Can GD Make Another AI?

[Leni.]

Wow, this thread turned out to be fucking epic. I mean, I love this album, but it's sometimes hard for me to understand the lyrics. So reading your insights guys helps me a lot to understand it and fall in love with this album even more. It's amazing.

[stories and songs]

7 hours ago, crock6000 said:

I thought therefore I was well I can't really figure it out (THIS LYRIC Is fucking amazing and I never even noticed it until this moment.  It is a throw to "I think therefore I am" by Rene Descartes, a French philosopher who wrote "I think therefore I am" as a philosophical line about existentialism.

I skipped over this part by accident last night and reading it just now I went "Holy shit, Billie." 

Also, agreed that Troubled Times is a really wonderfully written piece, and I'm not sure why it doesn't that much love. I think the verses are really special.

EDIT: OK there's also apparently a lot else I missed in that post that I'm just reading now but I co-sign all of it. Haha. Especially about Billie and how maybe overly aware he is of the crowd's reaction and how to get the best performance out of every night. In one interview (from like last week) he talked about how the whole next day, he was thinking about the tempos they used in certain songs and if it worked. I know from personal experience that perfectionism mixed with anxiety is a real nightmare sometimes. You know, I went to a show in 2013 too (not the first one, but some time in early April), and I was messed up from it. Nothing was wrong, but it didn't feel right, either. It was weird. Green Day shows are always such special nights that leave me beaming a week later. Not this time. And I too really, really didn't know if I'd ever get my favorite band back in the way I wanted them. Things just felt very uncertain and like they were still on shaky ground (understandable, but concerning at the time—the worrier in me just kept thinking, 'Is everything as ok as they say it is now?' That's why now, every second I feel like I'm bursting with pride for them and I'm just so happy. Compared to you I haven't been a fan very long, but in the 12 years I've loved this band, things have never felt this good and happy and fun. Everything feels so good, and my relationship to the band as a fan has never been better. Getting to watch Billie feel so confident while also being so present on stage is a wonderful experience. Billie—and Mike, and Jason—have been through very serious issues in the past few years. When I think about how incredibly happy I am for all of them to be in a good place, I realize they're not just my favorite band, but they're some of my favorite humans to root for. So happy to be able to celebrate all this alongside them.

 

So to circle back to the original question (oops), hell yeah they could make another AI if they felt like it. Would I trade it for what we have right now? No way in hell. What we have is more than enough.

[Sixtrix]

7 hours ago, crock6000 said:

YOUNGBLOOD

We're only young and naive still
We require certain skills
The mood it changes like the wind
Hard to control when it begins

The bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-betweens
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Can't help myself but count the flaws
Claw my way out through these walls
One temporary escape
Feel it start to permeate

We lie beneath the stars at night
Our hands gripping each other tight
You keep my secrets hope to die
Promises, swear them to the sky

The bittersweet between my teeth
Trying to find the in-betweens
Fall back in love eventually
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Here is another one that sounds like the writing style of Kerplunk.  I am still trying to find the meaning in this song but I think it's a sort of love song but looking at the crap that goes along with being in love and married.  Sort of like Redundant on Nimrod, lyrically.  And I don't know why people are dogging on this song,  I think it's fucking beautifully fun song.

 

Not sure where you got those lyrics from but in my booklet the lyrics for Youngblood look a bit different.

[MikeDirntConfused]

I'll be working on a Thread 2 (working title) at some point. 

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

I second what Ellen said. I love the lyrics on this album but often I'm not able to interpret them as eloquently as you do. Sometimes it's more about how it makes me feel than about concrete interpretations. This page is one of the most intriguing things I've read in a while.

@crock6000 your post reminded me of how nice it is to actually read lyrics instead of listening to them. Some of Billie's lyrics are so poetic that it's not possible to fully process them when you're only listening. I think you made a good point when you compared revrad with lyrics from Dookie and Insomniac: I (and I think I'm not the only one) can't relate to his recent lyrics as easily as I can to those from the 90's. (I just don't get the "holy shit, this is me!" reaction, which is fine. It would be boring and unauthentic if he never changed his style/topics he writes about.) Even when I understand them I feel like I'm observing from the outside. That's not bad, it just makes me feel differently about those songs. The old ones are like when you and someone are sharing the same feelings, problems, frustrations - like when both of you are angry and bitch about things and you're passionate about it and agree on everything and this kind of sharing makes you feel better. The new songs are like when someone is sharing something very meaningful with you but it's just beyond you so you just have to shut up, sit and listen. It is powerful in a more subtle way. I still love his lyrics and think they are strong and the fact that they convey the message very well even when they are about stuff I've never experienced just proves how great they are. I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to write what you wrote because you've got a very different perspective than I do (you can relate, I can't) and your posts helped me to see these songs in a different way.

