NME: Green Day: “We live our lives as if we have nothing”

[pacejunkie punk]

34 minutes ago, Hermione said:

Did he actually say those words? Because as far as I can see he's usually avoided describing himself as sober or saying anything about being teetotal, right from the start. He never shared the exact details of what he'd given up or his plans etc. He talked about it more like the time since he got himself sorted out. He's had beers in his hand multiple times over the years. And I'm not just saying this now, it's had to be pointed out every time someone's seen it in a picture and been shocked.

Like, I don't know if there's been periods where he's actually been sober or not. I have no idea. But point is he hasn't shared exactly what his plans were after rehab or whether his plan was to be 100% teetotal or not. So to say he's fallen off the wagon or whatever isn't necessarily accurate.

He did. He shared this is 2013 that iHeart was his last drink. I believe that was his intent at the time but as we all know addiction is a bitch.  And he did explicitly tell the German reporter that he was sober for five years. Only because because he finally said so publicly can I personally corroborate the fact that I know this to be true. 

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

34 minutes ago, Hermione said:

Did he actually say those words? Because as far as I can see he's usually avoided describing himself as sober or saying anything about being teetotal, right from the start. He never shared the exact details of what he'd given up or his plans etc. He talked about it more like the time since he got himself sorted out. He's had beers in his hand multiple times over the years. And I'm not just saying this now, it's had to be pointed out every time someone's seen it in a picture and been shocked.

Like, I don't know if there's been periods where he's actually been sober or not. I have no idea. But point is he hasn't shared exactly what his plans were after rehab or whether his plan was to be 100% teetotal or not. So to say he's fallen off the wagon or whatever isn't necessarily accurate.

He's literally said that a certain festival was his last drink, so I don't see any reason to argue otherwise. He has claimed he quit.

[Hermione]

5 minutes ago, pacejunkie punk said:

He did. He shared this is 2013 that iHeart was his last drink. I believe that was his intent at the time but as we all know addiction is a bitch.  And he did explicitly tell the German reporter that he was sober for five years. Only because because he finally said so publicly can I personally corroborate the fact that I know this to be true. 

He said that right after rehab, in his first interview, and I don't see that as a specific plan going forward necessarily, it seemed more like a comment that it was his last drink before he got help. He didn't discuss his specific plans or even exactly what he'd given up/what changes he'd made. And if it was a German reporter it might not be an exact quote. I think the way he's spoken about it the vast majority of the time doesn't give the impression of claiming to be teetotal/never drinking a single drop again. 

3 minutes ago, Beerjeezus said:

He's literally said that a certain festival was his last drink, so I don't see any reason to argue otherwise. He has claimed he quit.

It wasn't his last drink though. He's had other drinks between then and now. The only point I'm trying to make is that thinking he was 100% sober and now suddenly fell off the wagon might not be accurate.

[stories and songs]

@Hermione The way you’re interpreting it might be correct and I’m not trying to be argumentative, but I believe in the Rolling Stone interview he meant it as his last drink ever, just based on the context around it. That he still felt obsessed with alcohol, that if he felt the urge to drink he’d just have root beer, etc. It was definitely my impression of it, anyway. 

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

2 minutes ago, Hermione said:

He said that right after rehab, in his first interview, and I don't see that as a specific plan going forward necessarily, it seemed more like a comment that it was his last drink before he got help. He didn't discuss his specific plans or even exactly what he'd given up/what changes he'd made. And if it was a German reporter it might not be an exact quote. I think the way he's spoken about it the vast majority of the time doesn't give the impression of claiming to be teetotal/never drinking a single drop again. 

It wasn't his last drink though. The only point I'm trying to make is that thinking he was 100% sober and now suddenly fell off the wagon might not be accurate.

Does it matter though? What the point of analyzing what and when has been in his glass or not... I don't care about that and it's intrusive. What I find concerning is that now he's partying and getting drunk, which simply could be a problem, given that he's a self-professed alcoholic.

[Montclare]

I’ve tended to largely stay quiet in these discussions since I’ve seen the board descend into chaos when it’s been brought up in the past, but it looks like many of us are on the same page now.  I’ve never felt it’s intrusive to worry about him.  You can’t help your emotions, and he’s someone we care about.  Those who say we have no right knowing everything about his private life are right, but his drinking doesn’t just impact his private life.  We’ve seen him drinking publicly and there have been shows (side projects) that have been impacted by it.  And yeah, my eyebrows raised at his iHeart comments too.

There have been times over the past year and a half that I’ve been quite stressed out about the situation, but had to reel back it back for my own personal sake and because I know me worrying doesn’t actually do anything to help him.  I’ve largely come to terms with his drinking.  But this new era worries me, especially with the drug lyrics and laissez faire attitude interview comments.

