The Breakdown of 21st Century Breakdown

[Rezurgam]

I'm going to repost whatever I posted earlier with more info because after listening to the album like 10 more times, I picked up on some extra things and to unclutter this stuff.

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According to the recent Green Day interviews, Billie said that the album was like a series of pictures on the times in which we life. I imagine 21st Century Breakdown as the class of 13 looking into a photo album that is basically about Christian and Gloria. Each picture, like each song, come together to form a story. Note that there's a lot of play on words in the relationship between Christian and Gloria.

Song of the Century: It is about the year 2009 and it starts in darkness with some kids from the class of 13 being disillusioned and alienated now. In Song of the Century, they don't want war and they need some people to look up to or be representative of them. They find a photo album probably with some text written in it like journal entries and open it up to find pictures of Christian and Gloria. These pictures are arranged in such a way that a story can be formed from it and are dated back to earlier in the 21st century, about 2001-3.

Act I - Heroes and Cons: The first act basically provides exposition for us.

21st Century Breakdown: It is about the class of 13, Christian, and Gloria. Christian and Gloria are introduced as two people who are born in the Nixon era, raised in the era of heroes and cons, and laughs at "the 'freedom to obey'". Christian is described as " "the long lost son born on the 4th of July," meaning he's the representation of the long lost ideals of the religion on which the country is based on when the country was founded or someone who has lost his patriotism or faith in the US government.Both are basically revolutionists crying for America to see its faults. At one point in the song, the perspective is switched back to the readers showing that they totally related to Christian and Gloria.

Know Your Enemy: The class look on and see these two people in this protest to "Know Your Enemy". They want people to realize that the enemy is silence and the people themselves. Also, change should be achieved in such an extreme measure as violence.

Viva La Gloria: Next, comes some pictures of Gloria. She is Christian's light and reason for living. She carries the torch so that Christian can use it to burn everything down. The expression "salad days" is used to describe her time before the 21st century. This is the description that basically gives away that Before the Lobotomy is about Gloria not Christian. She is an idealist who longs to change the dark times back to what it was before.

Before the Lobotomy: The song gives the readers more background on Gloria. It's revealed that she longs for the past, and the class sees that she has a drug addiction problem. Gloria longs for the time when she wasn't so sedated by drugs and when she had so much more vigor in her. It's seen that she's writing her "love a lost memory", or really a rejection letter, because she's "not in love 'cause I'm[she's] a mess." It is possible that she feels like Christian has somewhat lost his ideals or maybe sold out.

Christian's Inferno: In the next series of photographs, the class is provided with some information on Christian as well. He is the fiery type of character who acts before he thinks. He got Gloria's rejection in the mail and he somehow knows that it is one so he just rips it up. He can't really accept that she doesn't love him anymore because he thinks that he is "the chosen one" for her. After getting that rejection letter, he starts to take some pills as well, which fires him up and is about to go on a rampage.

Last Night On Earth: At one photograph, the class sees that Christian is also writing her something on text message. It is basically an unrequited love letter that says that he honors her to the death until that apocalyptic "Last Night on Earth". Now he goes on actually destroying and questioning all around him.

Second Act - Saints and Charlatans: The second act shows the continual decline of both characters.

East Jesus Nowhere: Now the class of 13 is looking at Christian rallying everyone up against religion, which is the religion that he used to be affiliated with. He points out the hypocrisies calls for everyone to go against it. He questions who the "Charlatans and Saints" are. He says that he along with everyone else against the church will be the saints and points out that the figures of the church ("Missionary politicians / and the cops of a new religion") are nothing but charlatans. It is warned though that if he does go through with his destruction of religion, "you[he] will disappear". He still goes through with it though.

Peacemaker: Now with the mass of people that Christian has gathered, he goes on his actual destruction of the church and so much more. Through his torching down of everything, he continually thinks of Gloria. He wants to "call the assassin / the orgasm", or he sees what he is doing is for Gloria. However, at the end, he sees that a lot is out of control and he wants to call a "peacemaker" who is actually Gloria. However, he wants her to possibly die saying "death to the girl at the end of the serenade" for being a catalyst to make him cause so much harm and pain. Also noted that Christian is described as "a killjoy from Detroit." Detroit is located in the Midwest, which is basically the heart of America. I think Billie is saying Christian/Christianity is the heart of America and it destroying the country.

Last of the American Girls: However, Christian soon realizes that he loves her and doesn't want death for her because she's the "Last of the American Girls". There's no one like her; "she's one of a kind". Gloria basically embodies everything he wants in the ideal mate. However, he acknowledges that she is still self-destructive and a "natural disaster" as he is.

Murder City: After the riot, Gloria comes but it's too late. There's nothing but desolation and fire everywhere in "Murder City". The effect of the pills have worn off and "Christian's crying in the bathroom". He is so remorseful for this. Both are now so "Desperate / But not hopeless". Again, there's the pun of being "so wasted."

Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl): Gloria feels like she could have prevented all this but she didn't, and Christian feels his ideals have strayed so far from his original ones that he destroys more than what he wanted to. How the "Little Girl" is running away from everything because of the guilt. Christian runs after her and and manages to catch up with her. He says to her she's a "dirty liar" and "just a junkie / preaching to the choir". Christian even further causes her to feel guilt by saying, "The traces of blood / will always follow you home," or that the chaos done was because of and for her. He leaves her standing there crying.

Restless Heart Syndrome: Gloria goes back home and does more drugs to "ease the pain" and "loser my[her] memory". At this point, she's hit rock bottom because of her "Restless Heart Syndrome". There's nothing more she wants to do other than "to find a way to run away". However, at some point, she realizes that it's no syndrome, it's her. She's "victim of my[her] symptom" and Christian is "a victim of the system". Each is their own worst enemy like what they were preaching about earlier in their lives. She realizes that she has to clean herself up to help Christian as well.

