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The Alternate Lyrics


Mega Man

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Not really a serious thread here, but often times, Billie will change lyrics to songs, either with intention, or just because he flubbed the lyrics. Sometimes, he's just having fun at a live performance. What are some of the lyric changes that Billie Joe has made?

Off the top of my head:
- Changes "I'm taking heed" to "I'm taking speed" in "She"
- Changes "she" to "he" in "Basket Case." Billie said he did this when they recorded Dookie intentionally.

- At the end of "When I Come Around", the recording on the "Stuck With Me" single, Billie goes crazy at the end. Some of it I heard as "so I'm a corporate whore" before going into gibberish.

- The end of "Give Me Novacaine" is usually changed to "...so give me [current city]"

- "21st Century Breakdown's" lyrics were given a full-on change.

- At the end of "American Eulogy," Mike's lyrics were originally "I'm not a daydreamer and I'm not disengaged."

- "Haukshinka" was originally "a big hat and floppy curls" instead of "a cheap hat and cigarettes"

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Can you link me to the When I Come Around version from the Stuck With Me single? Never heard of that before.

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edit: I'm sure there's shit-ton's of changes he's made, I catch myself a lot of times getting so used to the alternate versions that I accidentally sing those. There's gotta be a few examples from demolicious

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"I'm a loser, a drug user . . ." (and a user) - WICA

". . . and it sits on a thick white line" (thin white line) - GSB

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"I've heard it all before, Mike Dirnts a dirty whore" -when I come around

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There's another thread about this somewhere. Might be in a read-only forum.

This reminds me - Tman, you said you had the lyrics to the early version of Longview (can't find it on Youtube right now) but never posted them. Why not?

"Better Not Come Around", the early version of When I Come Around, originally just had the first verse repeated for the second verse.

A lot of the lyric pages we saw in Cuatro contain alternate lyrics.

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I heard it all before

So don't knock down my door

I'm a loser, a drug user

So I don't need no accuser

To try and drag me down because I know you're right

There goes Jason White

And my best friend Mr Mike

You may find out that your self doubt

Means nothing was ever there

You can't go forcing something

If it's just not right

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- At the end of "When I Come Around", the recording on the "Stuck With Me" single, Billie goes crazy at the end. Some of it I heard as "so I'm a corporate whore" before going into gibberish.

It's not gibberish, he doesn't really go crazy either. He says "How now brown cow, no more bad town" and then he said those in reverse order on SNL too.

There's another thread about this somewhere. Might be in a read-only forum.

This reminds me - Tman, you said you had the lyrics to the early version of Longview (can't find it on Youtube right now) but never posted them. Why not?

"Better Not Come Around", the early version of When I Come Around, originally just had the first verse repeated for the second verse.

A lot of the lyric pages we saw in Cuatro contain alternate lyrics.

They're posted in the downloads section. I can repost them here if you like. They're slightly changed every show they played in 92
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So many gems from When I Come Around. My personal favourite is "How now brown cow" :D, heard often in the last chorus during Dookie times:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPeG6RiqvQ

Also, "So go do what you like, I'm having sex with Mike"

They're posted in the downloads section. I can repost them here if you like. They're slightly changed every show they played in 92

When it used to be "Fucking myself through the night" instead of "Take me away to paradise"? :lol: That was an interesting line. I think there's a version where he sang "I'm feeling like a cat in heat" as well.

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It's not gibberish, he doesn't really go crazy either. He says "How now brown cow, no more bad town" and then he said those in reverse order on SNL too.

They're posted in the downloads section. I can repost them here if you like. They're slightly changed every show they played in 92

Yes. Also I'm sure you and/or Liam have some dates it was played at before Dookie was released.

When it used to be "Fucking myself through the night" instead of "Take me away to paradise"? :lol: That was an interesting line. I think there's a version where he sang "I'm feeling like a cat in heat" as well.

There are lots of different lyrics in really early versions.

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A few from Woodstock 94 come to mind here.

"Oh no a brown cow"/"When I come around"

"This time we'll blast it out my ass"/"This time we'll blast it all to hell" (I think this one has been used outside of the WS94 show but I can't remember which ones)

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Nuclear Family: "I just want some action so give me Mike Dirnt"

Hes never actually sang that (that we've got proof of)
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It's not gibberish, he doesn't really go crazy either. He says "How now brown cow, no more bad town" and then he said those in reverse order on SNL too.

They're posted in the downloads section. I can repost them here if you like. They're slightly changed every show they played in 92

Please do :)

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Yes. Also I'm sure you and/or Liam have some dates it was played at before Dookie was released.

There are lots of different lyrics in really early versions.

The first appearance of Longview was 1992-05-28 WFMU Studios, East Orange, New Jersey. They played it during a soundcheck break after replacing a string It's behind the DJ talking, and then the DJ starts playing a Manliftingbanner song, so you can't make out the lyrics, but that's the earliest version.

