Longshot album Love is for Losers

[IcyMoffatt]

1 hour ago, LaughingClock said:

“and hanging from a chandelier from a long long time ago” - CAG..

[LaughingClock]

2 hours ago, Hermione said:

Green Day are public figures too and we don't speculate about their personal lives and judge their character based on song lyrics either. This is going round in circles, I don't know what's hard about interpreting song lyrics without judging people irl from them or posting gossip about people.

When did I judge anyone’s character??? 

I have actually met the woman and I think she’s cool and fun as fuck at least then. Met her while I was up in the Bay.

I literally was just talking about the song. 

We talk about Billies personal life as it pertains to what he writes daily on this forum from the most sensitive topics that a person can speak of but let’s walk on egg shells with Cobra?

Please do explain. That was rhetorical.

2 hours ago, IcyMoffatt said:

 

Ha. Awesome. Never saw this. That was not smart. Yeah, I’m assuming he’s talking about this exact event. Bravo. Of course Billie also uses multiple meanings but this is a pretty straight song. Quite literal.

[Hermione]

22 minutes ago, LaughingClock said:

When did I judge anyone’s character??? 

I have actually met the woman and I think she’s cool and fun as fuck at least then. Met her while I was up in the Bay.

I literally was just talking about the song. 

We talk about Billies personal life as it pertains to what he writes daily on this forum from the most sensitive topics that a person can speak of but let’s walk on egg shells with Cobra?

Please do explain.

Ha. Awesome. Never saw this. That was not smart. Yeah, I’m assuming he’s talking about this exact event. Bravo. Of course Billie also uses multiple meanings but this is a pretty straight song. Quite literal.

You can refer back to my first post about this. You called her a train wreck, implied she "used and abused" Billie and asked why people stick up for her. I replied to explain people don't stick up for her, they just literally don't know anything about her (other than she's a music artist who was on Dos and supported fbht with her band). 

I believe all you're saying in regards to this album is that CAG sounds like it's about her, following on from Dos. I agree . I just don't think we can know how much is about real person vs character.

[Beerjeezus]

53 minutes ago, LaughingClock said:

No mam to whoever said that above. I worship women, I am not sexist so next theory.

I never said I think that you (or anybody else) is sexist. I just pointed out that the way Lady Cobra is usually interpreted/was written as a character is influenced by a stereotype. That's not an accusation - we are all biased by stereotypes to some extent. It's just a matter of realizing it.

[LaughingClock]

57 minutes ago, Jane Lannister said:

I never said I think that you (or anybody else) is sexist. I just pointed out that the way Lady Cobra is usually interpreted/was written as a character is influenced by a stereotype. That's not an accusation - we are all biased by stereotypes to some extent. It's just a matter of realizing it.

They were a band before you guys knew about them.  I am not making a judgment about her.  I said what I said flippantly. I am sorry that you guys are so offended and I find it weird.  There has been so much time discussing this over a couple sentences so all you guys have done is shined a light and blew up noting into something.

Now I am done commenting on her.  I will ignore every single thing about it that anyone writes.  it's getting sort of weird.  Speaking of self fulfilling prophecies, this is the definition of it.  I have been painted as hardcore dogging on her when I'm talking about Billie, not her.  I do apologize for saying what i said that @Hermione quoted (not that I'm actually sorry) but okay, I am sorry for the "rule" of not speaking about her personal life, but it's okay to speak about Billie's?  Just want to be clear.  I was speaking about her but about Billie and specifically about  the song. 

NIOW, I will NOT be responding to another single thing about Lady Cobra. My next post on here will be the CAG lyrical breakdown and I won't mention her.  

I am going to try to get back off this stupid topic with my breakdown of the song.  Please don't scare me away guys. I was just saying how I was starting to dig this place again and then the drama returns in full force. I could just shut up and lurk but I enjoy commenting and interacting but if I can't, i won't.  I am doing my best here to try and follow your guys' policies and whatever but give me some credit for adhering to the things I've been told.  Again, I said okay several times, and I have also augmented (retroactively even) some of my posts to delete videos with spoilers, and doing everything I'm asked but I am not going to keep taking it after I already gave an even half hearted mia culpa. Considering how i actually feel, that's about as good as I can get on that.   
 
To me, if you acknowledge something, say okay, I hear you and it continues, each person that continues it is on their own, and that's what's happening here.  Other than explaining myself, I didn't fight back and say, "No I will post whatever I want" so why are we still talking about this???

[Beerjeezus]

41 minutes ago, LaughingClock said:

They were a band before you guys knew about them.  I am not making a judgment about her.  I said what I said flippantly. I am sorry that you guys are so offended and I find it weird.  There has been so much time discussing this over a couple sentences so all you guys have done is shined a light and blew up noting into something.

Now I am done commenting on her.  I will ignore every single thing about it that anyone writes.  it's getting sort of weird.  Speaking of self fulfilling prophecies, this is the definition of it.  I have been painted as hardcore dogging on her when I'm talking about Billie, not her.  I do apologize for saying what i said that @Hermione quoted (not that I'm actually sorry) but okay, I am sorry for the "rule" of not speaking about her personal life, but it's okay to speak about Billie's?  Just want to be clear.  I was speaking about her but about Billie and specifically about  the song. 

