How did you get into Green Day?

[JardyOfSuburbia]

@Ratchet: If you live in Australia you can still listen to the show on Friday! It's midnight (EST), so whatever time that would be in Australia, is the time that you can listen to the show on blacksquirrelradio.com. These stories are great. Sounds like American Idiot was the deciding factor for a lot of people.

[Forever Now]

I heard Basket case in 2003 and fell in love.

[Elena]

It's difficult to say which was the first song I heard. I just can remember that every time a Green Day song came on the radio, I totally loved it and tried to sing along, but didn't know the lyrics. At that time I just knew the singles of American Idiot and not the whole album. Later 21st Century Breakdown came out. I can remember that I loved 21 Guns and when Know Your Enemy came out (as a single), I also liked it, but not so much. Green Day were on TV and on the radio a lot, so I got the chance to watch their videos and listen to their songs all the time. But at that time I wasn't really obsessed by them. (but they were my favorite band) At that time I was more of a Michael Jackson fan (cos he died there and there was also a lot on the radio and TV and I got to know his music, whcih was really sad...but that's another story) but somewhen I just thought when Michael Jackson's my favorite singer and I know everything about him and every song and Green Day are my favorite band but I just know about 5 songs, then I should definately more listen to Green Day.

I can remember that I checked out a lot of songs on just one day and most of them from 21CB and I loved them all, but then I listened to a live version of Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) and just totally fell in love with it. I loved the melody, the guitar solo (it was on a Blue replica..or maybe the real Blue idk ), the lyrics - just everything. I think that's the moment where I totally fell in love with Green Day and just had to buy every single album !!...And the first album I bought was American Idiot (I still can remember how long it took me to decide whether American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown )

and then i have to tell you a sin: back then i didn't think that BJ is hot, i always thought: "how could these girls think he's hot? it gives WAY hotter guys!!" ( ...so i've never been one of these who just love GD cos Billie is so hot

) ...my opinion changed a bit later, though, so don't worry (which doesn't mean that I'm one of those who're like "OMG Billie's lookin soo hawt !! I wanna marry him <3" )

[WestboundSign!]

My sister and my father used to listen to a few of their songs such as Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake me up when September ends and Holiday when I was about 10 years old. I immediately fell in love with their music and day by day, I discovered more and more of their songs on YouTube. Somewhen, I came across the song "Basket Case" and I felt like already knowing it. Even though they were not really English words and more some kind of gibberish, I was albe to "sing along" the song. And as you can probably imagine: I was confused. One day after that, my dad told me, that when I was 4 years old, "Basket Case" had been the song he always turned on for me in the evening. So that I could fall asleep, because I loved listening to its melody. This was when I found out that I've known Green Day for a longer time than I knew. And since this day, my love for the guys has been developing day by day.

[CristhyneS]

I remember the exact date when I became a Green Day fan, it was January 2nd, 2005

The story begins back in 2004, I had just turned 14, and I watched the videos for American Idiot and Boulevard of Broken dreams and I really liked the songs, so I asked for the album as a christmas present that year. I got it, listened to it, and honestly didn't care too much for it at all, with the exception of those two songs and Give Me Novacaine. Then my family and I went to spent New Year with other relativies in another state (the car ride from my city to theirs is about 10 hours long), I took that album with me, along with many others, for something to listen to on the road, but I hardly did. Then we started our way back to my city on January the 2nd and our car broke down quite literally in the middle of nowhere, and in my country, and specially in the area where we were, it's really hot at that (or any) time of year, so I thought the whole scene reminded me of the beginning of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams video, and since I had nothing else to do, it just seemed fitting to me to sit down there in the ground by a hill side under the baking sun and listen to the album, and do it properly, front to back and with the booklet with the lyrics in my hand, so I did. By the end of the album I was simply in love with it, and shocked, I had never listened to anything like it before. It was all I listened to for the rest of the day, I had figured out on my own that it was telling a story, and I wanted to pick up every line and every detail.

I got home about 14 hours later and inmediatelly looked up the band on the Internet and realized that thanks to my siblings, all much much older than me, I had already listened to Basket Case and Good Riddance before, so I started searching for more of their older songs online... And that was it, I fell in love with their music.