The second version, 1992-06-08 The Outhouse, Lawrence, Kansas

Can't make out a lot of the lyrics in this version

The third version, from 1992-08-28 Sproul Plaza (Where they also played Best Thing in Town and Haushinka for the only time live)

Sit around and watch the tube but, nothing's on
I change the channels maybe for an hour or two
I twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit
In a house with unlocked doors
And I'm fucking crazy
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
Sit around and watch the phone, but no one's calling
Call me pathetic, call me what you will
I'm like a cat that's bred in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street
In a house with unlocked doors
And I lost the key
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Tripping away to paradise
I'm so damn bored
I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
I've got no motivation
Where is my motivation
So sick of motivation
Hiding my inspiration
All this time I'm all alone
??
Cannot do it here all by myself
Sometime when all your fun is gone
And there's nothing going on
When masturbation's lost its fun
You're fucking lonely
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Fucking myself through the night
Some say "Quit or I'll go blind"
But it's just a myth

Next version is from the next night, at Gilman Street (1992-08-29)

This is a brand new song too
owowow..Jesus Christ ooohh
Sit around and watch the tube but, nothing's on
Switch the channels for an hour or two
Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit
In a house with unlocked doors
And I'm fucking crazy
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
Sit around and watch the phone, but no one's calling
Call me pathetic, call me what you will
I'm like a cat that's bred in heat
Hidden indoors in the summer street
Unlocked doors and all that's gone
And I lost the key
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored
I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
I've got no motivation
Where is my motivation
No time for motivation
Smoking my inspiration
Where has everybody gone?
I'm all alone
In this room
Trapped here all by myself
Sometime I'm like a cat in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street
When masturbation's lost its fun
You're fucking lonely
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Fucking myself through the night
Some say "Quit or I'll go blind"
But it's just a myth
That song's called Longview

And this one was 1992-09-25 at Gilman (no video)

Sit around and watch the tube but nothing's on
Change the channels for an hour or two
I twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit
In a house with unlocked doors
And I'm fucking crazy
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
Heyyyyy...
Peel me off this velcro seat and get me moving
I sure as hell can't do it by myself
I'm feeling like a dog in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street
All this time I'm here alone
And I'm fucking clean
I got no motiviation
Where is my motiviation?
No time for motiviation
Where is my inspiration?
(I got another broken string, if anyone has a D string?)
I sit around and watch the phone, but no one's calling
Call me pathetic, call me what you will
My mother pleads to get a job
But she don't like the one she's got
When masturbation's lost its fun
You're fucking lonely
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored
I'm going blind
And I smell like shit

1992-10-04 The Nappy Dugout, Vancouver

This is a brand new song
This song's called Longview
Sit around and watch the tube but no one's calling
Change the channels for an hour or two
Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit
In a house with unlocked doors
And I'm fucking lazy
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored I'm going blind
And I smell like shit
Sit around and awwww........
Peel me off this velcro seat and get me moving
I sure as hell can't do it by myself
I'm feeling like a dog in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street
I closed the door to my own cell
And I lost the key
I got no motiviation
Where is my motiviation?
No time for motiviation
Smoking my inspiration
Sit around and watch the phone, but no one's calling
Call me pathetic, call me what you will
My mother says to get a job
But she don't like the one she's got
Innovation's lost it's fun
You're fucking lonely
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored
I'm going blind
And loneliness has to suffice
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Slipping away to Paradise
Some say, "Quit or I'll go blind"
But It's just a myth

You can see this song was very inconsistent- the lyrics were different from one night to the next

Please do :)

I was working on it ;)

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Well I do know for sure he changes WMUWSE to different dates ( I think to match his father's actual time since he has passed, not for sure, could use a fact check on that one )

Recently on at least one Jesus of Suburbia he changes "Or am I just Unemployed (overjoyed)"

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The first appearance of Longview was 1992-05-28 WFMU Studios, East Orange, New Jersey. They played it during a soundcheck break after replacing a string It's behind the DJ talking, and then the DJ starts playing a Manliftingbanner song, so you can't make out the lyrics, but that's the earliest version.

Thanks a ton, mate :D

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It's not gibberish, he doesn't really go crazy either.

Really? Can you interpret the deep lyrical meaning of "I'm a loser, and a user LA LA LA LA LA LA LA"?

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"If Adrienne can hear me..."

I checked once, and I'm pretty sure the studio version is the ONLY time that he doesn't sing that, every live performance he does I think.
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Really? Can you interpret the deep lyrical meaning of "I'm a loser, and a user LA LA LA LA LA LA LA"?

not on mobile since you put it in a weird font :P
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Mike sometimes changes the lyrics of American Eulogy from "With money to burn on a minimum wage, I don't give a shit about the modern age," to "I'm not a daysleeper and I'm not disengaged, I don't give a shit about the modern age." I know they were the original lyrics but it's good to hear him do them live, since they're far better lyrics than those that ended up on Breakdown.

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and I fell For Snoo! I was SOOO hoping they would say that on Demolicious. Then we would for sure that Green Day and the Network have nothing to do with each other. Haha.

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on the irving plaza one theres the mike dirnts a dirty whore (already be posted) then laughing then one line and make sure you do it with mike, more laughing

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