[Thatsername]

7 hours ago, crock6000 said:

I thought therefore I was well I can't really figure it out (THIS LYRIC Is fucking amazing and I never even noticed it until this moment.  It is a throw to "I think therefore I am" by Rene Descartes, a French philosopher who wrote "I think therefore I am" as a philosophical line about existentialism.  How do I know I exist?  Because I am thinking that.  But Billie takes that and writes "I thought therefore I was, well I can't really figure it out" meaning, ok, I figured out I am here, now what mother fucker?  THIS IS a brilliant fucking line and for someone to say this isn't great lyrics, don't know how to read, or don't know enough about life yet. I mean you have to know about philosophy to even understand this one line.  At the end of the day, being YOUNG IS FANTASTIC and I wish I was but the one good thing us old fuckers (like Billie) get is wisdom and it is a nice thing to have.  I would love to be 20 again but I would love to be 20 with a 40 year old brain.

Yet another great example for the fact that the lyrics on RevRad are MUCH deeper and more sophisticated than you would think after the first few listens. Isn't it amazing how some of the lines suddenly start to make sense although you have read them 100 times before? I have the feeling that RevRad's lyrics have to be unlocked, and it takes some time. But to be able to unlock them, you have to be willing to let them into your heart to grow there. Maybe that's a point why some people hate the lyrics or simply say they are flat or uninspired (which I will never understand). That would especially explain why some of the reviewers criticised the "flat" lyrics of this record, because they maybe listend to it once or twice, but that's not enough time to find the key to those lyrics, to feel them.

Just like you I have the feeling that it has something to do with experience of life (not neccessarily age!). I think what makes it so easy for me to relate to the lyrics is the fact that I had a really, really bad time in the last couple of years, too. It had nothing to do with drugs or alcohol, but I got severely sick in my mid-20s out of nowhere. I learned how it feels to fear for my own life at an age where you usually feel "forever young" and see a bright, open future in front of you. I'm not moaning, I'm just trying to say that I feel like I've been through a lot that Billie had to deal with in the past couple of years, too, and it feels like some of the songs were written about my life, not his (spooky stuff!). I totally get what it feels like to stand "at the edge of the world", looking into the abyss, and I totally had my moments when I was scared to death to live.

What I'm trying to say is, maybe it's essential that you have been through some really life-changing shit yourself to dive into the depth of those lyrics, to truly feel them. I'm not saying that people who haven't been through shit like this can't relate to the album or can't enjoy it. But I have the strange feeling that it has some secrets that you only understand when you've been where Billie was in his darkest times. When you know how it feels to search for a new "somewhere now", as you already described it in such a great way.

7 hours ago, crock6000 said:

I just don't get anyone that doesn't see the great lyrics in this album.  The more I read them, the more I fall in love.  This is a top 3 album for Green Day for me I think.  

Amen!

[Leni.]

1 hour ago, MMwhatsername said:

Yet another great example for the fact that the lyrics on RevRad are MUCH deeper and more sophisticated than you would think after the first few listens. Isn't it amazing how some of the lines suddenly start to make sense although you have read them 100 times before? I have the feeling that RevRad's lyrics have to be unlocked, and it takes some time. But to be able to unlock them, you have to be willing to let them into your heart to grow there. Maybe that's a point why some people hate the lyrics or simply say they are flat or uninspired (which I will never understand). That would especially explain why some of the reviewers criticised the "flat" lyrics of this record, because they maybe listend to it once or twice, but that's not enough time to find the key to those lyrics, to feel them.

This is why I love this album so much even if I don't understand everything right now. The route of discovering the secrets of lyrics (combined with great melody and instruments btw) and patiently waiting to know more. That's what is really exciting about this record. As you said, you need to unlock them. And I'm really looking forward to do so  

[stories and songs]

5 minutes ago, crock6000 said:

 Finally, I think it's important to note that this album isn't about diapair only, it's also about triumph but he doesn't take the record to complete triumph.  I hope you've conquered that sickness whatever it was. It certainly help make you a beautiful person. Nothing wrong with appreciating life as soon as you can as much as its great to feel like you're invincible.

