21 Guns

[Angela.]

I haven't heard the song even ONCE on the radio here! Also, I have yet to see the video on TV. What the hell?

I haven't heard it on the radio, either. I've seen it a couple of times on TV. But our radio stations suck. What do you expect? It's always 'Lady GaGa' , and '* insert some other popular, overplayed band that I can't think of at the moment because I can't even listen to the radio anymore without wanting to gag'. :/

Anyways, I think this song is pretty. It got me teary eyed hearing it live and in person.

[Manji]

Love the song to pieces but did anyone notice that the verses sound almost just like Holiday, just slowed down. When the first verse starts, just sing along but with the first verse of Holiday. It actually sounds really cool

[-Billiejoezee-]

I cried the first time i heared it.

[HoneyDo666]

This song is so powerful! Billie sings with so much feeling and his voice sounds loverly!

I love the video too, I hope it wins at the VMAs!

[Maddy.]

his voice sounds gorgeous

my parents like this song

[Mar]

The first time I heard this song is when they performed it on SNL, and I wasn't paying absolutely close attention to the show, but then when Billie sang the first note, I don't know why, but I became completely enamored with the song, and their performance. It's a great attention getter song.

I actually vastly prefer the verses to the chorus, but the bridge is fantastic. Not my absolute favorite on the album, but a great song nonetheless, and a great single.

[ohpiggly]

hey you guys!

i really love this song. its so profoundly written. every line, every word means something which is what i love about green day now. -although old school green day's shit was fcking fun.

in dedication to it and green day themselves, i made a video for pepsi-rock band's "best rock band video" contest. unfortunately it didn't get nominated. WATEVER. -this was my entry. i didnt want it to go to waste so enjoy!

http://bit.ly/3dEsV

[Astrid.]

Austrian radio stations have cut out the complete solo. All you hear are the verses and choruses. And not even full. The ending is messed up but still I like it to hear it on the radio all of a sudden

[JohnnyNapalm]

fark i hate it when radio stations do that. they do it to boulevard of broken dreams too

[Gigawiz]

First thing thast comes to mind...Falsetto, Falsetto, Falsetto...

That part when he moans guns is just

The lyrics have a very powerfull content.

But I think it's the way this song is made to sound like a karate style that really does the trick.

I'll explain cuz everyone must be:

"Wtf karate are you that much of a derranged china man with a soc up your ass shunted up

there so deep and so tight you see Eva Longoria in every womans face.. ..........but only if it's not raining."

In Okinawa (the southern most island of japan) there is a style of karate regarded for it's beauty, called Goujou Ryu.

Ryu stands for style or technique, or some word like that.

And the term Goujou means Soft and hard.

Many people think the beauty in this form of karate comes from the way they fight. Extremely agressive atacks with very

soft movements.

So how does this nerdy talk translate into beauty??

Listen to a lot of NIrvana and you ll se what I mean... Many of their songs are slow and moody and suddenly explode and it's

that particular moment that results in musical extasy!

And now for the example every one digs...

One of my favorite songs from GD is Brain Stew . It's a pretty straight forward easy song .

But that part when they explode is awsome.

I'd say they done that again in this song only with a different mood and a different type of explosion...

If you managed to read all the way through Congratufuckinglations You coulda fooled me...Cuz I thought I 'd bore any one that attempted to read it.. If you read it PM me to tell it, belive me I'll laugh...xD

Cya around

[Guest]

I loved the video (sad when the fish dies though!!!) I love Billie's lipcurl at the start makes me giggle.....

[1000SlappyHours]

Personally i think this is one of their worst singles ever. I can just never get into it. For me, just too long and not very interesting, which is weird cos i like most green day songs.

[Sister of Grace]

I really love 21 Guns, but I'm a little afraid that I might get tired of it, because it's played on the radio so often these days.

This.

[Eirik]

I loved the video (sad when the fish dies though!!!) I love Billie's lipcurl at the start makes me giggle.....

The fish makes it, just like in Waiting.

[Guest jetblackheart]

I have to admit that I didn't really get this song until now that my life has been slowly falling apart in the past few weeks. My mom got seriously ill, my sister's moving to another country, my ex keeps calling me and telling me that he wants to kill himself (I have to talk him out of it every time), and I still don't have a job or a plan for the future (probably because I'm not college educated and I have ADD). I live alone and most of my friends are married and have kids already, so I don't have many people I could talk to. There is absolutely nothing I can do to make any of those things better (at least not at the moment), and the worst part of it is that I'm starting to get more depressed and hurt myself again, because I'm so stressed out about everything.

Anyway my point was, the song's definitely not about giving up, it's about trying to live with all the things that make you want to give up. Sometimes you just need to stop worrying about things that you can't change, and take life as it's handed to you. That's a lesson I need to learn or I'm gonna drive myself crazy. Thank god (or GD) for music, I'd probably be dead if I didn't have these songs.

[Bastard of 1967]

So, this is what I think this song represents.It's more like a love song then war-theme song.