NIOW, I will NOT be responding to another single thing about Lady Cobra. My next post on here will be the CAG lyrical breakdown and I won't mention her.  

I am going to try to get back off this stupid topic with my breakdown of the song.  Please don't scare me away guys. I was just saying how I was starting to dig this place again and then the drama returns in full force. I could just shut up and lurk but I enjoy commenting and interacting but if I can't, i won't.  I am doing my best here to try and follow your guys' policies and whatever but give me some credit for adhering to the things I've been told.  Again, I said okay several times, and I have also augmented (retroactively even) some of my posts to delete videos with spoilers, and doing everything I'm asked but I am not going to keep taking it ass after I already gave an even half hearted mia culpa. Considering how i actually feel, that's about as good as I can get on that.   
 
To me, if you acknowledge something, say okay, I hear you and it continues, each person that continues it is on their own, and that's what's happening here.  Other than explaining myself, I didn't fight back and say, "No I will post whatever I want" so why are we still talking about this???

The only reason I replied to this again was to explain that I wasn't insulting you but go off I guess. 

[Hermione]

Honestly I should've taken my discussion with Adam to PM a while ago (since it was just trying to explain about the not speculating about personal lives thing, not a benefit to the thread and I'm sure tiresome to read ). It's getting a bit silly now so let's just get back to discussing the album. If anyone does want to sort any other disagreements out PM away.

[AlissaGoesRAWR]

This isn't a disagreement but I just wanted to clarify to @LaughingClock (and maybe the thread, I guess) that I've always known Lady Cobra is a real person, I just didn't realize people took anything from the songs that reference her literally and believed they referenced actual experiences with the real-life person.

(Obviously I've watched the videos of the drunk Rev singing her song "El Camino" no less than a million times. )

But yes, as @Hermione said, this isn't something that really needs to go any further because Lady Cobra the real-life person isn't even referenced in any of these Longshot songs anyway and any belief that they're about her are based on nothing more than speculation.

[Beerjeezus]

4 minutes ago, AlissaGoesRAWR said:

This isn't a disagreement but I just wanted to clarify to @LaughingClock (and maybe the thread, I guess) that I've always known Lady Cobra is a real person, I just didn't realize people took anything from the songs that reference her literally and believed they referenced actual experiences with the real-life person.

(Obviously I've watched the videos of the drunk Rev singing her song "El Camino" no less than a million times. )

But yes, as @Hermione said, this isn't something that really needs to go any further because Lady Cobra the real-life person isn't even referenced in any of these Longshot songs anyway and any belief that they're about her are based on nothing more than speculation.

Wow I didn't know El Camino was her song, I loved it when FBHT played it. Count me in as a Cobra fan 

Tbh I see no problem with having a theory about who a song is about

[LaughingClock]

29 minutes ago, AlissaGoesRAWR said:

This isn't a disagreement but I just wanted to clarify to @LaughingClock (and maybe the thread, I guess) that I've always known Lady Cobra is a real person, I just didn't realize people took anything from the songs that reference her literally and believed they referenced actual experiences with the real-life person.

(Obviously I've watched the videos of the drunk Rev singing her song "El Camino" no less than a million times. )

But yes, as @Hermione said, this isn't something that really needs to go any further because Lady Cobra the real-life person isn't even referenced in any of these Longshot songs anyway and any belief that they're about her are based on nothing more than speculation.

A level minded response.   Thank you.  However, some people, and I am not saying ME but some people have more reason to speculate a truth than another.  Everyone has different perspectives and vantage points based on their experiences.  What are we doing when we are interpreting songs?  Speculating.  

But now for sure, not commenting on anything that has to do with this.  I thought my six year old was good at creating drama, but she has nothing on this stuff. (not directed at you).

 

[AlissaGoesRAWR]

4 minutes ago, Jane Lannister said:

Wow I didn't know El Camino was her song, I loved it when FBHT played it. Count me in as a Cobra fan 

Tbh I see no problem with having a theory about who a song is about

Technically I think it’s a cover of theirs but I believe he was singing it with her on stage. It’s been so long since I’ve seen it. 

But yeah, I think a theory and saying “this definitively is about her,” “she did this and that,” etc. is different and the latter is what was happening, too. And that gets into speculating on their personal lives, which we’d rather not get into on here out of respect. 

[Eric]

:facepalm: 

[LaughingClock]

 

On 5/4/2018 at 7:35 AM, Hermione said:

You can refer back to my first post about this. You called her a train wreck, implied she "used and abused" Billie and asked why people stick up for her. I replied to explain people don't stick up for her, they just literally don't know anything about her (other than she's a music artist who was on Dos and supported fbht with her band). 

I believe all you're saying in regards to this album is that CAG sounds like it's about her, following on from Dos. I agree . I just don't think we can know how much is about real person vs character.

I guess I did say that but okay you know what I would respond to your last sentence in this so I won't.  I will however start the breakdown of one of my favorites on this album. Chasing A Ghost.

 

CHASING A GHOST

Spoiler

 

This is probably going to be pretty long because I have plenty to say and don't have a lot of time today but I've been wanting to write this one for a while.

First off, a little pre-amble. Billie uses several methods (cadences and structure) when he writes.  One of his favorite styles is an A/B lyrical structure.  Example: A) Something and B) then that.  Sort of a back and forth A/B lyrical structure which I love when he writes that way. Will be clearer what I mean.