[parkwayjuli]

I was watching MTV and they said something about GD. Then they played a song and I fell in love with it A few days later I bought Dookie then 21stCBD and then American Idiot. After that I were totaly into them. I just listend to them. 1 year later I began to listen to Billy Talent and then more and more. Thats a short version of the story of GD and me ;D

[neurodramaticfool]

I saw 21guns video on MTV and realised I loved it. Then i discovered my dad had downloaded the whole album, and since I was ill I started listening it again and again until I fell in love with it! Then I started looking back to their previous songs and...the miracle happened! I started writing their lyrics everywhere, I'd say my English has become much better, and playing their stuffs all the time! Then I started singing whenever I wanted and I put their songs. In every occasion. Now I buy CDs every few and I got 6 original ones in four months!

[Katarina.]

The only thing I'm going to say in this thread, to answer the question in the thread title:

It was all Green Day's fault. And I'm glad their music got my attention one day.

There's been a lot of threads like this already, I even think there's one on the first pages of GD chat. If you want to read more about how I got into Green Day, go find my posts in one or two of those threads

[It's Splash Time]

My first blog on GDC was about this.

Anyways, I was about 9, almost 10 and my brother was taping the AI songs off the radio. So I only heard the radio edit of JOS for years. Seriously, the version I had was only 5 minutes long. There were also older songs, like Good Riddance. And then he bought Dookie.

Funny thing is, he did introduce me to other bands at the same time: blink-182, Bowling for Soup and some others, but I only really liked GD. I spent a while just listening to GD with the occasional random other song which I barely knew who played it. And I remember coming home from school once saying I had learnt "about that word in that Green Day song". I meant propaganda.

I got more and more obsessed over time. Helped by starting high school and making friends with someone who was a GD fan. And her dad too. Her parents still seem to know me as the one that's obsessed with GD.

[BCap]

I didn't get into Green Day until about late 2009 or early 2010 (during my junior year of high school). Before then, I had only heard of Green Day (and seen The Simpsons Movie), and I had never heard any of their songs before. The only other punk bands that I knew of were the Ramones and Sum 41, and I hadn't heard many of their songs either. My friend told me one day to listen to the Blink-182 song "First Date," so I went on YouTube and found a lyrics video for it. After the song was over, one of the suggestions for similar music was "American Idiot." I thought, might as well try it, so I clicked on it, and was hooked instantly. It was probably "Minority" that really got me hooked on the band, and "When I Come Around" that started my unhealthy obsession. Along with Sum 41 and Blink-182, Green Day really got me into punk, and led me into a greater interest in the Ramones, as well as leading me to the Bouncing Souls, Less Than Jake, Bowling for Soup, Simple Plan, and My Chemical Romance (I had already been into Avril Lavigne since I was just a kid and had heard some friends of mine talking about it at Hebrew school - Let Go was the first album I ever bought). Green Day in particular really helped me through the rest of high school, and I really don't think I could have made it without punk music. I really credit Green Day with bringing me out of a really dark place that I was in, and giving me the strength to go on. I really connect with a lot of their songs (especially "Basket Case"), and their music just gives me hope.

[LittleBoyNamedTrain]

My best friend introduced me! I'd already heard their songs before, I just didn't know it was them. When my friend introduced me I started listening, and gradually started to like them more and more. I think it took about a year until I could call myself a fan.

[Mr.Whirly1988]

I guess I know them since I was seven.. o eight years old.. who knows? I grew up with AI and Nice Guys Finish Last on my iPod thanks to my siblings.. Three years ago me and a friend started talking about bands we liked.. and we came up with a bunch of artists we had in common. Green Day was one of them, so I got curious and searched for more.. we're both now obsessed with Green Day, but we never talk about it.. weird huh?