Act III - Horseshoes and Handgrenades: The third act is about finding salvation.

Horseshoes and Handgrenades: This song was hard to interpret for me because I've never heard of the idiomatic expression before. Here it goes anyways. Now pictures switch back to Chirstian. He's lost everything and has nothing to lose. Once he had Gloria to care about and almost hold him back to his ideals, now there's no one their for him. Now it is all or nothing, just like "almost only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades." Christian will destroy everything around him or he will just destroy himself. He just goes on this self-destructive path and is "gonna burn it all down"; he's no longer "fucking around". Though he's lost Gloria, he's still annihilating everything in his path and afterwards screaming, "G-L-O-R-I-A".

Static Age: At this point, Christian has hit rock bottom too. He feels so disillusioned and disconnected from everything and everyone in the "Static Age". Gloria was the only one who he felt safe with but now there's no one there. "All I[he] want to know / is a god-damned thing." He doesn't want to do anymore drugs to help him cope with this. All he really can do is protest against religion and the government even though he "can't see a thing in the video" or "hear a sound in the radio".

21 Guns: In the midst of Christian destroying everything, Gloria comes for him. She calls for him to "lay down your arms / [and] give up the fight". She sees that Christian has "lost all control" and his "mind breaks the spirit of your[his] soul." There is no more point of fighting, because she is there for him, and hopefully she can fill that "something instide this heart [that] has died". The photo album ends there almost on an uncertain note.

American Eulogy: We switch back to the class of 13, who is very distraught from what they have seen and read. They see America now is in "Mass Hysteria" and no longer want to live in this "Modern World". They are now "calling Christian and Gloria" for what to do now. There's just uncertainty of the present and future left.

See The Light: Now the class, Christian, and Gloria all want to "See the Light". Each want to know "what's worth the fight". Christan and Gloria have been through so much that there's nothing left but hope. Then the class can only hope as well. They must hope that it's "never too later / where the ever after / is in the hands of fate." The light can be interpreted in many ways. One is that they want to see Gloria's ideals come to life like it did in the last century. Then there's also hope as described above.

Yeah, I can probably write almost an essay on each song but I'll save you guys from any more of my writing. Also, what I interpreted is only plot of the story. There are also messages to give up the war in Iraq in 21 Guns. Interesting album to analyze. There's probably a lot more that was missed but I'll comb through a couple more times after I get the physical album.

[Greenday_Aussie]

...Wow

[josh_oliday]

It might be a bit too exhaustive, like you are trying to find recurring significant images that really don't have much significance at all. (i.e. Cracks and assured) Actually, you are more like breaking down the songs so much that the images do lose some of their meaning.

Also, puns are basically everywhere. It story is basically an allegory.

Eh, you're probably right. I tried not to reach, but I just noticed these things and like I said it did help me connect some stuff. I was the same on American Idiot. I would see these similar phrases and words and trying to give them background worked in most cases. The cracks actually were important to me. Can't remember exactly why now (just woke up). But yea, I will trim it down if and when I put up my second post. I had just finished and I was letting everyone see what I had come up with. I'm going to combine some of the stuff (like prayer, choir, and faith into a religion aspect like I said). And I'll probably give my own summary of the story a long with it. Thanks for your critique though. It'll help me when I go in to reduce some of the stuff.

[gd86arg]

Drama queen (Now murder city)

BJA: "It's about obsession with celebrity and watching people self-destruct. A lot of Americans have a tabloid addiction. Am I guilty of that? Yeah."

drama queen isn't murder city

[Modern Zero.]

I'm really liking all these observations you all are making on this album.

I love interpreting things...so I might try and interpret it some time and put it on here.

Does anyone else think that in the beginning of East Jesus Nowhere that the guy that says "We will see how godless of a nation we have become" is John Roecker..? Idk...it just sounds a lot like him to me, but i'm not sure...

[bass boy]

This was quickly written - but here was my take on the albums plot:

As far as Plot goes, it's a rather depressing story. From what I can tell, the story is about two lovers - Christian and Gloria - both who rebel against their current government and society. Gloria is the one that wants to lead the way (she is often referenced as being the "light"), whereas Christian just wants to take action and fuck shit up (he is the radical one). At the same time, he finds peace and calm in the love between Gloria and him.

However, Christian has a drug problem (Christian's Inferno/Before the Lobotomy). Sadly we find out, Gloria has one too (?Viva La Gloria?) - which then leads into "Restless Heart Syndrome". To me this is the strongest part of the album - in the way of plot revelation. I'm not entirely sure who this song is about (I assumed it's about Christian, altho since Gloria is also addicted, it could be about both). But the revelation is depicted in the following lyrics:

This then ties back into "Know Your Enemy" - which is in the beginning of the story. This song talks about knowing who your enemy is, so you know what you're fighting for/against. The irony of it all is that they are their OWN worst enemy. Horseshoes and Handgernades is like the climax of the album. In Restless Heart Syndrome the protagonist/s are at their lowest point. The third act opens with an explosion of "I'm not fucking around" - and sees a newly energized protag ready to fuck shit up. This leads to 21 Guns - which is actually a reflection on the Iraq war. It's supposed to be from the perspective of soldiers who feel lost after fighting a war they don't think they should have. At the same time, it also can be used to talk about Christian - since they are not sure if they are fighting the right fights: specifically this line:

Christian is always referenced as "fire", especially on "Last night on Earth" where he actually talks about "losing everything in the fire". But obviously these lyrics are more for the theme of the song (soldiers and war). Finally, American Eulogy and Static Age are pretty similar, in that both are just talking about the negative aspects of society/the media. This then leads to the ending of the album, where Christian and Gloria essentially declare they don't want to live in the Modern World. They don't like how things have become, and pretty much checking out.