Finally had a chance to read your interpretation -- I love it. Now that the song (and the album) has been out cooking for awhile, this was really great to come back to. Your analysis makes a lot of sense, and I *love* how it brings out how much this song is having a conversation with itself -- the two characters communicating with each other, recognizing their own and each others' mistakes, agreeing to put the past in the past, and to move on. This also points out that this is a very different style of writing for Billie Joe -- occasionally, we find his songs talking to each other, but this is the first one I can think of where the same song is having this incredible internal dialogue with *itself*. WOW.

Also, compare the studio recording to the live performances, both recorded-live performances and at the concerts. Didja notice how much more prevalent Tre's high-hats are during the choruses when it's performed live? The first time I really noticed this was in the "making of" video clip -- you can hear it very well there. You've got Jason's keyboards and Mike's bass carrying the bottom level of the rhythm and melody, Billie's amazing vocals layered on top of that, and then as if it were the cherry on top of the whipped cream you've got Tre with this gently pounding, rhythmic, repetitive "tsssh tsssh tsssh tsssh - tsssh tsssh tsssh tsssh - tsssh tsssh tsssh tsssh - tsssh tsssh tsssh tsssh" capping it all off. I can't describe it any better than that it just brings out something "extra" in the music that you don't hear in the studio version.

If you can't tell, this song has grown on me a LOT since 21CB was first released.

I have a feeling this song is going to get as overrated as BOBD.

That said, it is a good song; I just think RHS is better as far as the slower songs go.

Based on radio saturation (or the lack thereof) in the US, it hasn't done as well here as a single as BOBD did...but I can't say I'm disappointed. It hasn't been played to death and so hasn't been killed. BOBD is a great song too, but when they put that on the radio here now I go "UGGGH" sometimes and change the station. Not so with 21 Guns.

give up fighting this ridiculous losing battle

Bingo. It asks "how much more valuable time and energy do you really want to waste trying to stick to this go-nowhere, shit road you're stuck on right now?" It's as if BOBD were describing that road, and now 21 Guns (and perhaps even Know Your Enemy?) comes along and says "find out what's really important to you and go do that instead". And on that point, this may talk back to to Gloria in "Last of the American Girls", as a rebuke: "She's an endless war/she's a hero for the lost cause".

Man, I love this stuff.

I think it's just to fit the melody better.. It probably doesn't have any literal significance

Billie tends to choose his words very carefully and deliberately, so at least for me, I won't dismiss his using "one" here as a filler word. Here's how I interpret it: The "21-Gun" salute is what you give a dead soldier when you bury him/her. At this point in the album, Christian and Gloria are both spent, physically and emotionally. They're shells of what they used to be, or thought they used to be. They're the walking wounded or worse. So: "One [wounded soldier Gloria comes home from the battle], [give her] 21 Guns, throw down your arms [surrender], give up the fight. One [wounded soldier Christian comes home from the battle], [give him] 21 Guns, throw up your arms, into the sky [surrender], you and I [and move on together]".

[justcause]

Billie tends to choose his words very carefully and deliberately, so at least for me, I won't dismiss his using "one" here as a filler word. Here's how I interpret it: The "21-Gun" salute is what you give a dead soldier when you bury him/her. At this point in the album, Christian and Gloria are both spent, physically and emotionally. They're shells of what they used to be, or thought they used to be. They're the walking wounded or worse. So: "One [wounded soldier Gloria comes home from the battle], [give her] 21 Guns, throw down your arms [surrender], give up the fight. One [wounded soldier Christian comes home from the battle], [give him] 21 Guns, throw up your arms, into the sky [surrender], you and I [and move on together]".

Or - it's part of the pacing of the song, the countdown between the verse and chorus. If you listen to the Abbey Road version, you can hear it clearly at -

'you're in ruins - 2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, 1 - 21 guns'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhSqklFcaM

[Bastard of 1967]

Or - it's part of the pacing of the song, the countdown between the verse and chorus. If you listen to the Abbey Road version, you can hear it clearly at -

'you're in ruins - 2,3,4, 1,2,3,4, 1 - 21 guns'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbhSqklFcaM

Heh! Trying to help themselves count to four and repeat, are they? :whistling:

[.Militza.]

The line " When it's time to live and let die...And you can't get another try..."

always bring tears to my eyes.

[persons]

i used to not really care for this song, i didn't hate it, but i liked other songs better, but now i really love this song, it's probably one of my favs off 21CB.

[.Militza.]

Wow, thanks! That's really nice of you to say.

[newsflash777]

The first time I heard this song, it made me cry. It's very powerful. But I don't understand why

It made me cry too.

Especially the four notes in the beginning,

and when it's really chaotic and then it just stops and plays those notes and billie goes into singing "When it's time to live and let die, "

There's something about it,

I can't hear it without my eyes watering.

[heartscollide]

The boys in my geo class ALWAYS sing this high-pitched.

It a good song.

I did this drawing in english... it's supposed to be christian and gloria...

[-Billiejoezee-]

this song is full of epic win.

[Metanoia]

gosh that song is sooooooooooo beautiful <3

and i absolutly loooove the video !!!!!!