As I stated earlier, FOREVER NOW, is the song where I believe he is talking about his new forever and looking over an edge and screaming  about his memories. It's a literal cliff hanger.

And hopefully, and it's hopefully easy for him on the road but if the band keeps up this momentum, I expect the continuation to RevRad to be all about triumph in much the same way that RevRad was the setup for it.

Looking forward to this evening.

I so agree with this. I love that this album is triumphant and grateful and hopeful, but not in a sappy or unrealistic way. It's appreciating life now, as it is, much better than it was a few year ago but always a work in progress and always a tiny bit terrifying. That's real life.

[Leni.]

Too Dumb To Die is actually one of my favourite songs on the album. It just amazes me somehow. I like the part Looking for a cause / But all I got was camouflage /  I’m hanging on a dream that’s too dumb to die - that sounds pretty miserable and sad for me though. It's like having your high hopes destroyed unexpectedly in a second. The line Too scared to dream is actually how I often feel. I'm just so scared of my future sometimes and I'm not talking about my career or school or anything like that, and it's not a nice feeling at all. Basically, I'm fucking scared of the death and the fact that it is everywhere where you look at. I'm just not able to understand it. I mean I know that it is a part of the life but I'm so confused by it. I can't even describe it at all. It just feels like Standing at the edge of the world and It's giving me the chills literally. 

 

(And btw we should probably took our conversations out of this thread somewhere else, shouldn't we?) 

[bloodymurderbitch]

@crock6000 and @stories and songs - I've so immensely enjoyed reading through everything you've had to say and got weepy eyes doing so. Never apologize for long stoned posts. All around agreed on so many points! I think many of these lyrics have sprung forth from his fighting addiction and the recovery process and looking back on it all while trying to focus on the future...

 

I have so much to say but my brain feels like scrambled eggs and you both said it so wonderfully. I really love reading into the depths of his lyrics. The content in Somewhere Now and Forever Now are still blowing me away. While listening I reflect on his recovery and my own and it makes me feel so connected. Connected to him, the band, and the other people that are connecting like I am...it's a pretty powerful thing. 

 

 

[Leni.]

12 minutes ago, crock6000 said:

I think it's the first time us hardcore fans really are breaking down the album and discussing it. 

I don't think my interoperation is "right" by the way.  That's why I think Billie is a poet.  Again, not Peck or Frost, but for a rock lyricist he follows in the legendary footsteps of people like Lennon, McCartney and even Chris Chirstophersen.  I just think it was getting shafted by a lot of people as being not even having any real meaning and being bland and as @straighttohell pointed out, it's just his style now to write more broad relatable lyrics.  I know I am repetitive but the lyrics to "Still Breathing" are without a doubt, as we know about him personally and outside of the context of knowing that, it could mean anything.  He could have survived cancer, a car wreck, a dog dying, or just even a general "life ain't gonna hold me back" and I think that broad based appeal is good for people.  Music is my therapy. Shows are my sessions.   

I too have immensely enjoyed talking to you guys about this album.  Nobody else on the planet that I would rather discuss it with than the people here.

MWAH!

It makes me really happy reading all these comments  It feels so good. And I'm honestly glad you are sharing with us your interpretation because I just love the idea of talking about music or art with other people. That's what makes art good or bad - if people are duscussing it. And without no doubt I'm going to remeber this beautiful discussion for the rest of my life I guess  

[Leni.]

3 minutes ago, crock6000 said:

I am sort of blown away and thrilled with the reactions from you guys.  It almost makes me feel like I don't have the words to express my own gratitude to have a group of like minded people to share our thoughts with.  Synergy.

Hah yes! I just feel pure love right now, and it's weird because I've never met before anyone here in person so it's really strange to feel it. But actually it is the same feeling that I have towards the band called Green Day so I shouldn't be so surprised to meet such wonderful people on a GD forum I guess  I'm definitely looking forward to read some interesting comments here soon

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

I'm going to be emotional the next time I listen to it. I just know it. 

[straighttohell]

8 hours ago, crock6000 said:

R

 

Totally feel what you're saying. I would say the only area we might disagree is that the changing of more broad and relatable lyrics is a byproduct of the evolution of his writing, not a focused choice.