Also, as a side note, not sure if anyone has picked up on this, but it is DEFINITELY purposeful and it is quite interesting considering the content of the two songs, but at the intro riff of CAG and the chorus, the riff from "Kill Your Friends" is EXACTLY the same.  Listen to the intro and sing along KYF chorus "Kill Yourrrrr frienndsss".  It's doesn't just sound like it. It's the exact same riff with the same guitar and same distortion.   I believe it was meant to be that way and in the chorus of CAG, you'll hear after "Chasing a Ghost" the same into riff and the KYF riff.  Sing along with the chorus of "Chasing a Ghost" and as soon as he says "Chasing a Ghost" sing along the riff to KYF so "Chasing a Ghost, Killl your friendssss...".  When I realized it, it was sort of amazing that I hadn't on the first listen.  But sometimes it takes getting to know the album before you recognize shit like that.  At least for me. Perhaps someone or everyone has already recognized that.  Check it.  It's pretty fucking cool if ya ask me.

Disclaimer on admitted bias: I have said that I understand Billie's thinking on the abuse and quitting of drugs and the various phrases.  Also as I've said, he was so brutally honest on RevRad with the living as a FORMER addict and this song could be on a sequel to RevRad album where Billie is doing something that pretty much any former addict does even after a successful and happy removal of drugs from one's life.  For Billie, he was also an alcoholic.  I was never that so I still drink but barely. Not a big drinker.  I don't do any drugs but still smoke Mary Jane and will never stop I don't think at this point.   But I still do and often remember fondly on some drugs and horribly on others.  For example, I do not at all regret my life or anything I've done. LSD, shrooms and hallucinogens have lead me to appreciate nature, think deeper, and I once stared at a tree for hours and hours on acid when I was like 19 and I never have looked at trees the same.  X, Molly, MDMA or whatever people are calling it now, in the 90s it was better.  It was cleaner and pure MDMA which was developed by psychiatrists to have introverted people open up. I was never an introvert but I, without knowing it, was emotionally a little withdrawn from showing emotion.  MDMA changed that.  I learned how to tell a woman I love her.  I told my then girlfriend, now wife, "I love you and I am going to marry you" while sitting outside of a club and rolling my balls off so I have no regret for all the times I've had on MDMA/X/etc.  KEEP IN MIND KIDDOS that I do not condone doing any of that shit because it also lead to other drugs that not only effected my life poorly but probably almost killed me and although I have some parts as I explained with no regret, it eventually becomes too much and it IS NOT easy to become sober once you are a drug abuser of which I, and Billie was.   

I have major regrets for ever doing blow and speed of any sort which ironically, next to Molly was my favorite drug of choice and I HATE cocaine although that has brought me many wild and adventurous sexcapades and all kinds of fun things but too many regrets than fun.  

So this song tells about, in very detailed reality, which is sort of different for him I think, that it's pretty straight forward and it's about dreaming about drugs and having weak moments but ultimately doing the right thing. This song, ironically to some maybe, makes me feel safe that Billie will never relapse which statistically is a very difficult thing.  Ok, now on to the song.  I just pasted the lyrics and separated them into their parts and hopefully it will be obvious after I type all over it but you see what I am talking about the A/B not cadence but structure I guess.  Im looking for a...so.....  Standing in the shadows where.....X  But when the thill is gone...something  Hanging from the chandelier...from a time. Just a small, maybe not very interesting note, but it's just a style he often writes in and I love it.  It's not unique to him or for him but this song doesn't deviate it from it at all which makes the song more literal to me than most songs.

Piss stains and cigarettes
This party's getting dull

I don't really have much on this one yet other than he is describing the idea of feeling bored at a weak moment.  The party is happening, presumably people are having fun but not for Billie, because he wants to do drugs right then and when you have that weakness, well you remember when you were swinging from chandeliers and shit and then you feel that the party is dull. Don't think there is much more to this than that but I do feel like I am missing something here unless "Piss stains and cigarettes" is just supposed to paint a picture of what he is seeing when he is getting bored at the party

I'm looking for a bump
And a wall to call my home

Pretty obvious.  For the uninitiated, a "bump" is slang for a little line of cocaine.  "Hey Steve, do you have any blow? Yeah?  Cool, can I have a bump?". So this is his visual desire to want to do a line of coke and when people do coke they often do it somewhere private for multiple reasons.  To keep people from bothering you and asking you for all your drugs or because you don't want to be seen. Both.  So a "wall to call my own" is saying in the whole phrase "I wish I could just have some blow and be left alone".