"See the Light" ends the album, and basically serves a reflective piece. It talks about Christian crossing rivers, and climbing mountains. Basically looking for the "right way". And the ending..well, has no conclusion. It really gives no answers to all the problems, and it really is left up to the reader. That is the point of the album actually.

It was never quite clear if Christian and Gloria stayed together. I'm going to assume yes, because they are both mentioned in "American Eulogy".

The other songs not mentioned are also important to plot. Altho these are more about "society" - and not so much about the actual characters. So they serve to enhance the world that is described in this story.

So just take what I wrote, and apply it to what Whatsername? said (the whole idea of Christian struggling with believing in this world) - and trying to cope with that.

wow. great thoughts. i was trying to figure out the album.

[Kate Austen]

wow. great thoughts. i was trying to figure out the album.

Thank you!

This was our revised storyline, in case you missed it (must more detail/song by song analysis)

With the help of "PerfectPitchRob" - I have made a re-vised story/time line:

ACT 1

"Song of the Century/21CBD" - This serves an introductory piece, basically lays down the foundation for the story. It examines the life that Christian and Gloria are dealing with. The war, terrorism, and the fact that they have to learn to make it on their own – as even the adults that raised them cannot be trusted. “Raised by the bastards of 1969”.

"Know your Enemy” – this song serves as a narrative piece rather then talking specifically about the plot (the couple). It's asking them, and the listener who is the person they should be angry at. – who is the enemy. It also serves as a story device, because later on in the story we return to the question – “do you know the enemy?”'

"¡Viva La Gloria!" - While it is never mentioned when Christian Gloria met, this is when he first notices her. He is inspired by her progressive spirit and ideals. It also shows how the two have banded together, as they are in the “fight of their lives” and “pushed to the edge”. He wants to stay with her since he feels she will keep him sane. It also shows a glimpse of how Christian views her. He calls her “the saint of all sinners”.

"Before the Lobotomy" – This song has two layers to it. On it’s surface, it’s about Christian slowly losing his mind. He has started to get involved in drugs to numb the pain. “Well I’m not stoned, I’m just fucked up, I get so high I can’t stand up”. It even shows how Christian is a bit in denial, as he proclaims he’s not really getting stoned. On a deeper level, the song also talks about themes of the 21st Century Breakdown world. Such as Bush's leadership, 9/11 and the Iraq war. Those events are what have pushed Christian to be so angry/destructive and mistrusting of his government - he dreams of the time before when he and the world was calmer. The title also says it all, it’s literally Christian dwelling on who he used to be – before he is about to have a Lobotomy (drugs etc).

"Christian's inferno" – This song is a look at Christian's personality. This is his biography on the album – and it shows how much rage and anger he has built up; he is a loose cannon. His drug uses is also briefly mentioned – “This bitter pill is chased with blood”. But it also brings Gloria into the equation, because he now feels like she is the spark that can ignite his fire. (Fire is a recurring theme to describe Christian) – “Maybe you're the chemical reaction, I am the Atomic Bomb, I am the chosen one. Toxin Your Reservoir”.

"Last Night on Earth" – This is Christian’s love letter to Gloria - Christian's confession to Gloria most likely via phone (I text a postcard sent to you, did it go through), of his love for her. This is their connection moment. It is a positive end to this act, and really serves as a calming point for Christian. No matter how fucked up things get, he knows he has their love. He also mentions that “if he loses everything in the fire” – he will “send all his love” to her. This is a foreshadow to the end of the story.

ACT 2

"East Jesus Nowhere" – This song tackles the hypocrisy in modern religions. It also serves as Christians and Gloria’s negative experiences with the church, although it’s mainly from Christian (there is irony in his name). This is his confession to how he feels about the state of religion, and the people who vote on religious reasons alone.

"Peacemaker" - Christian's destructive state is starting to become more organized and inspired thanks to how Gloria is having a positive effect on him. This also serves as splitting point between the couple. While they aren’t actually fighting, Gloria is more about changing things with voice and ideas/rebelling while Christian is more about physical action. This song depicts him buying a berretta.

"Last of the American Girls" – This is Christian’s take on Gloria, and her personality. He basically holds her to the highest regard, and praises her for everything she is, and he is not. “She's the last of the American girls.” He loves how she doesn’t “Cooperate” – and furthermore, he really looks up to her. She is his anchor.

"Murder City" - This song is about Christian’s insecurities, and how he feels worthless. This song is split up into two perspectives. The first part is Christian, as he stays awake after the riots not being able to sleep. - "I'm awake after the riots". He realizes he will never be as mobilized or as torch-bearing as Gloria. This also calls back to “Peacemaker” when he had a gun, and felt tough. But when push comes to shove, as they get deeper into the city, he realizes he is being overwhelmed by the evil and deceit that runs the city. Because of this, he feels useless, and wonders if anything he does makes a difference. This song also starts to show a crack in the couples relationship, and this part of the song is from Gloria's perspective: – “Christian is crying in the bathroom, and I just want to bum a cigarette”. It shows that Christian is emotionally venerable here, and Gloria is having a tough time dealing with it. The song is more about Christian being helpless, but it also ties Gloria into it when she says “We are the last call, and we're so pathetic”.