Also, don't EVER EVER EVER feel the need to respond to everything I write. Especially on one of my forever posts like that one, less you want to return to your life.  I love to "hear"  myself and I'm sure I spew too much.

Just always wanting to get my thoughts out there on these songs and lyrics because I sort of feel/felt like the elder statesman who needs to help others understand and that's a fucking elitist, bullshit way to think. Sure I have some wisdom but there is nothing better than a fresh, not yet hampered (and hopefully never will be) mind of a young person. 

I think it's wonderful that you analyze the things you like. I am sure you do it in other facets of your life. Not everyone does and it's admirable to dive into the things you love and find out why. Find out what makes you tick. What makes you happy and why.

Thats what I take away from conversations like this. I might seem like I am trying to teach but I'm trying to learn. Nobody learns more than a teacher.

Thanks for your input. Rock on.

I hear you for sure dude. Possibly it's a bit of both (a focused choice, as well as just a natural evolution), and probably a handful of other factors that we aren't even aware of, that have changed his writing over the years. I think he has written so many beautiful lyrics throughout his career, from the 90s until now. Some have been totally specific and focused and others broad and all-encompassing, and I think both are great, in different ways and for different reasons. But thats what I love about music and art and expression.

I love talking about this kind of shit too, its the whole point of art, isn't it? To dive into all of it, pull things apart, piece them together, relate with it, not relate with it, be swept up in it, be totally taken aback by it, allow your heart and mind to search through the piles of words and melodies and symbols and images and let them all mean different things and move you in different ways, relate in different ways. And then ultimately let it all come together and wash over you as one collective piece that means a hundred different things to you at once. It's the beauty of records and of music and rock n roll. I don't really understand people who take everything at a black and white kind of face value. People who hate having to interpret something on their own. The fact that we all digest art differently but yet can still relate with one another, is probably one of the most important aspects of the human experience, imo. That ability to connect with one another, through songs, art, writing, etc, makes this inherently sad life we're trekking through, feel all the less lonely.

[Leni.]

3 minutes ago, Jane Lannister said:

I'm going to be emotional the next time I listen to it. I just know it. 

It is going to be much more interesting, too I guess. A month ago I experienced weird thing  Me and my two classmates and a guy who is teaching at the art school where I'm studying, but is no way a teacher, just a young man who knows how to make a 3D animation, we've been hugging each other in a group for almost two hours. It was something incredible, I recommend it to everybody  It's really similar to what I'm feeling right now  

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

22 minutes ago, crock6000 said:

When I met my wife, I was a DJ in a DJ booth at a college club I used to spin at and 100s of people would come and ask for songs obviously.  It was a booth that you had to climb a ladder and get in a little door so when people knocked, I would, if I wanted, open that little door and speak to whomever (knelt down and at my feet, just setting the scene).  Well one time it was this beauty that I fell in love with before she said a word.  We were both just barely 18 then.

Now, I am 42 and we are still together and have a daughter so yeah, I believe in love at any sight.  I swear I know I loved her at the very second I saw her.  Love is real.

You're killing me today. 

[Leni.]

10 minutes ago, crock6000 said:

Whenever you go to a show, and it's a FANTASTIC show. I know that there is really no such thing as a bad Green Day show.  I've been to probably near 100 and I can say that I can count "bad" ones on one hand and they are still not actually bad.  But my point is when it's amazing, you leave with a feeling that the crowd was a friend of the show.  I mean when it's connected, it's band and crowd.  If it's not band and crowd then you are watching a great front man and it's still awesome but those shows where he is bonding with the crowd, then the synergy goes through everyone and you can feel it in a very real, visceral way.  It is my belief that it is perfectly normal to love people you've never laid eyes on.

When I met my wife, I was a DJ in a DJ booth at a college club I used to spin at and 100s of people would come and ask for songs obviously.  It was a booth that you had to climb a ladder and get in a little door so when people knocked, I would, if I wanted, open that little door and speak to whomever (knelt down and at my feet, just setting the scene).  Well one time it was this beauty that I fell in love with before she said a word.  We were both just barely 18 then.

Now, I am 42 and we are still together and have a daughter so yeah, I believe in love at any sight.  I swear I know I loved her at the very second I saw her.  Love is real.