I understand the desire to hope that a person’s IG comment, etc will be the one to wake him up, even though it’s highly unlikely.  But I do get the desire.  Ultimately, it’s up to him and those in his inner circle.  I hope those around him are looking out for him, but at the moment, everyone seems to be partying along with him.  Maybe it’s because things truly are okay (at the moment), but it doesn’t fill me with confidence.  In the end, it is ultimately up to the addict, but those around them can have an impact, especially if they’re not too far gone.

At the end of the day, as fans, the only thing we can do is hope for the best.

[Lenny]

3 hours ago, Beerjeezus said:

Does it matter though? What the point of analyzing what and when has been in his glass or not... I don't care about that and it's intrusive. What I find concerning is that now he's partying and getting drunk, which simply could be a problem, given that he's a self-professed alcoholic.

How low is your high gonna go girllllll 

ohhhhwowhahaowhwhaoh

[solongfromthestars]

Billie was definitely seen with alcoholic drinks as early as 2013. This post was 2016. The thing is we don't know if it was planned or relapsing. I'm not suggesting either - just saying we can't know if him being seen with drinks was an indicator of good health, so it isn't much comfort to anyone concerned.

Edit: to clarify I'm not saying this to debate what he was drinking and when, just want the discussion to stay factual.

34 minutes ago, stories and songs said:

@solongfromthestars Agreed. I’m also not posting because I think I have any control over the situation or that I know the intimate details of a stranger’s health. Of course. I can only speak to what he has said and done publicly. I know some people say “well, but addicts can drink in moderation sometimes!” But I’ve personally never experienced that, and it doesn’t sound like he’s just having a beer. It sounds like he’s still drinking to get drunk at shows, which is decidedly not moderation. 

If Tim McGraw or Robert Downey Jr. had media rollout of how they weren’t sober anymore but it’s all good, people would be like “What the fuck? No?” So I really feel like this topic is fair to discuss in a respectful way.

Yeah, I completely agree. The two people closest to me are alcoholics who've attended countless AA meetings and have been in countless different treatment programs, but not one has heard of - or knows anyone who's heard of - an alcoholic "drinking in moderation." Most who claim to are in denial. That's not to say it never happens, because the internet insists it does, but it's rare. Billie might be one of those rare people, we don't know - but for years we've been saying there's no need to worry because we haven't seen any worrying behaviour. Now some of us feel we have, so concern is natural. Honestly, I'd feel the exact same way about a random ex-classmate I spoke to once. No one would call that invasive. As long as it stays respectful, I think it's fair to discuss any public information now.

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

Just now, Sheenius said:

How low is your high gonna go girllllll 

ohhhhwowhahaowhwhaoh

Ohwhwhwhhshd

I lowkey like the weed paraphernalia they sell as merch ngl

[Hermione]

3 minutes ago, stories and songs said:

@Hermione The way you’re interpreting it might be correct and I’m not trying to be argumentative, but I believe in the Rolling Stone interview he meant it as his last drink ever, just based on the context around it. That he still felt obsessed with alcohol, that if he felt the urge to drink he’d just have root beer, etc. It was definitely my impression of it, anyway. 

I guess he could've meant it that way at the time, but it was directly after rehab. Long term plans could've ended up being different. Even if I'm somehow wrong about earier on we saw him enjoying a glass of wine in Italy and things like that the last couple of years. Point I'm trying to make is he hasn't gone from zero drinks to back at it again overnight. I don't dispute anyone being concerned that he might be having a problem with it again, but to me that he hasn't just suddenly started drinking out of the blue is slightly relevant. 

[Lenny]

3 hours ago, Beerjeezus said:

Ohwhwhwhhshd

I lowkey like the weed paraphernalia they sell as merch ngl

i did her on the roof tonight 

blowohhromyloaddoh

[pacejunkie punk]

23 minutes ago, Hermione said:

I guess he could've meant it that way at the time, but it was directly after rehab. Long term plans could've ended up being different. Even if I'm somehow wrong about earier on we saw him enjoying a glass of wine in Italy and things like that the last couple of years. Point I'm trying to make is he hasn't gone from zero drinks to back at it again overnight. I don't dispute anyone being concerned that he might be having a problem with it again, but to me that he hasn't just suddenly started drinking out of the blue is slightly relevant. 

No you’re correct he has slowly increased his consumption over the past two years but I don’t see how that’s relevant.  It’s only because he’s now admitting and discussing it publicly that we can now talk about it here so that’s the main difference.  No one is saying this started overnight.