"¿Viva La Gloria?" - Surprise surprise, Gloria isn't as pure as Christian thought, as this song reveals that she is a drug addict and a wreck underneath all what Christian first saw in her. Christian now has doubts about her – as his whole life has been full of lies and deceit. Not necessarily Gloria’s fault, but Christian really held her up as inspiration, and she was the perfection that he was not. This song also serves as a “conscience” piece, as Gloria is starting to fall apart, and feel guilty for what she is doing. “Little girl little girl, you dirty liar, you’re just a junkie preaching to the choir.” “Runaway, to you’re lost tranquility, and find yourself with your face in the gutter.”

"Restless Heart Syndrome" - Drugs are affecting both characters destructively at this point. “ I got this really bad disease, it has me begging on my hands and knees. Please take me to Emergency”. “I’m elated, medicated”. They are both mad at each other and split angrily. This song acts as the big revelation in the story, and calls back to “Know Your Enemy”. The twist is that they are their own worst enemy. This whole time they were trying to fight deceit – yet they were deceiving themselves. “I'm a victim of my symptom, I am my own worst enemy, You're a victim of your symptom, You are your own worst enemy – Know Your Enemy”. As a result both characters finally realize who their enemy is (their destructiveness and the drugs they take). Unlike the last act, this one ends in a negative theme – and serves as the protagonist “lowest points”. Restless Heart is also a stab at the pharmaceutical companies, who now seem to prescribe you drugs for whatever “ails you”.

ACT 3

"Horseshoes and Handgrenades" - This is basically part two to “Christian’s Inferno”. It serves as Christian's angry rant about life, himself, and Gloria. He has reached a destructive peak. Some of this song is actually about him being physically destructive. He has become a mess. “So don't you fuck me around, Because I'll shoot you down, I'm gonna drink, fight and fuck , And pushing my luck., All the time now”. “Well, you missed me kissed me Now you better kick me down” - I'm not fucking around G-L-O-R-I-A”.

"Static Age" - Both characters, now both in shambles and living on their own realize that the media has corrupted them, and all of society. They both wonder what life would be like without all the mainstream media. This is social commentary about how bogged down/saturated the media has become. – and as a result, they can longer see or hear what is going on, because of all the static. "All I want to do is i want to breathe, Batteries are not included”.

"21 Guns" - Christian and Gloria, both (at the end of the road), the road being, their will to live, meet up again and make peace again (lay down your arms give up the fight). –“Did you try to live on your own? When you burned down the house and home? Did you stand too close to the fire? Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone ” – the fire is a reference to Christian, and calls back to “Last Night on Earth” when he said if I “lose everything in the fire”. They also take a look at the fighting in the wars and are inspired to start helping others. This song also serves as a perspective of a soldier who has lost his faith in a fight – that is not his fight - a fight that has no purpose. This really sums up how Christian and Gloria have been feeling – have they been fighting a fight worth fighting?

"American Eulogy" - The two characters become inspired by what is going on and look at all the events that have happened during the Bush years, Hurricane Katrina being a main one. They are unhappy with the class war and how the rich are looked at as higher people. There is so much going on in their world that they realize it is out of their control. The song also serves as a swipe at the mainstream media, as they like to use scare tactics to cause “Mass Hysteria”. The conclusion of the song (and pretty much the album) is that they decide they have had enough, and realize the modern world is too much for them to live in. It’s too corrupted, and they don’t think they can do anything to change it. “'Cause I don't give a shit about the modern age!” – “I don’t want to live in the modern world!”.

"See the Light" - Christian and Gloria decide to settle down away from the city, working through hardships to help those in need. They still strive for people to be happy and for there to be peace. They are doubtful, but they still try to (see the light) at the end of a deep and dark tunnel. The ending is very open-ended, and does not offer solutions. Because the current climate is still going on today, there is no answer. It’s left up to the listener to think for a solution.

Summary -

Act 1- The two meet up in the post bush years and fall in love

Act 2- The two work together, but realize each other's downfalls and angrily split up

Act 3 - Angered at modern society, they reunite and move away from the city to help others and try to make it through life together.

Just re-posting, just in case people missed this back on pg 2.

[Bastard of 1967]

This was our revised storyline, in case you missed it (must more detail/song by song analysis)

Kate et al. - As I've been listening to the album over the past few days I think there's another thread/linkage beneath the story that flows through at least some (but probably not all) of the tracks. Here's what my thinking is at this point, on what this suggests as a possible additional or alternative meaning for the album. Let me know if you agree/disagree or have anything else to add....

A lot has been written already about the frequent appearance of "light" and "fire" and related words'n'phrases in the lyrics, and how light and hope is used to represent Gloria (and vice-versa), and fire and destruction becomes synonymous/interchangeable with Christian. As I saw more and more of these references throughout the album, I couldn't help but think about Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus" that was mounted on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty during the early 20th Century:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles.

From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Source: Wikipedia - Emma Lazarus

This got me thinking about whether Gloria can be seen as an embodiment of this American ideal, the "American Dream" -- the "promised land" of hope and opportunity ("...promise and prosperity") that's referred to in Song of The Century -- and in sharp contrast, whether Christian is the embodiment of what the last decade (or two or three) has done to this ideal and the havoc that the collapse of the American Dream has wreaked on the rest of the world. Even in Lazarus' poem, liberty is referred to as a "woman with a torch, whose name/Is the imprisoned lightning", which when read into the album, might suggest that both Gloria and Christian are alter egos of a single America.

So when I hit this line of thinking, I started looking at some of the themes and specific lyrics in each track of 21CB to see what I could find to support it. Here's what I have so far:

"Song of The Century" -- see above. The references to the "promised land" could be viewed as symbolic of the promise of the American Dream that drew so many to make our country their home in the early part of the 20th Century. The "story that's by candlelight" evokes the peace of a quiet evening, the light that Gloria represents in the album, and the flame of liberty -- and potentially, the destructive power that that flame of freedom can take on -- from Emma Lazarus' poem. "Waging a war and losing the fight" foreshadows Christian's negative influence on this ideal (religious zealots taking control of our government in the early 21st Century, initiating a holy war against foreign infidels and marking the beginning of the end of the American Dream).