I'm going to Prague to see them. I hope we will meet, Jane  It'll be my first show actually. I'm almost 22 and I like GD for the half of my life now. So i hope the show will be unforgettable  

 

I met a boy recently, we've never seen each other before, but we started to talk about how we love traveling and he told me about his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela without no food or money. I told him that I would love to go with him next time, because I love just to see new places and faces, and while you're on the road you forget about your problems and it's just about being yourself and being literally  I felt like I can tell him everything about me. It was a really nice feeling.

[That Dude]

On 10/14/2016 at 9:01 PM, Stan Dellone said:

In terms of commercial success, no, I don't think they'll ever reach or surpass American Idiot. Like everyone has been saying, it was a zeitgeist moment that they didn't and couldn't have predicted. To expect them to sell millions and win Grammys and be plastered on every TV screen for 2 years is just unrealistic. That being said, who cares? If they make an album as good (for the same, similar or different reasons) as American Idiot, then I'll take one copy please, and thank you.

The problem is I don't know if they'll be able to do that. The music on Revolution Radio is great, don't get me wrong. The compositions are stellar, and aside from weird mixing issues and balance problems, it's a really pleasing record for the ol' sound nostrils. But the lyrics are where it loses me. There's a weird over-reliance on slogans and catch phrases, and there are hardly any examples of complete sentences or thoughts on any song. It's all soundbites and quotable blurbs, but nothing of substance. In ¡Cuatro!, Billie talks about how when they went to record Nimrod, he didn't have the lyrics figured out when they went in to the studio, and that he would never do that again. Personally, I'd never have thought Nimrod was plagued by writers block or lack of preparation, but with this album (and to a greater extent the Trilogy), it really seems like the lyrics were either prematurely recorded or just afterthoughts. Something like Money Money 2020 or Stop Drop and Roll is fine, because it's just a bit of dumb (and awesome) fun on the side, but when that sort of fly by the seat of your pants lyrical style begins to seep into Green Day's catalogue, that's where the real (not real, but whatever) betrayal of their legacy comes in for me. It's never fun when you're singing along and then suddenly think, "Wait... what am I even singing? I found a knife by the railroad track? Santa Clause? The air is barely breathing? Legalize the truth? I'm like a drone way up in the sky? I shop online..."

If they can find something to be passionate about, be it their own angst, parenthood, existential crisis, a shattered political landscape, or being pissed at their stupid fans who can't just be happy with what they get, then maybe they can hit that high again. But vagueness isn't Green Day's friend. When I say that they're a band that speaks to me, it's not just a corny turn of phrase. I used to listen and understand what they were saying, but now... I'm not sure they're really saying anything at all. 

You've probably never felt like a cello before.   

[MikeDirntConfused]

I've been criticizing this band a lot, but I have no hard feelings for them. Green Day is what introduced me to music, and has always been a major part of my life. Every album that releases or has been released, regardless of the band, automatically gets compared to AI by me. I've never felt such an impact by a "product" before in my life, as it totally makes me rethink everything - politics, art, life, quality, etc.

That being said, I don't expect any album like AI to be released again. The political atmosphere has changed, Billie Joe already told his life story, and another rock opera won't have the same impact as it once did. The only thing I miss from the albums up to AI (or 21st) is the substance. I don't necessarily want another earth-shattering, monumental album - just something that leaves me satisfied.

Billie's lyrics have been a hit-or-miss for the last few years. For a normal band, this is completely normal. But for Green Day, the late 80s to early 2000s has shown the Billie Joe is capable of writing much more substance-filled material than he is currently writing. Maybe, he feels his fanbase has expanded too much and he has to make lyrics that please everyone. Or maybe, he feels that GD's legacy needs to be preserved following AI. In the past, perhaps the band thought they would never surpass Dookie, so they didn't have the same constraints as they have now. AI proved that a nearly forgotten band could become the world's biggest band, and maybe the band doesn't want to ruin their second peak - and they want to play it safe to some extent.

 

[henrybr]

5 hours ago, stories and songs said:

I so agree with this. I love that this album is triumphant and grateful and hopeful, but not in a sappy or unrealistic way. It's appreciating life now, as it is, much better than it was a few year ago but always a work in progress and always a tiny bit terrifying. That's real life.

