Billie Joe on audible’s Words + Music series April 22

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

1 hour ago, jengd said:

I know what you mean, it really felt like he was speaking to us directly  

And he seemed like a very thoughtful, well-intentioned person.

[legendary]

I just need a GD MTV Unplugged right now 

[Hermione]

3 hours ago, Little Boy Named Booze said:

it was a joke. To beerjeezus. She will know I'm joking.

Can you not though please, this isn't a PM between the two of you and to random people reading the thread it just looks like you're using gay as a mocking term.

[Little Boy Named Booze]

20 minutes ago, Hermione said:

Can you not though please, this isn't a PM between the two of you and to random people reading the thread it just looks like you're using gay as a mocking term.

lol I don't think I need to explain myself I think everyone on GDC knows me pretty well and they ALL know that I was joking. Ahah can't believe this.
Yes i'll stop. But I think it's a stupid warning.

[pacejunkie punk]

20 minutes ago, Little Boy Named Booze said:

lol I don't think I need to explain myself I think everyone on GDC knows me pretty well and they ALL know that I was joking. Ahah can't believe this.
Yes i'll stop. But I think it's a stupid warning.

I think we need to lose that word as a slur and I didn’t think it was funny

[Hermione]

33 minutes ago, Little Boy Named Booze said:

lol I don't think I need to explain myself I think everyone on GDC knows me pretty well and they ALL know that I was joking. Ahah can't believe this.
Yes i'll stop. But I think it's a stupid warning.

I haven't even given you a warning. As I said I understand the context but using gay to mock (as it looks like to a random person reading the thread) isn't cool and there were people who found it offensive so just telling you for future reference. 

[Little Boy Named Booze]

Just now, Hermione said:

I haven't even given you a warning. As I said I understand the context but using gay to mock (as it looks like to a random person reading the thread) isn't cool and there were people who found it offensive so just telling you for future reference. 

Nah I was talking about the verbal warning. Anyway I don't want to start drama over a GIF 😂 Message heard loud and clear.

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

I’m also thinking about the part where billie says he doesn’t think he’s stupid but he was failing in school and then he also mentions that at that time he was dealing with mental health issues that he didn’t even mention to anyone, because apparently that’s how you’d handle this stuff in the 80’s. I don’t know, whenever I hear a story like this, it makes me wonder how many neurodivergent people fell through before they could contribute to society and I get mad at people talking about how overly sensitive the young generation is, how kids with ADHD just need stricter discipline or how “no one had depression back in our day, I don’t know what’s wrong with your generation”. 

[pacejunkie punk]

It’s interesting to hear how instrumental Rob was to AI happening when it did. They had hit a creative wall and were struggling with their direction when he reminded them they talked about making a monumental album some day and that now was that time. He had an excellent instinct for the timing, just when it seemed to others like the band could be done.  It literally saved them (because they were capable of making that monumental album of course, Green Day gets all the credit for that).

Another interesting thing I learned — Billie isn’t interested in writing from his present experience as an older person so while everything up to the trilogy seemed to be describing his present day life and feelings, since RevRad he’s been more reflective and looking back and that wasn’t just a blip because of rehab.  So the fact that he’s writing songs again about drugs and partying may have been a reflection of his current status on prior albums, now he’s writing from the point of view of his youth and prefers it.  Not sure if I prefer it, but it’s a conscious choice.

[Karol Oliveira]

2 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said:

It’s interesting to hear how instrumental Rob was to AI happening when it did. They had hit a creative wall and were struggling with their direction when he reminded them they talked about making a monumental album some day and that now was that time. He had an excellent instinct for the timing, just when it seemed to others like the band could be done.  It literally saved them (because they were capable of making that monumental album of course, Green Day gets all the credit for that).

Another interesting thing I learned — Billie isn’t interested in writing from his present experience as an older person so while everything up to the trilogy seemed to be describing his present day life and feelings, since RevRad he’s been more reflective and looking back and that wasn’t just a blip because of rehab.  So the fact that he’s writing songs again about drugs and partying may have been a reflection of his current status on prior albums, now he’s writing from the point of view of his youth and prefers it.  Not sure if I prefer it, but it’s a conscious choice.

Not sure I like it either. Being nostalgic is ok but it could seem that he's refusing to age. Another musician that seems refusing to age is Mark Hoppus (Blink-182) and it's weird to hear a 40 years old guy singing about high school or whatever. The songs on FOAM aren't that immature (in a way that we could think that's the way Billie's on the present). On the other hand, it's kind of a relief to hear him saying that's he's writing from the perspective from his young self because it could mean he hasn't completely relapsed and is doing lots of cocaine and other drugs.