[charlatans&saints]

i started really liking them when i was 14. i knew a couple songs and knew the name (i have one sister who liked them during dookie, and one sister who has liked them since AI) but it didnt really start loving them util my sister took me to see them in concert on July 14, 09. that was seriously one of the best nights of my life. we had GA tickets so we were only like 20 ft away from the stage. i just remember thinking how awesome they were, and how entertaining Billie was. it didnt really hit me until 2 days later when i looked up a biography of them for the first time (on GDA no less ) and after that i was hooked. i think i spent like 3 days on youtube and random websites trying to find everything i could. i dont know why it took me so long to find GDC though. oh well, i regret nothing

[GreenDayisAmazing]

When my 8^th grade promotion song was Good Riddance in 2003. I really loved it then in 2004 when AI came out I became kind of obsessed with Green Day.

[greendaytodeathandback]

Sounds cheesy but the first time I saw Green Day was on Top of the Pops and they were singing BOBD.

Billie was wearing this little hat and I just fell for them instantly. I have been obsessed ever since. True story

[Tabeeb]

My friend showed me them so I decided to check them out.

[InsideOut]

I've known Green Day for quite a while now, but I never really got into them recently. Sometimes, when I have some spare time, I like to just go on Youtube and search up random bands or songs that I know but don't listen to often. One day, I stumbled onto Green Day and their songs quickly grew on me. Also, the computer I'm using is my older brother's hand-me-down (the lag that i experience everyday is unbelievable, lol..) so I have a whole folder of all the songs he used to listen to before he gave it to me. He had a bunch of GD songs, so I gave those a try, and loved it.

[Mary711]

I heard American Idiot on the radio. End of story.

[Pixus]

I was watching Vh1 and American Idiot was playing, I knew about Green Day but was not much into them but then one day I just randomly searched for AI on YouTube and found the Live one from BIAB and it was so awesome , I was dumbstruck and I searched for more videos and I found Jesus of Suburbia , I really loved it!

I got addicted and kept watching videos all the time and that's how I got into Green Day

[JDookie]

My earliest memory about Green Day is: "There's a song called Some Day, another one called Bad Day and another one called Holiday and it's by a band called Green Day, wtf? " It was... mmm... Summer 2005 I guess? But I didn't know who they were. So one day I was watching TV, zapping, and I saw by chance on MTV a Green Day video! I never watch MTV, it was just chance that brought me there... So I thought "Finally I can discover who these guys are!". It was Holiday and I immediately felt in love. I can rember right now that moment, they- and their stunning song- really hit me!

[softballjunki19]

My 8 yr old (at the time) son got me into them. He had the GD Rock Band game and played constantly. So when they were on tour in 2010 I got tickets for us to go even though I really didn't know much about them. Their live show was AWESOME! Been obsessed with them ever since. The kid however has moved on. Makes me sad that he's no longer my little GD buddy.

[Mary711]

The kid however has moved on.

It has to be nothing more than a phase.

[StuckWithInsomnia]

Well, the radio guy says "Heres a new one from Green Day its called American Idiot" and then the song came on and I liked it, I was 8 and even then I knew the song was about bad things happening in America, so then I hear BOBD, then Holiday which i liked heaps, then my sister, who was a year older than me got the album and we sat around listening to it, then eventually Jesus Of Suburbia and WMUWSE get played alot too, and sometime during this i learn that they sing Warning, which i could remember hearing every now and again over the years, When I Come Around and Good Riddance. Warning, before that was kind of one of those songs that you catch every now and again over the years that you really like but you never find out who its by. I always liked them right through Working Class Hero and The Saints are Coming but I only ever listened to the singles, I liked know your enemy, and by the end of transformers i was sick of 21 guns, and i had no idea what east jesus nowhere was called and at the time i thought it was The Living End So then towards the end of 2011 i was watching this YouTube video with Walking Contradiction as the soundtrack and i loved it, so i go on itunes, and played minority and longview and i was like hey i know these. After that i just went through the singles, then the albums and listened to them and really liked them, Insomniac especially.

[- Prads -]

I heard Basket case in 2003 and fell in love.

Exactly the same (even the year 2003)...

[Jocee]

My brother showed me Basket Case video in 2006... It was love at first sight haha

A few days later I was listening music on my computer and then I found a couple songs of them, like 16, Walking Contradiction, Dry Ice, BOBD (my brother got those songs with a friend of him). And then I started to search on internet all about Green Day. But before that, I've already heard When I Come Around, but I didn't know that was them.