Song of the Week Westbound Sign

[J'net]

Long, long time – no Insomniac! Let's fix that right now! This week's Song of the Week is Westbound Sign. Please use this thread to discuss your thoughts and feelings about the song.

Westbound Sign was released on the album Insomniac on October 10, 1995. Insomniac reached a peak chart position of number 2, going platinum twice. The fascinating artwork for this album was created by Winston Smith and is entitled "God Told Me to Skin You Alive."

I love the wistful feeling of this song. Of course, we know it's about Adie and her decision to move west to California to be with Billie. But I think it's one of those universal songs that almost anyone can relate to. That feeling of wanting to be out of the place you're in – needing your independence – unsure whether the decision you're making is rational or whether you're just making it from a need to get away. There are so many more thoughts provoked by this song and so many lyrics I just love, that I could write several paragraphs about it. So, I think it's best if I leave it up to the rest of you to discuss.

I do have a question for you this time, though: How well do you think this song fits with the others on Insomniac, and why?

Sorry, I was unable to find a live performance of this song, so here's a youtube audio for your listening pleasure:

Westbound Sign Lyrics

Boxed up

All of her favorite things.

Sold the rest at a rainy yard sale.

Big plans and leaving friends and

A westbound sign.

Weighed out

Her choices on a scale.

Prevailing nothing made sense.

Just transportation and a

Blank decision... she's taking off.

No time and no copping out -

She's burning daylight and petrol.

Blacked out the rearview mirror,

Heading westward on.

Strung out

On confusion road

And ten minute nervous breakdowns.

Xanax - a beer for thought,

And she determined... She's taking off.

Is it salvation?

Or an escape from discontent?

Will she find her name

In the California cement?

Punched out of the grind

That punched her one too many times.

Is tragedy 2000 miles away?

She's taking off …

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You can nominate songs for discussion as Song of the Week in the Song Discussions thread, which contains links to each previous Song of the Week from 9/14/2009 forward in its original post.

[Alan86]

Fantastic song, Its a shame there is no live version of it, Such a great song though

[Isabel]

I've been getting into this song a lot lately. Especially because it's about making a tough decison and being torn between things. I really love the line "Xanex a beer for thought and she's determined."

Everytime I listen to the songs on Dookie and Insomniac I always wonder how the hell he was capable of writing such well portrayed, thought provoking lyrics. Amazing

Except I find it really hard to sing the line "Blacked out the rear view mirror heading westward on." I can't seem to say "mirror" "heading" and "westward" correctly in the same sentence. It sounds like "Blanked out the rear view murrr hurding wustwurd on." [/random]

[DeJennsitized]

I'm in love with this song. I just think the lyrics are amazing.

And to answer your question, I do think it fits in the album, but it may be because I couldn't see the album without this song!

Definately one of my favourite songs off Insomniac along with Armatage Shanks and Panic Song.

[Isabel]

Oh, and in answer to J'net's question, I think Westbound Sign definitely fits in with the other songs on Insomniac. There's no way a song like this would have been better on 1,039/SOSH because it's much too developed for that era. The idea of questioning everything, mulling over things for eternities and the metaphorical language are reoccuring themes on Insomniac and this song is a good representation of that I think

[aahhhh]

this is an awesome song. i remember being 10 years old and asking my dad what xanax was. the way its used in the song made me think it was a verb

[justcause]

I love Insomniac with a passion. I love every inch of it, the intensity of the lyrics - the sound, oh fuck, the sound - my favorite sound of any Green Day record, hard-driving, barbed-wiring sound. I love the nightmare artwork, I love the serial-killer splatter of the lyrics, the fonts -everything. Insomniac, to me, is the record where Green Day are totally fused, one voice, one place. Probably for that reason, this song used to irritate me - yeah, I would go, 'it doesn't fit'. I'm hearing Babs' Uvula and Stuck With Me and Armatage Shanks and I'm totally involved, and then from somewhere else, there's this girl and her yard-sale - it doesn't seem to cut it with all of the catastrophe elsewhere. Like, the guitars are saying baleful things, 'burning daylight' is bleeding thru from Tightwad Hill, and the subject of the song is at odds with all of that. Now, it sits ok with me - it's all part of the picture.

