Jump to content

What makes Green Day and their fans the best out there???


Reverend Twitch

Recommended Posts

 

I’m doing a sociological research on virtual communities, so of course, I choose to investigate the community surrounding the Green Day fandom.

What I wanna know is why you love the Idiot Nation.

Why are you on this blog and other social media talking about God’s favorite band.

How has interacting with other Idiots changed your life in some way ex. made a friend or started a band etc.

Basically, I wanna know is why YOU love Green Day.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don’t have any RL friends that are fans so when I became a fan, I joined this community to find like minds and kindred spirits who loved them and loved talking about them as much as I did.  It gave me an outlet for all these thoughts in my head.

At first I loved the music, identified strongly with and connected through the songs. Then as I dug deeper I was inspired by the band on a personal level and all they stood for, their kindness, compassion, commitment to their community and their families, charities and all around DIY punk spirit. They also identify strongly and sincerely care for their fans in a way I’ve rarely seen. They really live their values and inspire me to challenge myself, be confident, take risks and live in the moment.

Through doing so I have made friends through this fandom online and at shows. It’s been a great experience. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The easiest and most obvious answer is I love the music.  I tend to pay more attention to the music than to the lyrics, but with Green Day, I look at the lyrics more so than with most other artists.  It's interesting in terms of both identifying with them, as well as processing them when you know the band's (and in particular, Billie's) story.  I've listed Green Day as one of my favorite bands since I was a teen in the 90s, but didn't really delve into the deep cuts/personal history until the RevRad era.  I love them for their politics, their connection to their community/where they came from (many other artists move to LA or NY; they mostly stayed in the Bay Area, both in terms of living, studios, and setting up businesses), their generosity when it comes to charity (fundraisers for Hurricane Harvey, Billie working with Habitat for Humanity after Hurricane Katrina, his work with Project Chimps among many others).  I love them not caring what their critics think and doing whatever they want to do.  I love them for their love of the fans.  You see news on lots of artists charging a million dollars to play at some rich person's kid's party; they set up side projects to get up close and personal with fans at reasonable (and in some cases, downright cheap) prices.  I love all the side projects.  I love watching how Billie has evolved over the years, both in terms of showmanship and as a musician (and as a person).  I love seeing him overcome his addictions and come out stronger on the other side. 

In terms of community, I post here and on the reddit sub.  While I like the reddit sub, there are so many random people there that you don't really get to "know" anyone.  There are more regulars on this site.  And the fangirls have our own special space. ;)  In terms of concerts, I always like waiting in line for either small shows or GA, since most of those fans are fellow diehards.  While it's great talking to any GD fan, it's always special when you can make an obscure reference and everyone around you knows exactly what you're talking about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think their fans are no different in regards to lining up for shows - mostly they suck:lol:

The best thing about the forum is that it is pretty broad & you aren't just talking about GD.  Its fun to ride the hype when they are in the studio or release tour dates.   You feel genuinely happy for fans when their countries dates are released.

I've also met my internet best friend here on GDC @Grubby Poop we talk daily & I love her to death.  As for the rest of ya - you are OK I guess:woot:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are quite a few reasons why I joined this community. The first reason is because of the fangirls thread - I always feel uncomfortable when I talk about my feelings for Billie in public because it always feels like I'm being judged. The fangirls thread is like a safe space where I can talk about my love for him, and while I still don't feel like it's totally judgement free, it's a hell of a lot better than anywhere else. As well as fangirling, it's also just nice to be able to talk about the band and their music without having to worry about boring a non-fan to death (since I don't actually know any fans irl). And another reason I joined this community is because I knew that if I missed some GD news, somebody would probably be talking about it here, so I wouldn't miss out. So that was why I initially joined, but I think the reason why I've been hanging around here for so long is mainly because the majority of people on here are just genuinely good people. It's no secret that I hate the majority of the human race, but this fanbase proved to me that there are actually nice people out there. I can honestly say that, before I joined this forum, I'd never met a decent human being.

