 

Some of the album's language earned it a parental advisory sticker, and put Green Day at odds with Wal-Mart. The nation's largest retailer won't stock any CD with such a label. True to their own convictions, Green Day has refused to provide an edited version, saying there's nothing dirty about the record. 

"It kind of just tackles every emotion - internally and externally, politically, personally, whatever you wanna call it," Armstrong said. "And then it tries to kind of make sense of an incredibly chaotic world and desperate world that we live in, you know, just to try to make some sense of it." 

In some ways, they may have built their success on being angry at the world, but the guys in Green Day seem happy with their place in it. 

"This is a good journey that always starts with the music, you know? Whether it's live or just with an acoustic guitar in your room," said Dirnt. "I think at the end of the day, if you follow the music, it'll take you on a really, really great journey."

This is the actual article from the CBS special I watched. 

Day Five

Quote- 

"It was cool until my dad started to complain about stuff like dirty socks. I said, dude, we're a punk band. We are dirty socks." -Tre Cool

Day Four

Green Day on CBS news 5-24-09

"Summer Song" Notes

Green Day is, "Punk rock for grown ups," with over 50 million albums sold.

Billie Joe Armstrong, the guitarist and lead vocalist of Green Day was interested in music practically from birth. He recorded his first song at age five entitled, "Look for Love." 

Mike Dirnt (bassist) and Billie Joe Armstrong met in their industrial towns in Burbank California at school. They became immediate friends. They played their first show in 7th grade, "at the school dance thing," (BJA) and their success escalated from there. 

"My dad used to complain about stuff like... dirty socks. I said, 'Dude, we're a punk band, we are dirty socks,'" (Tre Cool).

The album Dookie from 1994 sparked Green Days success and sold 10 million copies.  

After years of records, in 2004, Green Day unleashed their "masterpiece album," (CBS news).

American Idiot, a "cohesive rock opera," won 2 grammy's and sold 12 million copies. 

Wake Me Up When September Ends- Track 11, 4:41

People first believed this song was a protest to the war brought on by the 9/11 attacks. 

Though the song and music video boast the political hardships it protests, Billie Joe explains that, "This song was actually about my father. He passed away in 1987 and its the first time I ever sang about him." He admits, "It was scary." 

The successes of American Idiot inspired the production of their latest, and currently number 1 album, 21st Century Breakdown. "If I could describe the album in three words it would be, Chaos, Desperation, and Love. There's burning cities and total desperation, but in the middle of it, you're making out with your girlfriend," (Billie Joe Armstrong). 

"At the end of the day, if you follow the music, you'll experience a great journey," (Mike Dirnt)

*I'll go back and revise this, these are just my notes lengthened to sentences.* 

     **Basically made my morning, by the way.**

(10:34 am)  

Day Three

Nothing

Day Two

Progress? none

Motivation? none

Time? 9:25 pm. 

Day One III

How Quotable...

"Hearts recycled but never saved."

"To fall in love and fall in debt."

"Dearly Beloved, are you listening?"

"Another protestor has crossed the line

To find the money's on the other side."

"In a land of make believe

That don't believe in me."

"Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?"

"To a hymn called faith and misery." 

"Jesus is filling out paper work now

At the facility on East Twelfth Street."

"Insane and Insecure" 

"So send my love a letter bomb

And visit me in hell. 

We're the ones going home." 

"Tales from another broken home" 

Day One II

Topic: American Idiot

Subtopics: 

~Jesus of Suburbia vs. Saint Jimmy

~Who does the Jesus represent? Who is he in real life?

~What specifically sparked the political direction of the record?

~What defines American Idiot as a "rock opera?"

~Acoustic vs. Electric guitar vs. meaning of the song

~Wake Me Up When September Ends

~Greater message? Is it life? love? politics? people?

This project is for my psychology class. When I'm done, it will consist of around 12 different multi-media components all about American Idiot. For four weeks, I'll be tearing this record apart. How could one person spend four weeks on just one CD? Well, I spent about three years on it so far. Green Day is my passion. American Idiot carried me through eight grade and started my obsession with music. They taught me how even the words of a total stranger could carry you through some hard times in a person's life. They taught me that music isn't always about being catchy or "number one." Its about passion. Music is passion, passion is me.

Day One

-Set up gmail account

-Set up blogger

-Try to find people for interview

-I think I'm gonna go tan now.