Do you really think that the album is triumphant and grateful and hopeful? I mean, I might be wrong, but I feel it in a complete different way. For me this album is full of pain and angst, and uncertainty about the future. Ok, it might be greatful for being able to "still breathing", but I find songs like Somewhere Now or Forever Now, very... not exactly depressing but... I guess it feels, the way I see it, as someone that get through a complicated moment and now is kinda lost and at the same time still worried because it's not like he got the answers now. He is "somewhere now", and haven't found a cause (all he got was santa clause/camouflage), or a true meaning to anything. Maybe the best he can hope for is a "better way to die" than the one he was getting before, which is hardly something very hopeful. And he looks to the world and it still a mess, when love and peace on earth are exclusive. The feeling that goes through revrad, for me is something like "ok, a was in the edge of the world, giving me the chills, i survived, still breathing, but what now?". I find that to be a not triumphant or hopeful feeling at all. Is like he was trying desperately to find meaning or joy, or something like that, before, whether with alcohol and drugs or partying hard or living a "life on the wild side", and that doesn't worked out, he realised that, but now it's like "I don't even know what to try or where to go now".

But as I said, this is how I read the album, this is how I feel it. Even musically, I think it isn't hopeful at all. There is a sense of... not resignation, but some sadness from not knowing what to do with all the chaos. For me it's easily the more dark and sad Green Day album. Even the "fun" of Bouncing Off the Walls and Youngblood seems more like a memory than I moment of happiness ou energy goin on in the present.

 

3 hours ago, Ellen Caulfield said:

Too Dumb To Die is actually one of my favourite songs on the album. It just amazes me somehow. I like the part Looking for a cause / But all I got was camouflage /  I’m hanging on a dream that’s too dumb to die - that sounds pretty miserable and sad for me though. It's like having your high hopes destroyed unexpectedly in a second. The line Too scared to dream is actually how I often feel. I'm just so scared of my future sometimes and I'm not talking about my career or school or anything like that, and it's not a nice feeling at all. Basically, I'm fucking scared of the death and the fact that it is everywhere where you look at. I'm just not able to understand it. I mean I know that it is a part of the life but I'm so confused by it. I can't even describe it at all. It just feels like Standing at the edge of the world and It's giving me the chills literally. 

 

(And btw we should probably took our conversations out of this thread somewhere else, shouldn't we?) 

Many people dislike this song, but it's one of my favorites of the album. And by the way, I feel a lot like you described.

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

2 hours ago, Ellen Caulfield said:

I'm going to Prague to see them. I hope we will meet, Jane  It'll be my first show actually. I'm almost 22 and I like GD for the half of my life now. So i hope the show will be unforgettable  

 

I met a boy recently, we've never seen each other before, but we started to talk about how we love traveling and he told me about his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela without no food or money. I told him that I would love to go with him next time, because I love just to see new places and faces, and while you're on the road you forget about your problems and it's just about being yourself and being literally  I felt like I can tell him everything about me. It was a really nice feeling.

I think a meet-up is a sure thing - so many people are going I can't wait. 

Nothing is as awesome as meeting people like that. It's hard to describe that feeling but sometimes you just trust someone. It doesn't happen often but it's just good to hear that it does. 

31 minutes ago, crock6000 said:

What did I say???  I made you sad?

I don't know, I just got emotional reading this thread at least two times. It's just me, your posts are awesome. 

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

2 minutes ago, crock6000 said:

Ohhh, it's a good thing. How sweet! Thank you and by the way, yes go backpack and have fun. See the world while you're young and have no tethers.

Be careful though. Carefully vet all people you travel with alone. The Dad in me is coming out but before you go backpacking with this guy, run a $10 background check on him. Not even kidding. If he's been caught stealing fine, but if he has a sexual offense, I'd stay away. 

Hate thinking like that, but with a 4 year old daughter, I'm programmed to.  

Oh yeah, thanks My parents have always been emphasizing how important is it to be careful and did a good job, I'm in fact a very distrustful person, maybe even too much. 

[Chin for a Day]

2 minutes ago, Jane Lannister said:

Oh yeah, thanks My parents have always been emphasizing how important is it to be careful and did a good job, I'm in fact a very distrustful person, maybe even too much. 

Aren't your parents going to the show with you? Or is this backpacking something else?  Yes, I must agree have fun, but be careful.  