"21st Century Breakdown" -- references to "the 20th Century Deadline" suggest the beginning of the end of the American Dream at the end of the 20th Century/the turn of the 21st. "The tower's fall" and "Homeland Security" would seem to refer to the key events that influenced our leaders at the beginning of the 21st Century -- 9/11, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and our tipping the balance so sharply in favor of security that our founding principles of liberty and freedom were compromised. "The Bastards of 1969" refer directly to our parents and leaders, who bear much of the responsibility for what's happened to our country; "Born on the 4th of July" is a direct reference to the crippling consequences of the Vietnam war. "I am a nation" implies that this track goes much deeper than simply talking about the lives of the two protagonists. "I've broken my fingers and lied through my teeth" can be read as metaphoric for those "Bastards of 1969" lying to the nation about their conduct during wartime, or to the hand-wringing lip-service that was paid to the real problems that now threaten to destroy us. Transitioning into the close, "The freedom to obey/is the song that strangles me" sets up Know Your Enemy, and the song closes by describing the death of the American Dream.

"iViva La Gloria!" -- This song opens with the destructive Christian persuading the constructive Gloria to use her best qualities to lead the USA straight into hell. There is a reference to the age of the nation at the time the Iraq war began (about 227 years since 1776 in March 2003 when the war started) in "the cracks of my skin can prove", followed by a request (demand?) to "say your prayers and light a fire/we're going to start a war" in the quite-ironic name of the freedom and liberty that Gloria represents: "your slogans a gun for hire/it's what we waited for." I think "Weather the storm and look back on last November/When your banners were burning down" might actually be a sarcastic directive to the neoconservatives who were driven from power in the recent election -- suggesting that we haven't heard the last of them yet (as recent events seem to bear out).

"Christian's Inferno" -- The maniacal laughter, references to "seasons in a ruin" and the "fire in my veins . . . pouring out like a flood", coupled with the driving percussion and guitars of the chorus, beg to describe the destructive force of our country unleashed on the world. "I am the atom bomb/I am the chosen one" suggest a religious reason for this destruction, and then you're confronted with the consequences: "and then return man to ape."

"East Jesus Nowhere" -- In this song, the followers of fundamentalist religion who express absolute, unquestioning faith in their beliefs (and use that faith a la George W. Bush) to justify their actions are likened to "a sacrificial suicide" being used by others "like a dog that's been sodomized". BJA refers to them as "the soldiers of the new world" and sarcastically invites them to "put your faith in a miracle...in the church of wishful thinking". The fundamentalist Christian "fire [that] burns today" infiltrates "the faith fanatics", these persons see no reason to doubt their beliefs ("I threw my crutches in 'the river of a shadow of doubt'") -- and next comes the track "Peacemaker" where we see what erupts out of these beliefs.

"Peacemaker" -- on its surface, this can be looked at as one person's desire for revenge (heck, bloody murder) against Gloria ("Death to the girl at the end of the serenade.") More deeply, the song begins with a reference to the Crusades in the middle ages: "For I am the Caesar/I'm gonna seize the day...as God as my witness/the infidels are gonna pay" when his "shots ring out on a holy parasite." Christian divides the world into two classes, "the righteous and the meek," and the girl he sees himself murdering is more than just Gloria the character -- it is the life, liberty, and freedom, the American Dream itself, that Gloria represents: "death to the lover that you were dreaming of". The consequences this has on the rest of the world is expressed emphatically at the end of the song: "death to the ones at the end of the serenade".

"Last of the American Girls" -- This is Christian singing about Gloria's most positive, endearing qualities but portraying them, with utmost sarcasm, as useless naivete. "She puts her makup on/like graffiti"; "she wears her overcoat/for the coming of the nuclear winter"; "she's on a hunger strike/for the ones who won't make it for dinner"; "she plays her vinyl records/singing songs on the eve of destruction"; "she's a sucker for all the criminals breaking the laws". Christian thus argues that the American ideals represented by Gloria are either dead or no longer relevant in the modern world: she is an "endangered species headed into extinction"; "she's a runaway of the establishment incorporated"; "she's a natural disaster"; "she will come in first/for the end of western civilization"; "she won't cooperate/she's the last of the American girls."

"?Viva La Gloria?" -- I think this song highlights the internal conflict between Gloria and Christian as alter egos of the same nation or society -- she's a failure, she has noplace to go, she's a "dirty liar/you're just a junkie preaching to the choir". Thus, inside of Gloria's outwardly positive and inspiring qualities are the very flaws and failures that have spawned Christian's destructive power.

"The Static Age" -- Gloria's inspiration (the "slogans" in iViva La Gloria!) are recast here as having been diverted for corruption, as "visions of blasphemy, war and peace/screaming at you" in all the noise of our unchanging and unchangeable, static, era. "The west was won" in the 18th Century by destroying whatever stood in the way of our God-inspired leaders of that day, and here is the same country, with different leaders, once again doing the same thing to the rest of the world. "What's the latest way that a man can die/screaming hallelujah?" "Singing out 'the dawn's early light" when "the silence of the rotten, forgotten" is "screaming at you" so loudly that (back in the title track) "I can't even sleep/from the light's early dawn".