[Billie Joes Eyelids]

What I see him doing a lot right now that is the most concerning to me is rationalizing why his initial episode after iHeart was really no big deal. And he’s blaming Xanax and saying the alcohol wasn’t a problem. Those are red flags. The other is that he is mentioning doing something illegal or drug use not only in songs but also as promotion this cycle. And I get that they’re doing that as a big fuck you to the world, but it doesn’t feel right. I think he knows right now he has to keep himself in good shape for promo and the tour. The true rest will come after the tour. Let’s just hope they have another project immediately in the works to keep him busy.

[Beyza]

I think he explained his current situation a little bit here too (btw I cracked up when Tre said legal to camera lol)

[Lenny]

3 hours ago, Beyza said:

I think he explained his current situation a little bit here too (btw I cracked up when Tre said legal to camera lol)

Mushrooms are used for alcohol dependence treatments 

[Hermione]

49 minutes ago, Sheenius said:

Mushrooms are used for alcohol dependence treatments 

I think that part was just a joke, he said more afterwards.

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

If he was using mushrooms we wouldn't be having this coversation 🍄

[The Grohl]

I'm so conflicted with this whole thing. I don't really know how to feel. Many of you bring up valid points with reason to be worried. Honestly, when the era started I didn't see anything weird and I got no flashbacks to the trilogy at all. And I still don't. But as I've mentioned before, it did bum me out to see he started thinking again. The first thing I thought of was oh shit, is he relapsing? But in the interviews I've seen, he seems relatively okay. I don't think it's fair to judge lyrics. He's a writer. Sure, it could relate to his situation, but it could also not. As a writer he can include anything he wants to in songs that don't relate to what he's currently going through so it doesn't really bother me, but I can see how it concerns others.

As for how he's talked about iHeart in recent interviews, it is weird. It didn't make me mad that he was flippant with it, just kind of weird. But it's Billie in an interview. He's not know to be the most reliable interview subject, especially if he's doing several in a day. The way I saw it was maybe it was his way of trying to deflect the question. He's said in the past he doesn't want to talk about it, so I'm not sure why it keeps being brought up. And also, they're out there trying to promote a new album. Maybe he doesn't want to address it anymore. Who can say really - we don't know him - but that's how I took it. So while it did seem very odd to me, it didn't send off any alarms. That being said, I really hate how others are reporting it. Oh wow a true rock n roll moment!!! No, it wasn't. It was someone that lost control...how is that cool? And I know Billie has phrased it this way in interviews too, but I don't know if that's just his way of coping with it. Everyone is different and maybe he wants to move on.

I hope Billie doesn't think he has to drink or get wasted in order to make a party record. And whoever thinks Billie is a "better" performer when he's drunk is a moron. I'm sorry that's simply not true. So yeah, seeing him with drinks concerns me, but I haven't seen anything else to really make me get worked up. I just really hope he's doing okay and that people are looking out for him. I know none of us want a repeat of what happened during the trilogy. But right now, I don't think it is, but this is just my opinion. It makes me sad to think he might not be okay, but so far he seems happy and healthy and I hope for the best - that's all I can do as a fan. 

That being said I still want to enjoy the hell out of this era. We've gotten some great performances so far, the record is fun as hell, and the tour is probably going to be great, like their tours tend to be. For me, the best thing to do is to try to detach myself from this part of the conversation. I don't want to think about FOAM and constantly worry about Billie. And I'm not slamming anyone who does or who can't ignore it. I get it, it sucks to think someone we all love is going down this same path. But for me, I just need to enjoy Green Day and the record because so far it's been a ton of fun and I hate how some of the negative aspects have been highlighted more than the good stuff and I don't just mean Billie's drinking - I mean the dumb PR, the Ariana Grande crap etc. As I've stated, I just want Billie to be okay and I know that's what we all want. 

Sorry if it came off as a ramble. I'm just all mixed up right now.

[21st_century_gloria]

3 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Armstrong says: “I look back on it differently now than I did when it happened. I was on prescription drugs that were playing a role with my addiction. Now I’ve gotten passed it and there is life. 

And did I say something really bad? Did I hurt someone? I look back and I go ‘well I bummed some people out and I had to cancel f***ing tour dates’ which I hate doing as I ended up in rehab but it’s all good today and looking back at the video of that day I can laugh.“

I don’t know how Mike could sit there and listen to that.  Yes he hurt people.  Mike was furious back then.  Tre was scared. Adrienne was considering walking out.  He said all this in 2013. He nearly lost his band, his marriage, his friends, his life. He admitted to acting selfishly, not thinking of his kids.  He had to make amends to a lot of people least of all the fans but he apologized to us too.  Now he says “so I cancelled a few shows big deal”.  If I’m offended by this flippant attitude towards what cancelling so  much of the tour meant to thousands of people I can’t imagine how offended the people in his circle are to now be told that what he did to them was no big deal.  This makes me so angry I could spit.