I'm feeling like immortal ****esif (it’s not immortal, it’s “moron”), I copy and pasted the lyrics and didn’t realize and was confused not remembering that line 
Bitter and withdrawn

When you are on amphetamines, blow, or any of Billie's drugs of choice, you feel amazing but then you feel like shit. I would understand this lyric a little better if it actually said "I am feeling mortal and withdrawn" so what I take from it is that after a binge you FEEL FUCKING MORTAL and after a drug binge, almost every addict feels they are lucky to have survived it. That's how scary drugs are.  They make you do things that make you feel like you could have died from it and then you do it again another day knowing that.  it's fucked. (***that explains my former confusion. The lyric was transcribed incorrectly)

With that in mind, off drugs, and wanting them, he feels like it will last forever (just sort of realized it has the same sort of thesis of "Forever Now", and actually both of The Nows, and the idea of just a life of boredom and not as extroverted as blow, amphetamines et al will make you feel so he is feeling "bitter and withdrawn" instead of extroverted and the life of the party.  AT THAT moment anyway.  Understand this song is about MOMENTS, not a continuous flow of consciousness I think.  At least for me.  I know I still think about drugs all the time and want to do them all the time but the thought doesn't consume me. It comes and it goes with ZERO chance of relapsing but sometimes knowing you won't ever do something that you once considered vital and fun, gone forever.  When you feel that way, it’s a very pathetic feeling. That’s why support groups matter, there is strength because being a former addict is the most lonely experience ever. While a huge part of the population are, and you  know it, it’s feels as lonely as can be. 

Standing in the shadows
Where all the good times gone

Again, just a straight lyric about feeling alone and in the dark and wondering where all the good times have gone.  To bring it back to RevRad, this phrase is very similar to "How did life on the wild side get so dull" in Somewhere Now.  The good news is that it becomes "how did life on the wild side get so full" so even now you have to remember that we are talking about moments and that Billie is happy and better than ever with his sobriety but he has opened himself up on this song more than he ever has because he is sharing with the world his current, after the public success, of STILL thinking about drugs.  As a former addict, it goes appreciated because you feel less alone when you hear it from others whether you go to 12 step programs or if you're like me and just have a daughter and wanted to be sober for her and then use BJA as your therapy to know you're not alone in your thoughts.

CHORUS
I got the tears, oh baby
Crying in my soul   (It's pretty simple again.  It's speaking to his fear of relapse and the guilt of wanting to do drugs when so much praise has been heaped upon you by your peers, family and friends) so his sorrow is so upset that it's crying.  Also "soul" is a recurring theme in this album and in this case, it doesn't feel good.

Hang from the chandelier
From a long long time ago (I was a little not sure on the exacts of the chandelier until @IcyMoffatt pointed out that he actually, quite stupidly risked his life by hanging swinging from a chandelier.  This actually happened on a episodic show about TV producers called "nobodies" where a guy gets so fucked up that he swings at a party from a long string of lights and nearly dies.  Billie could have killed himself or broke a leg or something dong what he was doing in that video, especially since he probably did completely fucked up.  He usually was.  But it also brings in the vision of "hanging on to the past" and he famously hung upside down from the rafters at the Don Hill Tubbie show and that is what I thought of when I heard this lyrical phrase from the chorus but I think that Icy's GIF changed my mind on that and I think he is specifically speaking of that occasion.  I wouldn't be surprised if he had really hurt himself when he did that.   Look at the people watching it. Look at where he hit the couch.  That was not good and again, I am pretty sure was fueled by drugs or alcohol or both.
Chasing a ghost  (Obviously the title is about chasing a thing that is not real and this is dead and in the past, a ghost.  His drug life.)
Chasing a ghost

Everyone is happy
And everyone is gay

Had this discussion with someone in the "misheard" thread and as this album is definitely a continuos thank you and homage to many if not most of his influences. So the idea of "Everyone is happy and everyone is gay" is circular but depending on how you take the word gay. Colloquially, the term "gay" has been given a second definition as an accepted term, not derogatory as "gay" but he wouldn't say "everyone is happy and everyone is 'happy'" so I think while paying homage to an influence to Sam Cooke "Twisting The Night Away" with the line:

"Let me tell you 'bout a place
Somewhere up a New York way
Where the people are so gay
Twistin' the night away"

Spoiler

 

Thank you to @Jane Lannister for helping me out with this one in a little convo we had about Cooke.

However, while I like the phrase and think it's clever in it's use of saying something as Billie has once said he thinks everyone is bisexual at a minimum and while I don't really understand that because I've never had a desiree to be with another man, and i think if you think it's a choice then you are gay or lesbian and that's great. At this risk of doing the "I have a gay friend", I have friends that are freaks, gay, transgender, or whatever.  I personally don't give a fuck so it's not a homophobic thing. In fact, truthfully I find gay men to be some of the nicest people in the world. I am not friends with many lesbians other than just girls getting their freak on but I don't count that but I am not really sure how this lyrical phrase fits into the song beyond what I can read into it right now on it's own but it seems like a loner phrase in this song.

Feeling the spirits
And twisting the night away

As I am going down, maybe this is the beginning of the party where he is starting to have fun. So I am only just kind of coming up with that as I write this.  My breakdown of this song has all been listening but sometimes when I write my thoughts down, I see a pattern and with this lyric, I see how with the last one, they sort of bleed into each other of turning the corner from the melancholy part and now he's either still day dreaming about drugs and at the party or he is in reality and having fun but without drugs. Not sure.  Here is where I think  the song structure trips me up a bit.  But that's my take at the moment on these couple parts.

But when the thrill is gone
And I'm staring at my phone

I think this is alluding to a day of doing drugs and what it feels like to be the center of everything and feeling amazing and then suddenly you are alone.  "staring at my phone" conjures images of being alone and not wanting to be.

Thanks for the company
But I'm still standing alone

I think this is talking to whomever it is that are his drug friends and anyone who does a lot of drugs knows what I mean.  You have your friends, and then you have your "drug friends" but really they are not you friends because nobody is who they really are on drugs hence I appreciate the company, but I'm still alone. 