This leaves our death knell to be written in a song of this century "that sings like American eulogy". As a result of our nation's destructive and self-destructive behavior, we now live in an age of mass hysteria in which Homeland Security's threat levels panic us to the point where we can't even remember what it was like to not be afraid ("red alert is the color of panic/elevated to the point of static"). The religious fanatics described in "East Jesus Nowhere" seize on this and use it to justify the slaughter of hundreds of thousands: "beating into the hearts of the fanatics/and the neighborhood's a loaded gun" and diverting attention from those truly in need ("the punch line is a natural disaster...the martyr [G.W. Bush?] is a compulsive liar/when he said 'it's just a bunch of [outcasts] throwing gas into the hysteria'"). The American Dream now extinct, the only solution suggested is to run away from this altogether, to "take a ride to the great divide...where the value of your mind is not held in contempt" -- "I don't want to live in the modern world."

"See The Light" - The album closes where the two contrasting perspectives of our society, Gloria the ideal and Christian the destroyer, join together and recognize what they have done. They have caused and tolerated tremendous loss of life, and in the process diverted so much focus and attention from the priorities that could have and should have been: "I scratched the surface/in the mouth of hell/running out of service/in the blood I fell." They "set a fire/just to see the flame" -- they started a war and in the process, destroyed our nation, for no apparent reason other than satisfaction of their own agendas. (Christian is thus revealed as the embodiment of fanatically-inspired religious devastation, perhaps a direct reference to the evangelicals from various faiths who dominated domestic and foreign policy thinking during the Bush years.) They have realized what they've done and have "crossed the desert/reaching higher ground", then worked hard to effect a change in the last election "pound[ing] the pavement/to take the liars down". The American Dream as we knew it in the last century "is gone forever" but it's "not too late" to recapture at least some aspect of it; however, there is only so much that they/we can do, for "the ever after/is in the hands of fate". The key, according to Green Day, is to "Know Your Enemy" and figure out for yourself what battles are truly worth fighting.

My conclusion: 21st Century Breakdown is a capsule summary of the death of the 20th Century concept of the American Dream, its causes, and its effects on our nation and the rest of the world. Whether we can ever recapture that dream depends now on the constructive changes we can make and whatever help fate can offer.

[Foxboron]

wer aatm having.. 2(+) major theories, Kate Austen and Rezurgam.

now.. lets make a poll and see who belives is most correct?

[Ila Reto]

^ y'see nobody here is the "most correct"

i believe in both interpretations that Kate Austen and mjfisher209 (as well as everyone else who has posted their opinions) have brought to the thread.

this Album has so many complex layers, im almost in tears knowing that i would have never seen them if it weren't for the dedicated fans of this forum.

and that's the most amazing part, everyone can take the album in their own way!

[petrina_678]

Ok i think this would be fun to do ,so im going to do it song by song interpreting the whole thing, and I’ll TRY to keep it simple and concise. (or not)

Basically Christian is FIRE personified and Gloria is THE LIGHT. Both are total opposites fighting for the same cause. Gloria has a constant struggle in staying true to herself and remaining the LIGHT or giving in to temptation and just becoming filled with rage and burning everything down.

:

Song of the century

Intro to the setting

Basically painting an image of destruction and chaos, but yet being optimistic for the future.

Told from the point of view of a child ( the class of 13) asking for a bed time story

ACT ONE

21st century Breakdown

This ones a bit complicated. There seems to be 2 characters here.

One is the older generation :

"born into nixon "

" bastards of 1969"

The other is the younger generation ,Perhaps its Christian:

"We are the class of 13"

"The long lost son"

From what i can tell its a kind of passing the torch song from the old generation to the new, from the bastards of 1969 to the class of 13' .

The old generation sings of its failed era and how it's failed to change things and kinds of beckons the new generation to do what it could not do and to take over in ensuring the future .

"I've thrown the bouquet" - passing it on to the class of 13

"left over the grave" - it symbolizes the ruin and chaos of the era of the old generation

"I sat in the waiting room

wasting my time

and waiting for

judgement day"

Its pretty loaded. first impression is of how the “bastards of 1969” didnt change things and were apathetic. Second interpretation is the waiting room , which could be in the hospital waiting for the new generation to be born to takeover.

Overall the song criticizes the lack of change in the past and that now the future generation can and should do something about it , despite the dire situation.

Know Your Enemy

Pretty straight forward rallying cry for a revolution ! It begs you to question authority and to rise up against the enemy.

iViva la Gloria!

Here we are first introduced to Gloria , the leading lady. she is portrayed as the last hope ,the only savior . She’s supposed to be the torch bearer , the one thats holding on to the edge in these troubled times. She’s the LIGHT for all that is possible.

Mentioned in here is also the relationship she has with Christian. Both of them are fighting for the same cause, no doubt in different ways, but that passion unites them in an “undying love”.

Before the Lobotomy

A song of nostalgia , a coming of age song.

Christian’s gained a new level of awareness and now reflects back on more innocent days. The “Lobotomy” symbolizes his new found perspective, and now he realizes he was blinded by lies . Gone is his idealistic perspective he once possessed.

Christian’s Inferno

Christian’s come to an understanding of the truth and now he’s an angry young man. He’s burning up , he is the hell-raiser , the rebellious revolutionary . He is FIRE personified.

Last night on earth

Im assuming this is Christian’s love song for Gloria. (yes i know this is BJA song for Adrianne but take this in context of the album).

The symbol of fire is mentioned once again, he is the fire, and i makes me wonder, does he know that he may burn himself up ? Can he make it though the fire which is himself?

ACT TWO

East Jesus Nowhere

Basically a commentary on the hypocrisy of religion.

Fire now represents “blasphemy and genocide”

Peacemaker

Christian wants to do something about things, he’s tired of the situation. He wants revenge , he’s just sick of everything really. He is full of rage and is sick of Gloria, perhaps he feels she isnt as actively angry as he is with everything.

