Another "Punk Rock Opera"

[troPunK]

Guys,

Just as American Idiot, 21CB too is a Punk Rock Opera.....but did anyone understood what story is said in it?

I mean, the base of the story is clear....a couple - Christian and Gloria is described along with the 'Riots' in the "Murder City" but can anyone give a Song-wise description of the story? like how does each song relates to the story? especially, most of the Charlatans and Saints seems something off-topic (or i didn't understood :/ )

Well we can discuss it here!

[Foxboron]

dont think we have a topic like this...

where we actually discuss what the story tell in detail like in American Idiot...

[SetOnOverdrive]

I think nearer the end of the album is about Christians rage because Gloria is leaving him or cheated or w/e. Thats what I get. I say cheated on him but thats just something to do with my personal life!

[rage-love-life]

I don't see any story. Even though I know it's a rock opera, I just don't see or hear it at all.

[Boston]

This thread can be used to answer that question.

[Ila Reto]

ah, we have this in a topic titled "The breakdown of the Breakdown" or something like that. i'd tell the whole story here if i wasnt posting from my phone.

[Katarina.]

I still don't really see any story. Apparantly it's a rock opera, but I don't see/hear a story like the one on American Idiot.

[amy_runs]

It's not a full on story. It's just displaying two people, one hopeful and one destructive, and how they.... cope with it?

[Sharmellow]

This thread can be used to answer that question.

Beat me to it.

[Waffles]

I don't pay atention to that.

[petrina_678]

just wrote this maybe it can help

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.

It clear that is gloria singing because ' G-L-O-R-I-A" (its like blasting her name with 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”

[badwolf]

Interesting ^

[.Brian]

Interesting ^

indeed.

[Green Day 13]

if there's a story i have totally missed it ive listened to the album a couple of times but i haven't senced any story in it.