Songs that should have been singles

[aydge89 109]

There's so many songs in GD's catalogue that could have been successful singles.

I think Peacemaker would have been a great third single from 21CB and probably would have performed better than EJN and 21CB.

Also Let Yourself Go should have been the lead single for the trilogy era.

Which songs do you think should've been singles and why?

Edited July 21, 2018 by Hermione

[Green Day In Seattle 4,105]

In no particular order: Sweet 16, Letterbomb, Bab's Uvula Who?, Rusty James, Fell For You, Restless Heart Syndrome, Brutal Love.

[The Insider 11,433]

Don't get me started🤬

[emenius 263]

Bab’s Uvula Who?/ Scattered/Desensitised/ Suffocate/ Church on Sunday/ Restless Heart Syndrome/ Static Age/ Let Yourself Go/Lady Cobra/ Brutal Love/ Too Dumb To Die

[Hermione 29,647]

Hey we don't really like to have "list threads" where the replies are just song titles and there's no discussion, so if you're replying please try to include something about why you've picked a particular song in your post 

[Maddie86 1,250]

It's funny, I have prosthetic head stuck in my head right now and I remember back in the day there were talks of making that a single but it never happened, and as much as I love that song, idk how well it would have charted. I bet the video would have been awesome though!

There's also an interview where I think it was Mike said that they probably could have ridden out dookie a bit longer and squeezed a few more singles out of it, and I think Sassafras Roots would have been a great one, it's a feelgood song with a pop appeal to it and people could easily sing along. Other than that, burnout maybe could have been a single, it's a great song and they seemed to like playing it live

For insomniac I'm actually kind of baffled that Westbound Sign wasn't a single, I feel like that's the most radio friendly song on the album, but also that's the most Dookie sounding song on the album so they probably wanted to get away from it. Stuart and the Ave would have been great but bleeping a swear word out of the chorus would have been weird, but if Rage Against the Machine could have Killing in the Name as a single then I guess it doesn't matter lol. I could see Armatage Shanks or Brat doing better than Stuck With Me or Walking Contradiction, even though SWM is one of my fav songs and WC is my fav video

With nimrod I think Scattered and Worry Rock would have been great choices! They're both very fun songs and I think they would have done better than Redundant or even Nice Guys Finish Last. I know there was a video for Nice Guys but did it ever even receive air play on the radio?

With Warning I think Church on Sunday is obvious. Maybe Castaway could have been good too. They seemed to like playing Blood Sex and Booze live but I'm glad that was never a single. I actually wouldn't be surprised if that song ended up being leftover from nimrod, it feels kinda out of place on Warning.

I think I'm just gunna stop there

[mrduckygoosy 130]

15 minutes ago, Maddie86 said:

With nimrod I think Scattered and Worry Rock would have been great choices! They're both very fun songs and I think they would have done better than Redundant or even Nice Guys Finish Last. I know there was a video for Nice Guys but did it ever even receive air play on the radio?

With Warning I think Church on Sunday is obvious. Maybe Castaway could have been good too. They seemed to like playing Blood Sex and Booze live but I'm glad that was never a single. I actually wouldn't be surprised if that song ended up being leftover from nimrod, it feels kinda out of place on Warning.

Exactly my thoughts for those four ones 😛 I think the potential on Nimrod was huge and was unfortunately wasted. The same thing applies for 21st Century Breakdown, the album was successful, 21 guns was a hit and they fucked up the following singles. I would have seen The Static Age or See The Light instead of EJN/21st. Those songs are really catchy and with Rock music being more mainstream back then I'm sure they would have performed well with a good promotion and a proper music video. For the last single, perhaps Last Night on Earth could have been an effective radio ballad. 

[jengd 3,986]

I've always thought Oh Love was a terrible choice for a first single and really doesn't represent the album, although I quite like live performances of it (and don't start me on the video).  I think Nuclear Family was a far stronger song to be a single.  

[mrduckygoosy 130]

14 minutes ago, jengd said:

I've always thought Oh Love was a terrible choice for a first single and really doesn't represent the album, although I quite like live performances of it (and don't start me on the video).  I think Nuclear Family was a far stronger song to be a single.  

Nuclear Family or Stay The Night imo. 

[That Dude 2,286]

Oh boy! 

Whatshername had a video and everything, so I would say it was the first would have been / should have been single.  American Idiot was so well received, it should have had 13 singles, gosh darn it.  

But for my list here, I'm only doing albums that got less than 4 singles.  

"Stay the Night" is a treasure from the Uno Era.   

If the whole era hadn't have been flushed down the toilet, Dos could have had a better go with "Amy", "Stop When the Red Lights Flash" and of course "Nightlife" spinning on radio stations.  