[Supermodel*Robot]

Punched out of the grind

That punched her one too many times.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this line.

I like this song because I think it defines Billie and Adie's relationship. It's exciting to think that a couple is willing to go through all they did to be together.

The question: I think it fits in, but it definitely has a bit of a different feel to it. More anxious than angsty, unlike most of Insomniac.

[monkeyman]

Love this song

I think it fits really well in with insomniac (which was the album i got itno next after first getting into green day with AI )

This would be a seriously cool song to see live (shame they havent played it since 1994 :/ )

[AfterShock]

Love this song.

And to answer the question, I think it fits in, but IMO it has more of a Dookie sound. Just my opinion though.

[farley drexel hatcher]

Absolutely adore this song. I think what appeals to me about it is that is sticks out from Insomniac and still fits. One of my favourite lyrics ever will always be, "Will she find her name in the California cement?" but the whole song is filled with lovely little bits like that.

[diana5b]

one of my fav gd songs ever. such a cool melody, and awesome lyrics.

How well do you think this song fits with the others on Insomniac, and why?

of course it fits. it's about having doubts, about feeling insecure, not only because of you moving out, but your decisions in general, and your life. what do you do when things don't result the way you thought? do you run away? how do you scape? the whole cd makes me think those kinda things

[Mar]

I always assumed this was about the same girlfriend in Good Riddance (and the lyrics kind of remind me of Scattered too), but I guess it does make sense that it's about Adie, with the 2000 miles reference.

That's why I love these threads, they teach me stuff!

[gdpony]

I do have a question for you this time, though: How well do you think this song fits with the others on Insomniac, and why?

I think it does fit Insomniac! .. its not as angry as the other songs, but it is about having enough, not taking it anymore, just leave with nowhere to go, but get away from everything that's been bothering you, how many times have you wished to be able to do that? ... I just love it!

[Bastard of 1967]

I love Insomniac with a passion. I love every inch of it, the intensity of the lyrics - the sound, oh fuck, the sound - my favorite sound of any Green Day record, hard-driving, barbed-wiring sound. I love the nightmare artwork, I love the serial-killer splatter of the lyrics, the fonts -everything. Insomniac, to me, is the record where Green Day are totally fused, one voice, one place. Probably for that reason, this song used to irritate me - yeah, I would go, 'it doesn't fit'. I'm hearing Babs' Uvula and Stuck With Me and Armatage Shanks and I'm totally involved, and then from somewhere else, there's this girl and her yard-sale - it doesn't seem to cut it with all of the catastrophy elsewhere. Like, the guitars are saying baleful things, 'burning daylight' is bleeding thru from Cheapskate Hill, and the subject of the song is at odds with all of that. Now, it sits ok with me - it's all part of the picture.

I'm right with you (for a change! ). The lyrics are unfiltered, honest, not trying to suppress or hide anything...and Mike's bass lines..... ...he and Tre are just all over this album in a way that we've only rarely heard from them since (and where that Insomniac flashback has happened, it's happened mostly on American Idiot).

The thing that always just nails me about Westbound Sign is that buried in that intense bass, furious kick-drum beat, and the lyrics about the girl selling her junk at a yard sale, is a song that puts you smack-dab in Adie's shoes as she's contemplating her decision to run off with -- and you can hear her parents' anguish screaming at you from out between the lines -- "that dope-smoking high-school dropout who's in this punk band." The "clincher" lyric is this one: "Is tragedy 2000 miles away?" That's such a blatant callback to 2000 Light Years Away, which is the song that Billie wrote shortly after either he first met Adie or they shared their first kiss. It's as if he's incorporating those feelings by reference in this song now, calling attention to the fact that "this is the girl I love and, holy shit, she's actually going to leave her life behind and follow me out here. Do I love her? Is she crazy? Is it a little of both? And what comes next?"

In this, you actually can *feel* the pain and the isolation that Adie must have been feeling during that totally upending time in her life -- and you also see reflected in that Billie's own grateful acknowledgement of what she risked for him, and the personal hell she endured in order to get there. So in Westbound Sign, Billie takes the role of the passionate bystander, the biased ,"fly on the wall" observer of all Adie has gone through to be with him, and he uses the song to describe for us one of the reasons he's in love with her. It's intense, it's deep, it's so, so personal, and Green Day has set it in a totally punked-out rocker of a melody that also fits stylistically with all the other intense, deep, personal songs that appear on Insomniac....so my conclusion: yes, it fits, and it fits WELL.

My other "conclusion" as I re-read this: have I really managed to interpret Westbound Sign into a love song? WTF!!?? Does anyone else see this theme in there or is it just me?

[Trina]

:wub:

Okay, this may just be my all time favorite song.

I adore it, like I can't even explain.

It's my dream for them to play this live. I doubt they even remember how to play it though, or at least I bet Billie Joe's forgotten the lyrics.

I love how sensitive Billie Joe is with his songwriting and the way he writes songs that seem like they're from a girl's point of view (if that makes sense). I love how he's put himself in Adrienne's shoes.

It's such a hopeful yet anxious song. And he seems proud that she's just doing it and taking off. And it's like, are you leaving for the right reasons? Are you leaving for me or are you just hoping for a better future or do you simply not know, you just know you need to get away.

Trying to make a decision but it's impossible so just moving forward indefinitely

The music is awesome but I guess it's the lyrics that really get me. <3

She's burning daylight and petrol. - This is just such a beautiful lyric.

Will she find her name in the California cement? - One of my favorite lyrics of all time. It's just so guuuuuuuh *melts* I love the way it's soppy and romantic but in this genuine punk rock type way.

Punched out of the grind that punched her one too many times.

Is tragedy 2000 miles away?

She's taking off … <3

I think this song fits musically with the rest of Insomniac but I think there's a bit more hope in these lyrics compared to the rest. Also it's a lot less focused on himself than the rest of the songs. And it's look forward and outward rather than back and inward.

[Mar]

And it's look forward and outward rather than back and inward.

I tend to forget about WS being on this album, and I think this may be why. Not because it's a bad song or anything, it's just that I usually associate Insomniac with dark, depressing, self-loathing songs, and then this nice semi-happy song pops up.

So, maybe to answer the original question, maybe it doesn't "fit" musically or lyrically with the album, yet, I feel like it still fits on there. It's like the "See The Light" of Insomniac.

[Katarina.]

Insomniac! Woohoo Love Westbound Sign, great song. Amazing lyrics!

[bollard_11]

I have not been able to stop listening to this song recently, lyrics are breathtaking

[Anja]

I love this song, one of my favorites from Insomniac. I think it fits very well, I can't really see it on any other album to be honest.

"Will she find her name in the California cement?" Love this line Love the whole text of this song!

[greendaytodeathandback]

I absolutely adore Insomniac and this is one of my top five songs on it. You can just listen to it again and again

and th lyrics are brilliant!! You can really relate to them and its a good song to help you get through things when you dont need peoples opinion. You can just listen to this and make your own decision

[Hermione]

My other "conclusion" as I re-read this: have I really managed to interpret Westbound Sign into a love song? WTF!!?? Does anyone else see this theme in there or is it just me?

I absolutely see it as a love song! She's taking this huge step and going through all the emotional turmoil that goes with it - all to be with him. And he's filled with admiration for her for doing it. It isn't a sickly sweet love song of course, it's a real journey through her insecurity and inner turmoil. For that reason, I think this song does fit on Insomniac. Those crushing feelings of her emotions getting the best of her fit right in with the main themes of the album.

The fact that it's about someone else maybe make it different from the other songs, but it feels like he has such strong empathy and appreciation for what she went through that it's still very personal. Even though they're not about him the lyrics don't feel detached, it feels like he's immersed in those feelings as well.

I love the "2000 miles away" 2000 Light Years Away reference too. He even puts on his younger singing voice to sing it

[in_your_face]

sweet! well, i haven't heard this song for a while.

[klytaemnestra]

"is it salvation? or an escape from discontent?"

i love this song so much. insomniac is tied with 21cb for my favourite green day album. i think westbound sign fits absolutely; insomniac is the album i listen to when i feel angsty or anxious or negative in any way, more or less. this is such an anxious song and it seems to fit. it seems panicked. maybe that's just me, though.

[Metanoia]

well one of my less favorites on insomniac but still a great song of course