I got the tears, oh baby
Crying in my soul

Hang from the chandelier
From a long long time ago

Chasing a ghost
Chasing a ghost

It ain't the same
Ain't it a shame?

Simple.  Life is not the same on drugs. Drugs were fun. What a shame.  Pretty straight forward.

Here's to the painkillers, oh yeah
On Saturday night

I don't know about this phrase either. It again is just saying in a very literal way about wanting to get some opiates in him (on a saturday night for some reason).  Billie doesn't usually just fill spaces without meaning but that's all I feel about the Saturday night line.  I've got nothing on it but the one dimensional lyric.  I feel like this song is so literal that it really doesn't even need a break down but for some of the proprietary language used and I wanted to break this one down first because it is so different in that it is so simple and literal and I think everything is about something from the past, and his past life with his present life juxtaposed against it.  I don't think there is more to this phrase but I am open to suggestions.

So if you see him
Tell him that I said hello

I believe this is Billie talking to the world that if you see St. Jimmy, tell him that I said "hello" and now we are getting near the conclusion of the song where he admits that although he has these thoughts, they are just that and St. Jimmy still lives, but he is not with Billie.  He doesn't even say he's inside him, he's gone.   If you see him tell him I said hello.

I miss the times we spent
And now I'm gonna go

Again, about St. Jimmy, and not angry at him because as I described in my pre-amble, he is not showing regret here, but rather fondly remembering some of the fun he had on drugs and saying I miss it but I have (had) to go.  This phrase makes the hair on my arms stand up.  I think it's great. So raw, obvious and poetic. I sometimes like very interpretable stuff and thee is no question to me that this is directed at his inner demons, or St. Jimmy.

She was my last hoorah
And always got me stoned

Well on this one we will just say that we are talking about the people and influences that lead him to his final hoorah (which for my non-english friends, hoorah is a term that pretty much means party, or last thing before you quit something is the best way I can describe it) but its was the last one and the run that started with the partying in NY lead directly into the iHeart show which was his last hoorah (that time between him going out of his mind and then doing it on stage).  It was a necessary thing because it saved his life.  The dirty little secret is that iHeart is the best thing that ever happened to Green Day.  He was on a path to nowhere good and he did what a good man does, the right thing.  Now I say the people but he was obviously speaking about someone female.  I am sure some people think that it is the "She" character but that wouldn't make any sense that I can think of in light of the surrounding lyrics.  But I will just leave that as this.

Thanks for the sympathy
And the punch in the nose

Whoever said that the punch in the nose was a wake up call might have been dead on and I wasn't really thinking about it too much but when I heard that, I was digging it.  I believe that is what he was saying which sort of plays in to what I just wrote above on the last phrase.  She (whoever SHE is ) probably apologized if whoever SHE is has a conscious and he is saying "don't worry about it, not your fault and thanks for waking me up" even if it was unintentional, like Trump is a necessary evil to fix our bloated government, Billie needed an over binge to realize he had crossed the line and that's what happened.  I like the idea that he is forgiving and thankful for the result anyway.  I dig that.

Chasing a ghost
Chasing a ghost (woo)
Chasing a ghost (alright)
Chasing a ghost

 

So there ya have it. My take at the moment. I reserve the right to change my mind on parts but from what i feel and know, this is a pretty literal song and is not hard to decrypt but when looked at closely, you get a little more than from a listen but not as much as most of Billie's writing.  This song is just what it is, an admittance of something uber personal and sharing it with us and an acknowledgment that everything is alright.

 

However, while I like the phrase and think it's clever in it's use of saying something as Billie has once said he thinks everyone is bisexual at a minimum and while I don't really understand that because I've never had a desiree to be with another man, and i think if you think it's a choice then you are gay or lesbian and that's great. At this risk of doing the "I have a gay friend", I have friends that are freaks, gay, transgender, or whatever.  I personally don't give a fuck so it's not a homophobic thing. In fact, truthfully I find gay men to be some of the nicest people in the world. I am not friends with many lesbians other than just girls getting their freak on but I don't count that but I am not really sure how this lyrical phrase fits into the song beyond what I can read into it right now on it's own but it seems like a loner phrase in this song.

Feeling the spirits
And twisting the night away

As I am going down, maybe this is the beginning of the party where he is starting to have fun. So I am only just kind of coming up with that as I write this.  My breakdown of this song has all been listening but sometimes when I write my thoughts down, I see a pattern and with this lyric, I see how with the last one, they sort of bleed into each other of turning the corner from the melancholy part and now he's either still day dreaming about drugs and at the party or he is in reality and having fun but without drugs. Not sure.  Here is where I think  the song structure trips me up a bit.  But that's my take at the moment on these couple parts.

But when the thrill is gone
And I'm staring at my phone

I think this is alluding to a day of doing drugs and what it feels like to be the center of everything and feeling amazing and then suddenly you are alone.  "staring at my phone" conjures images of being alone and not wanting to be.

Thanks for the company
But I'm still standing alone

I think this is talking to whomever it is that are his drug friends and anyone who does a lot of drugs knows what I mean.  You have your friends, and then you have your "drug friends" but really they are not you friends because nobody is who they really are on drugs hence I appreciate the company, but I'm still alone. 