To keep on topic, I have to say that one of the reasons that I am so in love with this album, is the lyrics.  Everytime I listen to it, I feel like I've found something else, sort of like a scavenger hunt.  Something new always strikes me and touches me, every time.  I find this line to be incredibly simple, but unbelievably powerful

As I walked out on the ledge
Are you scared to death to live?

That could apply to so many facets of life, from a recovering addict to just being downright scared.  How often have we wanted to do something but were just too afraid to do it.  

AS has already been discussed, there are so many facets that we can take from these lyrics, and everyone can take something different.  To me, that is the sign of something extraordinary.    

[stories and songs]

1 hour ago, henrybr said:

Do you really think that the album is triumphant and grateful and hopeful? I mean, I might be wrong, but I feel it in a complete different way. For me this album is full of pain and angst, and uncertainty about the future. Ok, it might be greatful for being able to "still breathing", but I find songs like Somewhere Now or Forever Now, very... not exactly depressing but... I guess it feels, the way I see it, as someone that get through a complicated moment and now is kinda lost and at the same time still worried because it's not like he got the answers now. He is "somewhere now", and haven't found a cause (all he got was santa clause/camouflage), or a true meaning to anything. Maybe the best he can hope for is a "better way to die" than the one he was getting before, which is hardly something very hopeful. And he looks to the world and it still a mess, when love and peace on earth are exclusive. The feeling that goes through revrad, for me is something like "ok, a was in the edge of the world, giving me the chills, i survived, still breathing, but what now?". I find that to be a not triumphant or hopeful feeling at all. Is like he was trying desperately to find meaning or joy, or something like that, before, whether with alcohol and drugs or partying hard or living a "life on the wild side", and that doesn't worked out, he realised that, but now it's like "I don't even know what to try or where to go now".

But as I said, this is how I read the album, this is how I feel it. Even musically, I think it isn't hopeful at all. There is a sense of... not resignation, but some sadness from not knowing what to do with all the chaos. For me it's easily the more dark and sad Green Day album. Even the "fun" of Bouncing Off the Walls and Youngblood seems more like a memory than I moment of happiness ou energy goin on in the present.

I really do feel that way. I think there is pain and angst and uncertainty about the future in the album, certainly. But then I think about how Billie has recently described life's lack of perfection—the awkwardness and the unpredictability—as being the most beautiful parts of life, and he says it like he really, really means it. And I believe him. Better yet, I agree. Being vulnerable enough to feel lost in the world around you like in Troubled Times, being brave enough to examine where your latest battles against your demons and being honest with yourself about how you feel like in Somewhere Now—that's not a bad thing, that's progress. It takes a hell of a lot of self awareness to write like that, and this is the first time he's writing about it from a clear state (unlike 21CB's Restless Heart Syndrome or the Trilogy's Lazy Bones, which are honest and ugly but not quite the same, and were written from a totally different frame of mind. 

I don't see admitting your a little lost or a little scared of what happens next as being negative. Maybe I'm just projecting, but to my mind, the fact that he's able to fondly look back on old memories and the life he has shared with his friends and his wife, shine a light into the wreckage he created, feel concerns about the world around him but still be standing at the edge of the world is the point. In fact, in Ordinary World, he says he'd walk to the end of the earth, because finding something meaningful in an average life is valuable. It's a scary new era, but he's going for it. Like @crock6000 said, it IS a cliffhanger. It's not resolved, because when he was writing it, he probably didn't feel resolved. He probably still doesn't feel settled completely, and maybe never will. But he's moving forward anyway, and you don't need to look at the lyrics to know that—you just need to watch him on stage now. He is getting out there and feeling every single emotion, not dulled or numbed by anything. And he's seemingly loving it. In Somewhere Now, the wild side had gotten a little dull—he's not exactly the partying rockstar he once was anymore, he's at home with his dogs going through rehab and trying to figure out what the hell this even means for him. By the end, his lifestyle is "full" again, and I think that details should not go unnoticed. 

In one of the early RevRad interviews, he said life's not perfect—it's better than that. In all it's weirdness and discomfort and hardships. Feeling alive, even if it's scary, is better than just wandering through life in a fog. That's the context I frame this entire album around, because I think it's a brilliant way to sum it up. And I find that to be a really positive takeaway.

[Second favourite son]

This thread's becoming a bit of a mess, just because of how the conversation has naturally progressed.  It's supposed to be for discussing whether GD can make another AI.  If you're just discussing revrad, the thread for that is here: