Song of the Week Desensitized

[AndrewW91]

This is definetly my favorite song from Shenanigans.

Awesome choice!

[Juliette]

I wanna get ripped off

And drown in the airwaves -

Another fatal wreck

On the information highway.

So go ahead and kill yourselves

It all amuses me.

For I'll be damned to spend my life in hell -

Another wise ingrate.

Love this song, love those lines.

Though I don't like the beginning of the song...

[Astrid.]

Not one of my favorites off that album but surely not the least. I always skip the beginning though. It;s annoying

[farley drexel hatcher]

This song was done for Nimrod, right? I've always felt it was ahead of it's time, almost as if Billie knew how the internet and the media would change the world in the next ten years.

[Isabel]

I LOVE the beginning of the song! One time, my friend and I were playing it in my room and we turned it up so loud. My parents went mental

[Mrs.Kerplunk]

.... i didnt listen to that song for ages :whistling:

though i love the beginning of it.. i think its one of my favorites from Shenanigans.

EDIT: i'm listening to it now

[rinu]

Ahhh,this song is awsome!!Not my fav but I love it.

Btw does anybody know what they crashing in the beginning?

[Katarina.]

AWESOME! I really like Desensitized. Nice to see a song off Shenanigans being this week's song of the week!

[Princess Consuela]

Ooh, some Shenanigans love!

I don't quite know when this song was written, but this lyric:

"So go ahead and kill yourselves

It all amuses me."

I think it perfectly sums up this decade, especially in regards to reality television competitions and celebrity culture. We love to hate this stuff, we bitch about technology on the information highway and the airwaves yet, we are absolutely desensitized by it all. Billie's certainly hinted towards his love/hate relationship with cable news and stuff like that (being a part of the problem and getting sucked into it), and this song certainly exemplifies this. "My head is like a sponge," we're all absorbing this useless shit, and we can't get enough, no matter how bad it is.

I like your interpretation.

I think 'information highway' refers to how we are bombarded with different news all around us. And it's going so fast, every day something new happens. It's kind of an overload so the natural reaction is to get desensitized and to mock at it all rather than care.

Qestion: What does 'ripped off' mean? I found many different meanings but can't really match a suitable one (if there's one at all )

And J'net, since when have you been an admin? Am I that unobservant that I've always thought you were a mod?

[J'net]

I like your interpretation.

I think 'information highway' refers to how we are bombarded with different news all around us. And it's going so fast, every day something new happens. It's kind of an overload so the natural reaction is to get desensitized and to mock at it all rather than care.

Qestion: What does 'ripped off' mean? I found many different meanings but can't really match a suitable one (if there's one at all )

And J'net, since when have you been an admin? Am I that unobservant that I've always thought you were a mod?

Ripped off in this slang sense usually means kind of like cheated. Sometimes, there's also an implication that it was partly your own fault (you should have investigated further).

For example - "Did you pay $50 for those flowers? They're not very fresh. They'll probably all be dead by tomorrow. You were ripped off!"

Or sometimes people will say something like - "He wants $250 for that ticket? That's a rip-off!"

Does that help?

And, BTW, there's nothing wrong with your powers of observation. I was just changed to admin a couple of days ago.

[Princess Consuela]

^I see, thank you

[Mari91]

The beginning of this song used to freak me out but i really love it

even though i think this song was written during the Nimrod era, it definitely foreshadows the powerful lyrics on Warning and i think more 21CBD than American Idiot.

[Nikki_Nimrod]

I love this song. I haven't listened to it in forever though, haha i need to change that!

I think the lyrics are so true, you're bombarded with so much information every day that it loses shock value quickly, and it's crazy to think something like watching a bomb or reports on people being killed hardly startle us any more. It really shows off Billie's brilliance as a songwriter, the imagery & metaphors are so vivid!

I love how although it was written before internet really took off, it still applies more than ever today. Nowadays people have access to everything through computers, and it's scary to think of some of the shit that's out there. It also opens up a whole new world for advertising & shopping, making it easy to get ripped off. & I agree it's a definite foreshadowing of American Idiot & 21CB, it describes such a similar feeling of alienation and of being overwhelmed by technology!

[Samantha]

I

LOVE

THIS

SONG

[Metanoia]

that beginning still scares me

even after the 100000th time I lsitened to it

still a great song

[Guest Hayley]

Good choice.

[Eirik]

This song was done for Nimrod, right? I've always felt it was ahead of it's time, almost as if Billie knew how the internet and the media would change the world in the next ten years.

Definitely this, cause seriously, how big was illegal downloading back in 97?

[PasalacquaBomb]

LOL :lol:

I got Shenanigans yesterday and until now it's my favorite song with "Ha Ha You're Dead"

I love the Chorus...

[Agija]

Desensitized was the first song I heard from Shenanigans. I used to associate the album with that song for a pretty long time, actually.

It's a freaking awesome song, I love the beginning of it. <3

[Mar]

I like your interpretation.

I think 'information highway' refers to how we are bombarded with different news all around us. And it's going so fast, every day something new happens. It's kind of an overload so the natural reaction is to get desensitized and to mock at it all rather than care.

Qestion: What does 'ripped off' mean? I found many different meanings but can't really match a suitable one (if there's one at all )

And J'net, since when have you been an admin? Am I that unobservant that I've always thought you were a mod?

Thanks! And I think you're right, Billie's hinted toward feeling this way, so it makes sense.

Congrats J'net!

[Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love]

Hmm, I've never been too fond of the song. For Green Day-standards, that is. I like it, but usually skip it, I really have to feel like listening it in order to enjoy it. And the intro bothers me. It's cool, but not if you just have your iPod on shuffle or when there's a lot of environmental sound.

I never looked into the lyrics as I'm not able to make out the majority of what Billie sings so I just kind of forgot about it, and the fact that there aren't any lyrics in the booklet doesn't help with it either. I think this was the first time I actually read them, tbh.

And I keep forgetting what 'desensitized' means, I've looked it up a trillion times but keep forgetting it.

It's interesting to read this thread and everyone's takes on the song. I may form an opinion about it later, for some reason when a song is SOTW I start to listen it a lot

[Clayish]

Uh, its an alright song.

[Princess Consuela]

I never looked into the lyrics as I'm not able to make out the majority of what Billie sings so I just kind of forgot about it, and the fact that there aren't any lyrics in the booklet doesn't help with it either. I think this was the first time I actually read them, tbh.

And I keep forgetting what 'desensitized' means, I've looked it up a trillion times but keep forgetting it.

It's interesting to read this thread and everyone's takes on the song. I may form an opinion about it later, for some reason when a song is SOTW I start to listen it a lot

Actually I don't remember the lyrics either. I kind of neglect Shenanigans tbh. But I promise to mend my ways and give it more love

As for the title, I only remember its meaning because 'desensitization' is a term in psychology (and I happen to study it) and Polish word is very similar

[Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love]

As for the title, I only remember its meaning because 'desensitization' is a term in psychology (and I happen to study it) and Polish word is very similar

Haha it took me a while to even pronounce it right (for a while I thought it was 'desentisized'), let alone know what it means!

[PasalacquaBomb]

Yeah same here