Tre should have better utilized it's singles that got thrown into the ether "X-Kid" and "The Forgotten", AND probably would have had a good run with "8th Avenue Serenade" and "99 Revolutions" as well.  

Revolution Radio could have used "Ordinary World" to get some new fans, and then pummelling said fans with a more uptempo track, like one of the "NOW" songs.  I would say "Forever Now".  

 

 

[1039Revolutions 127]

If I’m choosing in terms of universal appeal, rather than my own opinion, my choices would be as follows:

Dookie - Burnout (Amazing drum solo and fresh lyrics to capture the listener)

Insomniac - Armatash Shanks (Superb Melody and lyrics) Panic Song (Could have been one of their biggest singles of all time with the epic intro.. likely in their top 10 most underrated songs)

Nimrod - The Grouch (Fun honest lyrics and great melody) Scattered (Superb melody and instrumentation)

Warning - Church on Sunday (Absolutely undeniably superb melody, lyrics and bridge.. definitely in their top 10 under rated songs) 

AI - N/A the 5 they chose were perfect!

21stCB - Last Night on Earth and Restless Heart Syndrome (Both scream radio friendly singles that would have likely both done better than last of the American Girls)

Uno - Nuclear Family, Stay The Night and Carpe Diem (All fantastic songs, and Stay The Night has the best melody and bridge in Green Day’s catalog.. I would say in their most under rated, but they at least made a YouTube video to give it some much deserved love.

Dos - SWTRLF (Could have been a great second single got Dos, and perfect for any sporting event. I’m surprised it’s not a regular at hockey game breaks.)

Tre - My favourite Green Day album, but unfortunately not about the mass appeal. This album was made to celebrate suburban Americana, and is so 60s SodaPoppin’ Californicated, that only musicians who understand SanFran High treble; Smiles of straight bright white will understand 😎

RevRad - Bouncing off the Walls (Amazing Melody and lyrics.. belonged on Tre, along with Youngblood!

[Christian's Inferno! 1,995]

9 hours ago, jengd said:

I've always thought Oh Love was a terrible choice for a first single and really doesn't represent the album, although I quite like live performances of it (and don't start me on the video).  I think Nuclear Family was a far stronger song to be a single.  

I don't really understand why Oh Love is considered a bad single choice. To me, that just screams single. I think all the singles on Uno made the most sense as singles compared to the rest of the tracks.

[emenius 263]

On 7/21/2018 at 10:25 AM, Hermione said:

Hey we don't really like to have "list threads" where the replies are just song titles and there's no discussion, so if you're replying please try to include something about why you've picked a particular song in your post 

Ok......fine.......jeez......😋

Bab’s Uvula Who?- nice transition from Dookie singles, harder but still poppy as hell

Scattered- perfect utilisation of Mike’s vocal harmonies

Desensitised/ Suffocate- how did these songs not make the album (Nimrod or subsequent albums) 

Church on Sunday- far superior to Waiting; radio friendly;  love the lyrics ( bloodshot, deadbeat, lack of sleep.....etc); more mature track along the lines of Redundant (one on my favorite singles)

Restless Heart Syndrome- the perfect progression from the American Idiot ballads in my opinion; musically far more interesting than 21 Guns; I think it’s a shame that many people are unaware of what GD are capable of.....

Static Age- certainly not a personal favorite, but would’ve performed well as a single (especially with a radio edit)

Let Yourself Go/Lady Cobra- the Trilogy should’ve been an opportunity for the band to put out some more diverse singles; they totally missed a trick; I would’ve put out LYG as an advance single, then mixed up the singles from all of the albums regardless of the album release dates....so you liked X-kid, well your going to have to wait until Tre is release for more of that, but why don’t you try Uno or Dos in the meantime....

Brutal Love- just perfect......

Too Dumb To Die- fun, catchy, I also love cellos......I’m a fan of RR but think this may have appeased the more casual fans who think the band take themselves too seriously these days.

Dookie/AI- think single choices were quite obvious and spot on for these two albums

[Grinch 1,596]

I feel like Letterbomb or Give Me Novacaine would have been great contenders for singles, but the album already had 4 very successful singles and 1 that was moderately successful. They're serious and memorable, but catchy and fun to listen to at the same time. I could also imagine Worry Rock being played on MTV every so often with a music video. Seriously underrated song and deserves single status way more than Nice Guys Finish Last. 

I feel like the trilogy's singles are almost complete nonsense. Oh Love has to be the worst single they've ever put out. It had an okay amount of radio play only because Green Day wrote it. It's their version of Beverly Hills where it's as watered down as it gets. Imagine getting a music video and radio play for Lazy Bones, or even Brutal Love instead! Brutal Love is my favorite song out of the entire trilogy but it's often dismissed for straying from the band's normal sound which is too bad because it's so well written. A bluesy love song with horn samples and a great climax at the end. A little slow and long to be radio friendly though. Walk Away should have been picked over X-Kid, although they're pretty similar sounding. 