Interacting with people on this forum really has changed my life for many different reasons. I've learned so much about the world just from reading people's posts on here. People have shown me different points of view and sometimes even changed the way I see things. Becoming part of this fanbase is the first (and so far, only) time I've ever actually felt included in something, even if I don't always feel that way. Most importantly though, a small group of people on this forum have contributed to saving my life on multiple occasions. Even though they didn't know me too well, they were there for me when no-one else was. I'll never ever forget that.

As for the band itself, there are wayyyyyy too many reasons why I love this band, so I'll just mention a few. It started out with the catchy songs. I'm not the type of person that connects to music, never have been, but the more I looked into these songs and lyrics, the more it felt like Billie was literally describing me. Billie is the one and only person I feel truly understands me, even though he obviously doesn't know me. Sometimes I actually get irritated at how well he just gets it.:lol: Another reason I love the band is because they are genuinely amazing people, for all of the reasons mentioned above and so much more. They do so much for people all over the world. They stand up for the underdog. They want equality. They want everyone to feel happy and safe. They care. They genuinely do care. Especially Billie. That man has the most enormous heart, and that is just one of the many reasons why I love him more than anything else in the whole entire world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, SHART said:

I think their fans are no different in regards to lining up for shows - mostly they suck:lol:

The best thing about the forum is that it is pretty broad & you aren't just talking about GD.  Its fun to ride the hype when they are in the studio or release tour dates.   You feel genuinely happy for fans when their countries dates are released.

I've also met my internet best friend here on GDC @Grubby Poop we talk daily & I love her to death.  As for the rest of ya - you are OK I guess:woot:

Love you too babe. :wub:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Similar to others, a lot of people I know in real life don't like Green Day, so whenever they released something or came to town they didn't feel the same level of excitement I did. So I joined the forum because I head it was a good place and I'd been coming to GDA for years anyway. 

The best part of the forum is when GD drops something new and everyone gets caught up in the excitement. One of my fondest memories of the forum is when "Bang Bang" dropped. Everyone was talking about the song whether they liked it or not and it was just so much fun to be a part of that conversation. I love reading what everyone has to say and celebrating the band with other fans. Plus, I like that I'm comfortable enough here to discuss other things whether they're just other hobbies or something personal.

As for Green Day, I love the music no doubt, but I love their message. So many of their songs are about perseverance and survival. As someone who's struggled to make ends meet and has been damn near poor since I could remember, their music is that reminder that hey, I made it. I'm still here and I'm still surviving. It feels like their music is rooting the little guy and I love that. It makes me strong and helps me keep going no matter what challenges I may face along the way.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why do I love the band? I think I already answer this question a couple of times all around the forum. 

The question is, in my case, why do I stick around this forum? A month after I joined the forum, I got into a some kind of a «brawl» with other members when I did nothing wrong. I had to leave the forum because it was a poisonous atmosphere here. I don't want to talk about it. Until last year, I was lurking the forum, keeping a low profile so no one will attack me again. It was how I kept up with the news in the GD world. Then I got tired of not speaking and, seeing everyone else having fun, I wanted to come back. The fangirls' confessions thread is what made me come back. I know people in my life who love GD, but they don't fangirl/fanboy on the band like I do. They don't understand my obsession for Billie Joe. The fangirls here do understand me. 