I got the tears, oh baby
Crying in my soul

Hang from the chandelier
From a long long time ago

Chasing a ghost
Chasing a ghost

It ain't the same
Ain't it a shame?

Simple.  Life is not the same on drugs. Drugs were fun. What a shame.  Pretty straight forward.

Here's to the painkillers, oh yeah
On Saturday night

I don't know about this phrase either. It again is just saying in a very literal way about wanting to get some opiates in him (on a saturday night for some reason).  Billie doesn't usually just fill spaces without meaning but that's all I feel about the Saturday night line.  I've got nothing on it but the one dimensional lyric.  I feel like this song is so literal that it really doesn't even need a break down but for some of the proprietary language used and I wanted to break this one down first because it is so different in that it is so simple and literal and I think everything is about something from the past, and his past life with his present life juxtaposed against it.  I don't think there is more to this phrase but I am open to suggestions.

So if you see him
Tell him that I said hello

I believe this is Billie talking to the world that if you see St. Jimmy, tell him that I said "hello" and now we are getting near the conclusion of the song where he admits that although he has these thoughts, they are just that and St. Jimmy still lives, but he is not with Billie.  He doesn't even say he's inside him, he's gone.   If you see him tell him I said hello.

I miss the times we spent
And now I'm gonna go

Again, about St. Jimmy, and not angry at him because as I described in my pre-amble, he is not showing regret here, but rather fondly remembering some of the fun he had on drugs and saying I miss it but I have (had) to go.  This phrase makes the hair on my arms stand up.  I think it's great. So raw, obvious and poetic. I sometimes like very interpretable stuff and thee is no question to me that this is directed at his inner demons, or St. Jimmy.

She was my last hoorah
And always got me stoned

Well on this one we will just say that we are talking about the people and influences that lead him to his final hoorah (which for my non-english friends, hoorah is a term that pretty much means party, or last thing before you quit something is the best way I can describe it) but its was the last one and the run that started with the partying in NY lead directly into the iHeart show which was his last hoorah (that time between him going out of his mind and then doing it on stage).  It was a necessary thing because it saved his life.  The dirty little secret is that iHeart is the best thing that ever happened to Green Day.  He was on a path to nowhere good and he did what a good man does, the right thing.  Now I say the people but he was obviously speaking about someone female.  I am sure some people think that it is the "She" character but that wouldn't make any sense that I can think of in light of the surrounding lyrics.  But I will just leave that as this.

Thanks for the sympathy
And the punch in the nose

Whoever said that the punch in the nose was a wake up call might have been dead on and I wasn't really thinking about it too much but when I heard that, I was digging it.  I believe that is what he was saying which sort of plays in to what I just wrote above on the last phrase.  She (whoever SHE is ) probably apologized if whoever SHE is has a conscious and he is saying "don't worry about it, not your fault and thanks for waking me up" even if it was unintentional, like Trump is a necessary evil to fix our bloated government, Billie needed an over binge to realize he had crossed the line and that's what happened.  I like the idea that he is forgiving and thankful for the result anyway.  I dig that.

Chasing a ghost
Chasing a ghost (woo)
Chasing a ghost (alright)
Chasing a ghost

 

So there ya have it. My take at the moment. I reserve the right to change my mind on parts but from what i feel and know, this is a pretty literal song and is not hard to decrypt but when looked at closely, you get a little more than from a listen but not as much as most of Billie's writing.  This song is just what it is, an admittance of something uber personal and sharing it with us and an acknowledgment that everything is alright.

 

***EDIT - This took a while to write and I was blazing typing it so I apologize for the definite typos in it right now and probably some grammatical stuff that makes something just flat out wrong and possibly formatting errors.  I have a ton of shit to do today but when I get a moment, I will clean it up. I hope I didn't offend anyone and that someone enjoys the read.  Love y'all. 

 

 

[pacejunkie punk]

Thanks for your take @LaughingClock  I’ll add a couple of comments of my own.  Two small lyric changes that may help with interpretation. 

I’m feeling like a moron

bitter and withdrawn

 

Yup, it’s not immortal, it’s moron. A past teaser clip he posted had the lyrics on it. I take this to refer to his social anxiety, a big reason he has given for his past drinking and drug use. If he’s not participating, he feels awkward, uncomfortable and alone as anyone would at a party like this but more so for someone with anxiety. I read a lot of anxiety issues in this song side by side with the temptation to relapse and numb those feelings. Which brings me to this comment:

I’m not the same

ain’t it a shame

here’s to the painkillers oh yeah

on Saturday night

 

So the line is “I’m not the same”. He’s changed and in a way it sucks because he still has the same problems that caused him to want to drink before so he makes an imaginary toast (When you say “Here’s to the....” you’re raising a glass and making a toast. I so love the use of drinking terminology in this song, like the wordplay with feeling the spirits, ie alcohol) to painkillers. Not necessarily literal painkillers like opioids, but any substance of choice that numbs the pain of social anxiety would in the past have been a painkiller for him. He’s not the same, so here’s a toast to the painkillers that his past self would have taken on a Saturday night. It’s like a toast to absent friends. 

He makes the right choice in the end and leaves, but I still find this song heartbreaking because he still feels alone and isolated in the end and there’s no real solution for that.