“ Death to the lover that you were dreaming of”

Sounds like they had a fight, or maybe he cheated on her.

“death to the girl at the end of the serenade”

Their blissful relationship is on its edge. He sounds pissed with her , its the end of their sweet serenade.

Last of the American Girls

A song about Gloria and others like her. The ones that never give up the fight and never give in .

Murder City

Sang by Gloria, she feels desperate, everything is falling apart and nothing makes sense. She and Christian have been fighting it out, or so it seems.For the first time she wants to BURN a cigarette , sounds trivial , but not so when you realize that Christian is fire personified. Could she possibly be abandoning all that she stands for and is becoming more like Christian ?

She is getting tired of fighting, sometimes it just feels like its too much to handle, yet at the same time she knows its not all helpless.

Viva la Gloria (little girl)

Gloria is lost like a little girl , she has lost her sense of purpose and her fighting spirit. In a moment of emotion and desperation she runs away from home in a mess, only to find herself more confused than ever.

There is no place to hide, she feels that she is no longer who she once was, that she’s strayed away from the truth and feels like a fraud.

It looks like she’s feeling guilty about something, perhaps she compromised her morals in someway. (maybe she even cheated on Christian?)

Restless heart Syndrome

Christian is alone, his Gloria is long gone. He is in so much pain, he does not know what to do with himself. He misses her, and cant cure his broken heart . He is so full of anger at himself for what he has done, he does drugs and tries to block out out of his mind to forget, but he cant escape it, he’s been fighting the enemy but now he IS HIS own worst enemy.

Act 3

horse shoes and hand grenades

Gloria’s guilt and sorrow have turned into pure passionate rage .

She’s got a brand new attitude and is not afraid to flaunt it. She just wants the world to take her seriously and to just not give a damn about anything.

She’s tried too hard to keep it together and to keep the fight going strong, but she just does not give a damn anymore. She does whatever the hell she wants now, finally turning her back on her lost innocence . Maybe it means she has given up the fight, or perhaps it just means she cant remain that vision of purity anymore.

She wants to BURN it all down, she’s lost her shining light.

THE SONG makes it clear that its GLORIA singing, " G-L-O-R-I-A" just like blasting graffiti on the wall (like in viva la gloria)

The static age

A song for the corruption that is the mass media.

21 Guns

A call for peace, for wars to end and for the fight to end. Could this also refer to the same fight that Christian and Gloria have been fighting? Is their fight worth fighting for either? Is the fight for their love something that needs to live and let die too?

“ did you try to live on your own

When you burned down your

house and your home”

This speaks for both Christian and Gloria, They both became overcome with rage and burnt everything own their own.

“Did you stand too close

to the fire?”

However in the process they both got burnt and hurt themselves.

American Eulogy

Intro :

The song of the century , so far it reads like the death of America.

But perhaps there still is hope?

See the LIGHT

Gloria once was the LIGHT, she was the hope, but that has long been extinguished

and replaced with the burning raging fire within her. She wants it back, she longs for the light, now that everything is burning down , she just wants to see the light.

SHe tried to put out the fire , but she needs to know what the fight is for, she’s lost that faith she once had and to regain it she just has to “see the light , i need to know what’s worth the fight”

[Ila Reto]

i remember billie saying in an interview that this whole album is centered around Gloria, as in, she's the main character.

and thats always a bit strange, seeing that, at first glance, this album follows Christian and Gloria is a lesser character

(the way American Idiot was set up with the story about Jimmy and whatshername was just someone he met along the way).

But after billie said that, now i've started seeing the album in a new way- i guess from a different perspective of the same interpretations.

Overall, i see Christian as the coward- he's violent, reckless, puts up this tough front and then goes "my life sucks, this world sucks" but doesnt do anything about it.

and then we have Gloria, and sure, she's got some issues of her own, but she wants to do something about it, she wants to make a difference.

but Christian gets pissed off at her because, while she abused drugs herself, she's trying to preach that it's not the right thing to do.

He calls her a hipocrite, saying that she wants to do all this stuff but it's worthless. he likes to wollow in his own rage and expects her to do the same.

this is causing her to lose faith in what she's fighting for, and he doesnt even care, she got close to him, and now she's hurt more than she was before they met.

He continues to "drink fight and fuck" and be a destructive jerk while he leaves Gloria carrying the weight of the world (not to mention their relationship).

[thisisAB]

Wow all of you had put so much thought into this! I see a few songs differently, but now I'm also getting a lot of the plot more. Thanks to everyone who wrote stuff

[otherplans]

I don't really feel like tree is much of a plot to the album. Yes there are characters and they do interact, but there's no discernable overarching plot structure. I think the album is written as more of a snapshot of our times from the perspectives of Christian and Gloria.

In a lot of interviews though, Billie has mentioned that Christian and Gloria are based on facets of his own personality, two halves of the same whole. All of the titles of the acts are like that too--heroes and cons, charlatans and saints, horshoes and handgrenades. They all kind of are or represent two opposite forces that exist in the same place, literally or figuratively. In his sense, the album really gets into how the irreconcilable forces in our world don't stop ramming heads and in the end just leave everybody fucked up.

[girlaxia]

what a great thread!

definitely helps to sort some of the lyrics out.

[Juliette]

I love some of these ideas, though I don't like the thought of Christian & Gloria being drug addicts, makes it seem too much like JOS/St Jimmy & Whatsername :/

And just to add a little bit, I think the change from iViva La Gloria! to Viva La Gloria? shows how Christian's attitude changes throughout and he starts to see her flaws and question her. And calling her "Little Girl" is like showing her immaturity for being so hypocritical earlier on.

[Solo IO]

This topic is great!