I'm having fun here for over a year now and I didn't get into any brawl! I feel free now. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Green Day first of all because Billie has saved my life. I'd sometimes being very touched by an artist or band but without connecting personally to them. With Billie, from the first time I heard him (through internet), I opened my soul like never before. I felt that he was speaking to me too, while I may love people around me but no one had ever said the words I wanted to hear. Billie not only says them, putting words on my deepest feelings, better than I could have myself, but he helped me to have compassion for myself instead of waiting for other people to show me some, when I was at the lowest, and he's given me the strength to get over my biggest problems. He inspires the good out of me. Watching him act, speak, laugh, and of course the lyrics and the music. I had never really listened or paid attention to punk rock before, but Green Day's music doesn't resemble any other. I connect a lot to Billie as for feeling lost, like a weirdo, lonely, awkward, having to struggle with a bad addiction. Right after becoming a fan in late 2016 I started to be happier and now I laugh every day several times a day. I still feel like a complete weirdo in society, still have boredom and a restless mind I don't know how to deal with, and today I know it's just how I am and that I'm still able to live with that without being self-destructive. I saw a video from a gig in last August during the RevRad tour, Bilile said "just remember that life isn't pretty, but if you hold on to it, life can get pretty beautiful". It's exactly the gratitude I feel when thinking of how I've been since I fell on Green Day, and the way I trusted Billie to do what was right to do even before knowing that I would get to feel happy at some point ; when people around me say that I look so much happier than before, when I say it's thanks to Billie, they just tend to suggest there are surely other things, but no. When I stopped killing myself, and it was the hardest thing ever to stop, the only thought I had all the time was the thought of Billie. In some catchy songs, when performed live, Billie is just so badass to watch, lovely to hear (his voice is so fucking beautiful), while in some other songs he is just so poignant (especially live) and inspiring to me, such as when performing Still Breathing. When I was at the bottom of my courage and ready to throw all my efforts down, when still being in struggle with addiction, I listened to that song in repeat and that's basically what saved me. I feel that when singing it, Billie is saving himself, and imploring all the ones who have felt the same way, have pushed themselves to the edge of life, to save themselves as well.

I haven't yet talked about Mike and Tre because I don't love them individually at the same level as Billie but I love the band in its whole, and nothing rejoices me more than seeing the 3 of them together. Green Day is a band that belongs on the stage and their songs ought to be played live.

I joined the forum after almost a year of fandom, after seeing the band a few times live during the RevRad tour. I had read stuff here and there before joining and especially the fangirls thread that I frenetically read in its entirety. I have found Billie more and more beautiful as I kept digging my fandom and also the RevRad tour has gone on, at the point I have tons of pictures of him everywhere in my studio, and that it was becoming unbearable to love him so much (including physically) without being able to sharing that with others. So hear I am. I've never been an internet person but this forum is great, not only because we're all passionate fans who love talking about Green Day, but it's very interesting to read others' point of view, and people are nice. We share all the joy the band brings us. And we can have really good fun sometimes. I remember when Billie was messing up with the private instagram account in the beginning of The Longshot era, driving people crazy by accepting them in a widely arbitrary way, one day the forum suddenly became The Longshot community and we had to act as if we weren't allowed to love Green Day anymore but only The Longshot. When we wrote Green Day it turned into The Longshot... It was the admins making a joke, but I had really lots of fun, and it was what I needed at that moment: to de-dramatize the stressful private Instagram thing, and being kept out of Billie's account - which I think now as mostly funny, but at the time it was a bit disturbing so I'm glad I was here instead of all alone not knowing what to think of it. Also, last but not the least, it's true that I keep up with information about the band while hanging on here, I was able for example to get informed on time of the Global Citizen Festival last September and managed to catch it live on Youtube, and it was great.

For all these reasons, I'm very happy and grateful to be a fan of Green Day and to hang on here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I too simply started with the music which I gradually got more and more into as they went along and as I had time in my life to allow me to spend on "stuff" rather than work etc.  The more I discovered about the band, the more I came to admire them and while I am not in the "you saved my life" gang, I love Billie's lyrics, how deep and meaningful they are yet not in music that's depressing to  listen to.  I think he is a fantastic social commentator, will come to be viewed as such and they are so awesome live, with Billie leading the way obviously!  I lurked on GDA/GDC for a long time just because it was interesting and exciting when news was breaking and eventually joined when I just couldn't hold out any longer 😂 I gradually got more and more involved on here as I love that there is serious discussion and also some more fun/jokey discussions too.  Also, I love to join in the fangirl chat and feel all of that gives my family/friends a break and helps the rest of the world think I'm a proper adult!  I love the speculation and chat around new stuff and how hard this band works, their desire to be close to their fans and how they value them.   Most of the fans are awesome and it's really interesting how different we all are yet with this one shared passion.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...