 

[LaughingClock]

16 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Thanks for your take @LaughingClock  I’ll add a couple of comments of my own.  Two small lyric changes that may help with interpretation. 

I’m feeling like a moron

bitter and withdrawn

 

Yup, it’s not immortal, it’s moron. A past teaser clip he posted had the lyrics on it. I take this to refer to his social anxiety, a big reason he has given for his past drinking and drug use. If he’s not participating, he feels awkward, uncomfortable and alone as anyone would at a party like this but more so for someone with anxiety. I read a lot of anxiety issues in this song side by side with the temptation to relapse and numb those feelings. Which brings me to this comment:

I’m not the same

ain’t it a shame

here’s to the painkillers oh yeah

on Saturday night

 

So the line is “I’m not the same”. He’s changed and in a way it sucks because he still has the same problems that caused him to want to drink before so he makes an imaginary toast (When you say “Here’s to the....” you’re raising a glass and making a toast. I so love the use of drinking terminology in this song, like the wordplay with feeling the spirits, ie alcohol) to painkillers. Not necessarily literal painkillers like opioids, but any substance of choice that numbs the pain of social anxiety would in the past have been a painkiller for him. He’s not the same, so here’s a toast to the painkillers that his past self would have taken on a Saturday night. It’s like a toast to absent friends. 

He makes the right choice in the end and leaves, but I still find this song heartbreaking because he still feels alone and isolated in the end and there’s no real solution for that.

 

Love it!  
 

I totally knew it was moron now that you mention it but I copy and pasted the lyrics, wasn't listening to the song but until you just mentioned it, I never realized that it showed immortal.  I never read the lyrics, I hate they are even there on Apple Music but when I pasted them, it was there and I was just going through it but I absolutely sing "moron" every time I've ever heard the song.  Well that explains my confusion (as stated) on that part.  The idea of him feeling isolated because it is a feeling that you think you're alone on, hence people liking to hear other people feeling the same way. Nobody like to feel alone. That's why I was saying Billie's music is like my 12 step partner.  Lol.

Good stuff Pace!

[pacejunkie punk]

^^^ He’s just so damn relatable isn’t he? 

[That Dude]

What ever happened to Mystic Knights of the Cobra?  Green Day got me all interested in those guys and their album was pretty enjoyable and then.......they sort of vanished.  

Well, I switched from Love is for Losers to the Demo songs today, but that will change as soon as I get a hold of that new Shinedown record - very excited about that!  but Billie Joe ain't in that band so I have my doubts. They could let me down, although I think they've been consistently good over the years, bringing them to an impressive #9 on my list of favorite musicians.  Only 7 slots between them and the Green Day band in all of it's forms!  

The Demos are all killer.   Are the lyrics out anywhere, I haven't googled them yet? 

I am (a) Rock is my top pick by a Longshot (wink wink) 

Million Miles Away is a great sound for Billie, has a great 80's hard rock vibe that would be terrific on a Green Day record.  

I Got my Problems is my favorite original and So Sad about Us is one of my favorite The Who songs so that's a highlight as well.  

I think that Billie does covers for a few different reasons.   Number One - he loves these songs and these bands.  Number Two - it's fun!  Number Tres - it gives him an idea for how he can make his own songs sound, a direction, a theme, a vibe.      

 

[pacejunkie punk]

9 minutes ago, Too Dumb to Die(s) said:

I think that Billie does covers for a few different reasons.   Number One - he loves these songs and these bands.  Number Two - it's fun!  Number Tres - it gives him an idea for how he can make his own songs sound, a direction, a theme, a vibe.      

And I’m sure like we all do he connects to songs on a personal level.  I’m sure he connected to songs like Million Miles Away and Goodbye to Romance for example. 

[That Dude]

4 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

And I’m sure like we all do he connects to songs on a personal level.  I’m sure he connected to songs like Million Miles Away and Goodbye to Romance for example. 

No, I listed all the reasons already.  

I think that "I am (a) Rock" just might be my favorite song from the whole Love is for Losers Era.   

On a personal level like you said - for me, every word of that song is me.  I will be twice divorced come February and I'm thinking about my future and how honestly I think i'm better off alone.  Clearly I'm not choosing the right women, not doing something right, or a combination of those two things.   It sounds sad or weird to other people, but I am happier when I'm not in a relationship.   Even in some of my healthier relationships I felt stressed and forced into doing things  I didn't want to do.  I couldn't be myself.   

I have my books and poetry and they do protect me.   I touch no one and no one touches me.   Most people probably take this song as being sarcastic or a cautionary tale about not being this way. no man is an island, yada yada smackity smackity.   But to me, the literal meaning is perfect.    I am more than happy coming home after work and reading a book.  I stay active as well, going on solo hikes, hitting up book and record stores, dog parks, or just exploring the world.  

I am an Island, and I'm pretty darn good at it.   

I do have friends and family that I see occasionally but there are months and months of just me.  How unhappy is my happiness?  I don't really understand the question so..............

I typically don't feel loneliness.  Sometimes I feel sad that I'm not a social animal, but I don't think that's the same thing.    

Wow, didn't mean to get so personal in my response!  

Does anyone else on here only care about quotes on GDA?   I will look through my notifications and scroll on by all the reactions.  The quotes are where it's at!!!!
 