But I still don't understand a line of the very beginning of 21stCB (I searched in the forum, but honestly I haven't found nothing)

Please help me!! Maybe I'm asking something that is obvious for you...

"A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled"

1- What is a welfare child? Is he a child whose family is poor so his parents receive money from the government?

2- Where do the teamsters dwell? It means that the child lives in a poor town where the guys who drive trucks stay for one night just to rest and then they leave? Or is it a town where the families of these teamsters live?

[Celes Chere]

OK

I have not heard any of the songs on this album so recomend me one so I can listen to it, the best track in it inyour opinion.

[rinu]

i remember billie saying in an interview that this whole album is centered around Gloria, as in, she's the main character.

and thats always a bit strange, seeing that, at first glance, this album follows Christian and Gloria is a lesser character

(the way American Idiot was set up with the story about Jimmy and whatshername was just someone he met along the way).

But after billie said that, now i've started seeing the album in a new way- i guess from a different perspective of the same interpretations.

Overall, i see Christian as the coward- he's violent, reckless, puts up this tough front and then goes "my life sucks, this world sucks" but doesnt do anything about it.

and then we have Gloria, and sure, she's got some issues of her own, but she wants to do something about it, she wants to make a difference.

but Christian gets pissed off at her because, while she abused drugs herself, she's trying to preach that it's not the right thing to do.

He calls her a hipocrite, saying that she wants to do all this stuff but it's worthless. he likes to wollow in his own rage and expects her to do the same.

this is causing her to lose faith in what she's fighting for, and he doesnt even care, she got close to him, and now she's hurt more than she was before they met.

He continues to "drink fight and fuck" and be a destructive jerk while he leaves Gloria carrying the weight of the world (not to mention their relationship).

Definitely what I think.

[thisisAB]

This topic is great!

But I still don't understand a line of the very beginning of 21stCB (I searched in the forum, but honestly I haven't found nothing)

Please help me!! Maybe I'm asking something that is obvious for you...

"A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled"

1- What is a welfare child? Is he a child whose family is poor so his parents receive money from the government?

2- Where do the teamsters dwell? It means that the child lives in a poor town where the guys who drive trucks stay for one night just to rest and then they leave? Or is it a town where the families of these teamsters live?

hey welcome to the forum. I'm not sure about the second question, but yeah that's what a welfare child is. Billie was raised in a pretty poor family, cause after his dad died, his mom had to suport him and five other kids.

[Solo IO]

Thanks for responding thisisAB!

...I've something more to ask:

after addressing his own generation, in 5th verse BJ addresses the next:

We are the class of 13

born in the era of humility

we are the desperate in the decline

raised by the bastards of 1969!!!

1- The song is slightly different from the booklet; what does BJ sing: "We are the cries of the class of 13"?

The class of 13 are the ones who will graduate from high school in 2013, like BJ's oldest son. But what are the cries (if this is the word) of the class of 13?

2- And most important: they were born in 1995... was this a era of humility? In which sense?

[.Militza.]

Oh, great thread!

I think that the storyline is something that this girl Katy(?) said.

I think like that too.

And now, I've been thinking about all this lyrics, and I was wondering

In 21guns, in this line

Did you try to live on your own

When you burned down the house and home?

Did you stand too close to the fire?

Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone

This line is like their dialog, because there is mixed feeling, and and like they're still accusing each other, but in the end make up.

The first two couplet are about Christian, because he's very common represented like "fire". The Gloria asks him this, because he burned all down ( Murder City )

And the other two, it's for Gloria. The "liar" represents her, like a line form "¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)" when I think Christian says to her " Little girl, little girl, you dirty liar, you're just a junkie preaching to the choir".

This line is a question from Christian to her. She was close to him, she should know what he's gonna do, but she did nothing ( burn everything down, everything he did in Murder City )

And she's looking for forgiveness from him ( he's the stone in this line )

I that song, I think she's coming back, to ask him to forgive her for her lies. ( being a junky, Christian's offended by her lies, because he was looking up to her, she was the one for him, but she lied, she wasn't the one he was thinking she is. )

And at the and of the song this line

When it's time to live and let die

And you can't get another try

Something inside this heart has died

You're in ruins.

This line is for both of them. They're sick of arguing, they know what they did, but there is no way they can turn back time and repair that. ( "And you can't get another try" )

They're both in ruins, can't take all this pressure on them, and make up. They're stronger together.

This is what I think, there is so much opinions on this particular song, because it's co complicated.

[Foxboron]

why do every "gloria" song have a submisson where it stands "its a song about billies wife".....

[Ila Reto]

^ yea i didnt get that either, didn't he even say in an interview that Gloria is not a representation of his wife, only Last Night on Earth was for her?

i personally thought that they should have just used a couple interpretations from this thread, because they're the most accurate imo.

think about 21Guns the same way you do....it's more of a relationship song to me, like "throw down your arms" meaning just stop fighting and we'll get through it. Along with your other interpretations of course. it's how im feeling with my own s.o. right now.

but we all know how this is going to be taken by the general public once the single comes out...just like wmuwse, of course.

all i have to say is, if this new video they're shooting as anything to do with soldiers, i'll blow the director's brains out.

[Juliette]

1- The song is slightly different from the booklet; what does BJ sing: "We are the cries of the class of 13"?

Is he not just singing, "We are the class of, the class of 13" ? Like, just repeating that bit so it sounds better ?

^ yea i didnt get that either, didn't he even say in an interview that Gloria is not a representation of his wife, only Last Night on Earth was for her?

Yeah he mentioned in one interview that all the songs are really about him, and things he went through / emotions he felt but they gave them characters names to make it more interesting and give it a proper story. He said they could just as easily have called it "Viva la Billie Joe" therefor, not about Adrienne.