From this interview, I got a theory on why his lyrics aren't as good as the past. He's saying that making 21stCB was really difficult and I wonder how traumatic for him it was. During the trilogy era, I remember that in an interview he said that then he decided to write anything without the concern of the lyrics being good or making sense (remember Nuclear Family?). He had made the commitment with himself to write something everyday while he was in NY and to write what came on his mind. During this past decade we had some songs that were more thought out but, to me, the majority of them are way simpler that the ones from 90's and 00's and now I'm wondering if he's kind of refusing to go deeper/ think more about the lyrics because he's afraid of "suffering" as much as he did during 21stCB.

 

*This whole post are made of my assumptions based on things Billie said and it doesn't mean this is the TRUTH of Billie's mind. In reality I know nothing.

 

[jengd]

4 hours ago, Beerjeezus said:

I’m also thinking about the part where billie says he doesn’t think he’s stupid but he was failing in school and then he also mentions that at that time he was dealing with mental health issues that he didn’t even mention to anyone, because apparently that’s how you’d handle this stuff in the 80’s. I don’t know, whenever I hear a story like this, it makes me wonder how many neurodivergent people fell through before they could contribute to society and I get mad at people talking about how overly sensitive the young generation is, how kids with ADHD just need stricter discipline or how “no one had depression back in our day, I don’t know what’s wrong with your generation”. 

I agree and the answer has to be millions but I do worry, (as a more person of more mature years I think ) that it seems that many people (and this could all be down to crap reporting remember) seem to struggle to deal with some of the shit life throws at everybody, NOBODY has a perfect life, it’s all ups and downs! My worry is that there seems to be a current trend of over dramatising every damn thing and it’s like crying wolf, but it means you can’t work out when people need to just get on with it or if they are struggling and need help. Everyone being different and having difficult periods in their lives, some being better equipped than others or at different times makes it so hard to know how to best help.  If it makes you feel any better, every generation complains about the following ones, it’s part of the deal 😁

3 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said:

It’s interesting to hear how instrumental Rob was to AI happening when it did. They had hit a creative wall and were struggling with their direction when he reminded them they talked about making a monumental album some day and that now was that time. He had an excellent instinct for the timing, just when it seemed to others like the band could be done.  It literally saved them (because they were capable of making that monumental album of course, Green Day gets all the credit for that).

Another interesting thing I learned — Billie isn’t interested in writing from his present experience as an older person so while everything up to the trilogy seemed to be describing his present day life and feelings, since RevRad he’s been more reflective and looking back and that wasn’t just a blip because of rehab.  So the fact that he’s writing songs again about drugs and partying may have been a reflection of his current status on prior albums, now he’s writing from the point of view of his youth and prefers it.  Not sure if I prefer it, but it’s a conscious choice.

I thought that was interesting too but it seems to me that his approach changes, we will just have to see what’s next!

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

9 hours ago, pacejunkie punk said:

Another interesting thing I learned — Billie isn’t interested in writing from his present experience as an older person so while everything up to the trilogy seemed to be describing his present day life and feelings, since RevRad he’s been more reflective and looking back and that wasn’t just a blip because of rehab.  So the fact that he’s writing songs again about drugs and partying may have been a reflection of his current status on prior albums, now he’s writing from the point of view of his youth and prefers it.  Not sure if I prefer it, but it’s a conscious choice.

I find it interesting that he makes the same point about aging that a friend of mine does - that as you age, you feel things less strongly. I guess it makes sense he wants to stay connected to that sensitivity, but man there has to be something to write about now

[jengd]

Forgot to say, I was glad to hear his panic attacks aren’t such a problem now.

[michael1989]

I want to hear more about Eggplant's backyard party

[nopride84]

so are mike and tre still in the band? green day is still a band right? or they juat sise men. these recordinga were obv just billie playing im tired of just the billie joe show

[kybry13]

57 minutes ago, nopride84 said:

so are mike and tre still in the band? green day is still a band right? or they juat sise men. these recordinga were obv just billie playing im tired of just the billie joe show

Dude, this was BILLIE's audiobook, not Mike's, not Tre's. Green Day is still a band, they are not dead. They literally released a single a few months ago. Billie is just trying to make the most out of the years until they can actually tour again.