[LaughingClock]

57 minutes ago, Too Dumb to Die(s) said:

What ever happened to Mystic Knights of the Cobra?  Green Day got me all interested in those guys and their album was pretty enjoyable and then.......they sort of vanished.  

Well, I switched from Love is for Losers to the Demo songs today, but that will change as soon as I get a hold of that new Shinedown record - very excited about that!  but Billie Joe ain't in that band so I have my doubts. They could let me down, although I think they've been consistently good over the years, bringing them to an impressive #9 on my list of favorite musicians.  Only 7 slots between them and the Green Day band in all of it's forms!  

The Demos are all killer.   Are the lyrics out anywhere, I haven't googled them yet? 

I am (a) Rock is my top pick by a Longshot (wink wink) 

Million Miles Away is a great sound for Billie, has a great 80's hard rock vibe that would be terrific on a Green Day record.  

I Got my Problems is my favorite original and So Sad about Us is one of my favorite The Who songs so that's a highlight as well.  

I think that Billie does covers for a few different reasons.   Number One - he loves these songs and these bands.  Number Two - it's fun!  Number Tres - it gives him an idea for how he can make his own songs sound, a direction, a theme, a vibe.      

 

LIFL is practically a quasi-cover album. I know there are "only 11 songs" (ha I meant that as the old colloquialism, not there are in fact 11 songs on the main album) but this album unabashingly pays tribute to not only themselves at times but to all of his influences.  As for Mystic Knights, they are still around.  They came and went. Definitely their 15 minutes was with Green Day but they have a pretty good regional following.  They are a female punk band (unless they are poorly rapping) and for whatever reason the shelf life of female punk bands isn't the same as their less worth dick carrying counter-parts. I like their music too (except when they try to rap), which makes my skin crawl. I also happen to think Cobra is fucking slamming hot.  Her bod just doesn't stop.

[That Dude]

On 5/1/2018 at 10:00 AM, LaughingClock said:

First, thanks! For fixing me up and for the compliment.

Easy what I think. It always drove me a lil crazy that he said “him” because it didn’t fit in with the song but stupid Apple Music had me looking at their lyrics while listening session last night (an epic listening session btw where something clicked and sorry for posting like a mad man.  Could not help).

So what do I think about the change? I like it. I was truly asking what people thought about the “him” lyric thrown in there when the song is talking to a girl throughout so that was my guess but blame Apple Music.  it does say “him” but he didn’t change or flub the lyric, it clearly says “her” on the track. 

So I think the song is directly to nobody but Cobra. I’m sure of it.

Well I have a “We need a mis-read thread”. That is a great title to any song we make about this place. You see, this is why I hate fucking liner notes! Since I was a kid!

 

***Edit, it’s actually “him” and I think he says him and then her at that show. First show I didn’t know the lyrics well enough to even pay attention but listening now, it’s “him” 2x and he’s saying “Thanks for the Times jimmy but I have to go”. He doesn’t hate Jimmy.

His fondness for “her” is definitely a more seethed feeling.

Agreed but it’s not “him”, (ON MY EDIT it actually is I think) he’s right. If it was his past self, if so I agree. That’s why I said St Jimmy referring to his past wild self which Jimmy is. Would have been a clever lyric actually. I’ll tell Billie to start letting me proof read. 

 

It’s lady Cobra. Don’t be pussies when you have the chance to go up and speak to Billie at these things, don’t just say some dumb ass super fan shit or he will pay you respect and be kind and tell you how wonderful it is to be with his real fans and shit but it’s gonna be the 10000th fan today response.

Go up and discuss lyrics of his with him privately and it’s amazing. That’s all I ever want to talk about when I have an opportunity to chat with him and he always loves it and always obliges and he wouldn’t, contrary to most of the people around here be offended if you asked him that question.

I have some questions but that ain’t one. It’s about Cobra.

That's awesome.  I always get kind of annoyed when I go to local music shows and it seems like the bands don't want to talk about music.  They are talking about literally everything on the planet except for music and it's weird.  The crowds do it too.   

I'll be walking around at a rock show and everyone''s talking about cars, tv shows, shoes......ugh.   

I'm not sure what I would say to Billie if I got to chat with him at a show.  Maybe an album recommendation that he hasn't mentioned publicly?   

On 5/2/2018 at 1:19 PM, jengd said:

@LaughingClock I think you might mean Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio, he is a big BJA fan.

@pacejunkie punk I agree re Elvis Costello.

you guys who like lyrics should give a listen to The King Blues, Jonny Fox reminds me at times of a young BJA, he even references GD in one song.

What songs does he mention Green Day?   I am checking them out now! 

[deleteduser7593]

10 hours ago, IcyMoffatt said:

That's what I thought at the 1st listen, Lol

[dudley dawson]

Anyone else think the solo in Happiness sounds like the solo in Sweet 16? Both songs have similar instrumentation as is.

[Jollyroger118]

Can anyone tell me all the trilogy songs they have played so far? I know of fell for you, stay the night and wild one but its hard to find setlists. Also I'm seeing them tomorrow!!

[WhiteTim]

36 minutes ago, Jollyroger118 said:

Can anyone tell me all the trilogy songs they have played so far? I know of fell for you, stay the night and wild one but its hard to find setlists. Also I'm seeing them tomorrow!!

Those are the only ones so far