For Revolution Radio, I think they did a good job picking their 3 singles, but if I had to pick one more for the album, it would be Too Dumb to Die, or Troubled Times as they're one of the better AND catchier tracks on the album. As much as I love Outlaws, most people seem to lose interest in it within the first minute. Troubled Times would have filled in the spot that Holiday/East Jesus Nowhere took on their respective albums as the edgy heavy midtempo single, just without the snarky humor of Holiday, where Bang Bang is like American Idiot and Still Breathing is like WMUWSE. I don't like Say Goodbye because it sounds like a lazy clone of East Jesus Nowhere to me and kills the momentum of the album, so Troubled Times would fit better imo. Somewhere Now is an amazing opener, but doesn't really fit anywhere as a single.

[aydge89 109]

1 hour ago, Grinch said:

I feel like Letterbomb or Give Me Novacaine would have been great contenders for singles

I think either of these should have been the 5th single. Certainly more accessible than JoS. Otherwise the AI single releases and order was spot on.

Re: Warning - I think the title track should have been the 3rd or 4th single. 2nd could have been Fashion Victim.

[Hermione 29,647]

8 hours ago, emenius said:

Ok......fine.......jeez......😋

 

 

Just in case you thought I was aiming that at you specifically I wasn't , just a general note to everyone that applies to all threads that have the potential to become "list threads".

I would've loved Say Goodbye to be a single just because it's so good. It's way more kick ass and lyrically bold than Revolution Radio so I would've preferred it. We already got a totally great video for it (the lyric video) though so can't complain too much.

And yeah I remember liking Oh Love at the time but there's many, many better songs on the trilogy that would've been better singles. Coming back with Brutal Love would've been so unexpected and epic.

Also I know East Jesus Nowhere was a single, but it should've been a proper worldwide single with a proper music video. Such a great song with the potential to be a hit (it was the number one song they kept getting asked about in interviews and they claimed to be excited to release it as a single), unfortunate it was rushed out and not treated properly due to the musical taking off and them switching all focus to that.

 

[emenius 263]

7 hours ago, Hermione said:

Just in case you thought I was aiming that at you specifically I wasn't , just a general note to everyone that applies to all threads that have the potential to become "list threads".

Haha thanks- don’t worry, I was only joking. I agree re. list threads also- I was just being lazy!

[Smitty 457]

I definitely think letterbomb wouldve been a single if it had come out on uno or warning or just any other album besides AI. Its just unfortunate that it came out on an album that already had 3 or 4 of the most recognizable rock songs of the 2000s plus JoS so letterbomb obviously couldnt perform as well as it potentially could have

[Christian's Inferno! 1,995]

2 minutes ago, Smitty said:

I definitely think letterbomb wouldve been a single if it had come out on uno or warning or just any other album besides AI. Its just unfortunate that it came out on an album that already had 3 or 4 of the most recognizable rock songs of the 2000s plus JoS so letterbomb obviously couldnt perform as well as it potentially could have

You could say that about just about any song on AI. All of these songs would've had so much potential as singles on any other album

[Smitty 457]

3 hours ago, Christian's Inferno! said:

You could say that about just about any song on AI. All of these songs would've had so much potential as singles on any other album

Definitely though i think letterbomb had the most potential out of all of them

[Christian's Inferno! 1,995]

34 minutes ago, Smitty said:

Definitely though i think letterbomb had the most potential out of all of them

Possibly. Whatsername I think was a potential single too cause they did make a video for that song that ended up being unreleased.

[paperlanterns1 207]

Letterbomb! 

[Montclare 3,895]

Technically speaking, it was a single, but I always felt that NGFL should have been the first single released from Nimrod.  I can understand them going with HAR to show that they were evolving, but I think NGFL would have made the casual listeners tune in/buy since it's closer to Dookie's style.  

[Christian's Inferno! 1,995]

1 minute ago, Montclare said:

Technically speaking, it was a single, but I always felt that NGFL should have been the first single released from Nimrod.  I can understand them going with HAR to show that they were evolving, but I think NGFL would have made the casual listeners tune in/buy since it's closer to Dookie's style.  

Nah, I think HAR does exactly what a leading single to an experimental album like Nimrod should do. Show that they're evolving, as you said. I think Nice Guys Finish Last is good as an opening track because it acts as a bridge between the Dookie/Insomniac and Nimrod sound. It shows that yeah, they're experimenting and evolving but there's still plenty of that classic GD sound on the album

[greendepent 711]

Too dumb to die is that song that deserves the title of classic. It has all the old school vibe, with a cool subject and a catchy melody