Damn, that's singing a completely different tune to the 2016 Radio X interview when the host was glorifying iHeart and asked if he could play the clip and BJA said "No!" with a more or less horrified imo look on his face. Mike and Tre also had wtf looks on their faces. Damn. 

Damn

I really hope he's doing (more or less) ok but d a m n 😮 

[The_real_st_jimmy]

1 hour ago, 21st_century_gloria said:

Damn, that's singing a completely different tune to the 2016 Radio X interview when the host was glorifying iHeart and asked if he could play the clip and BJA said "No!" with a more or less horrified imo look on his face. Mike and Tre also had wtf looks on their faces. Damn. 

Damn

I really hope he's doing (more or less) ok but d a m n 😮 

Maybe he was being sarcastic saying he "can look back and laugh at it"? Because it seems that incident gets brought up in interviews as of lately🤔

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

It's surprising it's not listed as a tabboo subject for interviewers.

Anyway, I was happy for him during revrad era and I'm still hoping it won't come to it that it gets bad again. That said, we just got a great album (I know some disagree) and there's a tour ahead and I think the only right thing to do is to enjoy these things as much as possible, because after all, that's what we're here for. 

[jengd]

10 hours ago, 21st_century_gloria said:

Damn, that's singing a completely different tune to the 2016 Radio X interview when the host was glorifying iHeart and asked if he could play the clip and BJA said "No!" with a more or less horrified imo look on his face.

He would maybe react the same tomorrow, this could just be his way of shutting the convo down, who knows.

meant to type he could react the same, not would!

[21st_century_gloria]

44 minutes ago, The_real_st_jimmy said:

Maybe he was being sarcastic saying he "can look back and laugh at it"? 

Doubt it. 

 

44 minutes ago, The_real_st_jimmy said:

Because it seems that incident gets brought up in interviews as of lately🤔

I really don't understand why interviewers keep glorifying the incident. It wasn't funny, it was a little scary from a certain perspective, and he wasn't in a good place when it happened. I still can't see why people look at it as a "badass rock'n'roll moment" when it was the culmination of an era of red flags?

Even if BJA can laugh at it now, I still think that people shouldn't glorify it. No matter the artist or human in general that flips out due to personal underlying issues, people should be 1. more considerate in looking past it and 2. don't encourage the incident's potential redundance by normalizing and glamorizing it.

That's my two cents.

[stories and songs]

6 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said:

I can handle the public drinking because that’s for him to work out. But it’s this rewriting of history that he’s doing, the clear denial that he’s in that has me truly concerned for his mental state. If he had come out and said that yes he was sober for five years but now has a moderation plan and is sticking to it because he knows what he nearly lost and how important this is and his family and friends are behind him I would feel differently.  He’s not saying that at all.

I think I read over this portion before, but I just wanted to say that I totally agree with all this soooooo much. And to be honest, it shocks me that they don’t have PR people (or therapists, lol) who went over the best way to approach talking about his sobriety (i.e. perhaps not brushing it under the rug and pretending it was never a big deal to begin with, which is such a smack in the face to anyone who worried about him or celebrated him getting well again). I agree with you that drinking, on its own, would not necessarily bother me. Obviously I’d prefer anyone I care about with addiction issues stay totally sober and I’ve only ever known that approach to work, but if something else worked for him, whatever. The way he is talking about is so dismissive, though. Everything you said as an example of a thoughtful way to approach it (acknowledging the hurt he caused and how serious it was, etc.) would be great, and would make me feel like he genuinely had a handle on it. But he’s not saying any of that stuff, which just makes it sound like his addiction has taken over and is trying to rewrite history.

He honestly doesn’t owe us an explanation at all, but if he’s going to talk about it, this approach, combined with the theming of this era, feels very reckless. I’d feel the same way if I weren’t such a big fan of someone and saw this going down from the outside. I told my friend who isn’t really into their music a little bit about what has been happening and she was like, “That’s not okay and quite honestly a bit scary.”

[The_real_st_jimmy]

28 minutes ago, 21st_century_gloria said:

Doubt it. 

 

I really don't understand why interviewers keep glorifying the incident. It wasn't funny, it was a little scary from a certain perspective, and he wasn't in a good place when it happened. I still can't see why people look at it as a "badass rock'n'roll moment" when it was the culmination of an era of red flags?

Even if BJA can laugh at it now, I still think that people shouldn't glorify it. No matter the artist or human in general that flips out due to personal underlying issues, people should be 1. more considerate in looking past it and 2. don't encourage the incident's potential redundance by normalizing and glamorizing it.

That's my two cents.

I agree. I mean its good it happened(by good, I mean I'm happy Billie got help for his addiction) but I agree why is it so glorified when he has done more rock n roll moments before which wasn't his breaking point/ smashing his guitar.