[W_FInkThePlatypusHunter]

I thought this was a really cool audio book. The new song recordings sounded awesome! I particularly enjoyed WTMP’s version of Revolution Radio. 

[greenalert997x]

It was amazing to listen to those songs. I imagined myself sitting in the same room with Billie and listening to him. The versions sound so natural; his voice mostly unfiltered and not strained the way it is during shows. In my opinion, his singing here is the most natural it could ever be. It confirms my conviction that his studio voice is always a bit artifical. I don't mean auto-tune but something like pitch correction and something that makes his vocal timbre softer 🤔 It also cannot be denied that his natural singing tends to crack, he just can't sing smoothly for a long time. Even though his voice is somehow special. 

[purplebenny]

5 hours ago, nopride84 said:

so are mike and tre still in the band? green day is still a band right? or they juat sise men. these recordinga were obv just billie playing im tired of just the billie joe show

That’s a.. that’s a take

 

this was never advertised as a green day thing, nor should it even have been considered one

[Virginia Lot Lizard]

2 hours ago, purplebenny said:

That’s a.. that’s a take

 

this was never advertised as a green day thing, nor should it even have been considered one

I love the Billie Joe show and the Green Day show.

But yeah this was kinda led to believe this was Billie Joe’s life story through songs and Green Day kinda is his life y’know?

I don’t understand that “take” but whatever. Billie Joe is working and doing a lot of cool stuff during the pandemic and I am so glad for these stories and recordings and all the other stuff.

This was a great story and I enjoyed listening to it. Lots of great stories told by BJA with lots about Mike and Tre included. I liked it a lot. Super nostalgic and I think he still has those feelings inside if he can still write like he did for the Trilogy and Longshot. He still has a young heart full of the feels and I think he’ll be like that always and for this I am so glad.

Not really mentioned because it’s not really a story it’s an idea of an influence. This quote from the Rolling Stone interview:

”Those things never really stop as you get older. You always come across people that you want to spend time with, but you have to be realistic about it. When you’re a kid, it’s OK to be more impulsive. When you grow up, it can cause a lot of wreckage in your life, so it’s best to maybe write a song about it.”

He’s not one of those who is going to be writing about high school for the rest of his life. He is not going to be tapped on the shoulder outside of a concert while kissing a girl but there’s still something and he’s still how he is. Lots of heart, fun, friendship and the other stuff.

[Cali89]

I absolutely loved this audiobook! It would be cool if Mike and Tre each did one too. To hear about their lives and their side of the story on green day related things 

Also someone should count how many "ya' know"s Billie said during the whole thing. It's a lot, lol 

[Virginia Lot Lizard]

16 minutes ago, Lindsey_gd89 said:

I absolutely loved this audiobook! It would be cool if Mike and Tre each did one too. To hear about their lives and their side of the story on green day related things 

Also someone should count how many "ya' know"s Billie said during the whole thing. It's a lot, lol 

Haha after listening to this audible story I kept hearing “y’know” peppered throughout my own sentences more than usual, y’know? I would think this interview was fake if there weren’t enough “y’know”s. 

[Cali89]

15 minutes ago, Virginia Lot Lizard said:

Haha after listening to this audible story I kept hearing “y’know” peppered throughout my own sentences more than usual, y’know? I would think this interview was fake if there weren’t enough “y’know”s. 

True lol. It's not an authentic billie interview without all of the "ya' knows". I've gotten so used to hearing him say it over the years, I didn't really notice it until halfway through the audiobook 

[Todd]

Just a reminder, please don't post or ask for download links, this is copyrighted material  

15 hours ago, michael1989 said:

I want to hear more about Eggplant's backyard party

It's briefly discussed in the Turn It Around documentary. I think one of the deleted scenes goes into even more detail about it. 

[Guest]

I really enjoyed this podcast - by the way, an hour and a half of Billie Joe was just what we needed. 
On the 21st I went to the therapist for the first time in years while I was listening to Basket Case. So I think I was a bit overwhelmed on the 22nd while listening to Billie Joe talking about "going crazy" and mental health. 
I found the story of Mike and his bass start really cool!
I want moooore 😂

14 hours ago, Virginia Lot Lizard said:

I love the Billie Joe show and the Green Day show.

But yeah this was kinda led to believe this was Billie Joe’s life story through songs and Green Day kinda is his life y’know?

 

Totally agree! I think Mike and Trè can do the same, sharing the songs and talking from their point of view. I don't see anything wrong in this.