Song of the Week Homecoming!

[J'net]

As our boys are back in the USA and will be performing for us for the whole of this upcoming month, I thought we should celebrate with a LOOOONG song. This week's Song of the Week is Homecoming. Please use this thread to discuss your thoughts and feelings about the song.

American Idiot was released September 21, 2004, by Reprise Records. It was Green Day's first album to hit #1 on the charts and has since gone platinum three times. The lyrics were composed by all three members of Green Day, with Mike and Tre each writing one of the "songs within the song."

One thing I love about this song personally is the great variety within it. There are so many songs within the one song, each standing alone, and yet all together, they have a cohesive message. There are moments of heart-stopping beauty, intense rage, and even (for me) just good fun here and there.

Here are two great videos – the first one has one of those wonderful Billie Joe moments that explains why we all adore him so much.

There are so many wonderful videos to choose from, though, so please share your favorites.

Homecoming Lyrics

I. THE DEATH OF ST. JIMMY

My heart is beating from me,

I am standing all alone,

Please call me only if you are coming home,

Waste another year flies by,

Waste a night or two,

You taught me how to live.

In the streets of shame,

Where you've lost your dreams in the rain,

There's no sign of hope,

The stems and seeds of the last of the dope,

There's a glow of light,

The St. Jimmy is the spark in the night,

Bearing gifts and trust,

The fixture in the city of lust

What the hell's your name,

What's your pleasure and what's your pain?

Do you dream too much?

Do you think what you need is a crutch?

In the crowd of pain,

St. Jimmy comes without any shame,

He says "We're fucked up",

But we're not the same,

And mom and dad are the ones you can blame

Jimmy died today

He blew his brains out into the bay,

In the state of mind in my own private suicide

II. EAST 12TH STREET

And nobody cares,

And nobody cares,

Does anyone care if nobody cares?,

And nobody cares,

And nobody cares,

Does anyone care if nobody cares?,

Jesus is filling out paperwork now,

At the facility on east 12th St,

He's not listening to a word now,

He's in his own world,

And he's daydreaming

He'd rather be doing something else now,

Like cigarettes and coffee with the underbelly,

His life's on the line with anxiety now,

And she had enough,

And he's had plenty

Somebody get me out of here,

Anybody get me out of here,

Somebody get me out of here,

Get me the fuck right out of here

So far away,

I don't want to stay,

Get me outta here right now,

I just wanna be free,

Is there a possibility,

Get me out of here right now,

This life like dream ain't for me.

III. BETH

I fell asleep while watching Spike TV,

After 10 cups of coffee,

And you're still not here,

Dreaming of a song,

But something went wrong,

and I can't tell anyone,

'Cause no one's here

Left me here alone,

When I should have stayed home,

After 10 cups of coffee,

I'm thinking,

Where'd you go?

Nobody likes you,

Everyone left you,

They're all out without you,

Havin' fun,

Everyone left you,

Nobody likes you,

They're all out without you,

Havin' fun,

Where'd you go?

IV. ROCK 'N' ROLL GIRLFRIEND

I got a rock and roll band,

I got a rock and roll life,

I got a rock and roll girlfriend,

And another ex-wife

I got a rock and roll house,

I got a rock and roll car,

I play the shit out the drums,

And I can play the guitar

I got a kid in New York,

I got a kid in the Bay,

I haven't drank or smoked nothin',

In over 22 days,

So get off of my case

V. WE'RE COMING HOME AGAIN

Here they come marching down the street,

Like a desperation murmur of a heartbeat,

Coming back from the edge of town,

Underneath their feet

The time has come and it's going nowhere,

Nobody ever said that life was fair now,

Go-carts and guns are treasures they will bear,

In the summer heat

The world is spinning around and around,

Out of control again,

From the 7-11 to the fear of breaking down,

So send my love a letterbomb,

And visit me in hell,

We're the ones going

Home.

We're coming home again

I started fuckin' running,

Just as soon as my feet touch ground,

We're back in the barrio,

But to you and me,

that's jingletown, that's

Home.

We're coming home again,

Nobody likes you,

Everyone left you,

They're all out without you,

Having fun.

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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.

[November's Storms]

It is very similar to the structure of A Quick One, by The Who. But I'm saying that as a good thing!

It is truly one of GD's most underrated songs I think, and I do indeed love it! It tells as much of a story as Jesus of Suburbia with out being as heavy and emotional. That being said however, the lyrics "Jimmy died today, he blew his brains out into the bay. In the state of mind, its my own private suicide" are some of the strongest on the album and get me everytime..

Absolutely fantastic song!

[Maddy.]

Oh my god this song just. Oh my god. The first part just kills me, really. I tear up every time.

Thanks for having this song for SOTW, J'net. I can't handle this akroakrgoakrg

[petros]

Great song!One of their greatest surely...

I simply love the way that billie mike and tre all sing in a song!!

[AfterShock]

I know I've said I disliked this song, but it's grown on me. I'm starting to like it a lot more than I did. Especially part II.

[oneofthemrazorbacks]

I love it! I especially love the 'Rock and roll girlfriend' part. The fact that all three members played a part in the lyrics for the song is also great

[Maddy.]

I love this performance for some reason akroarkgoakrgok

<3

the quality is shit leave me alone

[Smbcf]

I love this one just as much as JOS, even though I think it seems to be overlooked a little sometimes! It's just a great song

Did they play this on the AI tour?

[Jaymee!!]

I've always preferred this to JOS. And it was the song that set American Idiot in motion. Thank you Mike

[Maddy.]

I've always preferred this to JOS.

Me too.

[Ally]

Love the song, if it had been any other week, i would be declaring my undying love for it, but cos thanks to my FB fan page where we were doing "the best green day song ever" contest, i am sick of hearing it mentioned. After 10 round of writing Homecoming vs... i got sick of hearing it, eventually got voted the 4th best green day song

Anyway enough of my FB group...it is an awesome song, i to prefer it to JOS, maybe its cos i've heard JOS so often...

[ifmemoryserves]

Jimmy died today

He blew his brains out into the bay,

In the state of mind in my own private suicide

One of my favorite bit of lyrics on the album.

Overall I think I prefer JOS though.

It flip flops sometimes though. Great song.

[Angela.]

This song is brilliant. Definitely a favorite of mine. Mike's part is awesome.

[Nmd]

I absolutely :wub: this song. To me, it goes hand in hand with JOS.

I like the fact that each member has a singing part. I enjoy Tre's part, but I always felt like it kinda stood apart from the rest of the song.

Also I like how in this song JOS turns back and the story is coming to an end, even though it's sad.

My fav parts are St. Jimmy dying and Mike's "nobody likes you"

[St. Jimmy 7234]

Epic song.

Nuff said.

[Laura!]

Such an amazing song.

I can't decide which one I like better though, I think this and JOS are tied.

[Guest]

I prefer JOS, not by much though. This song does sound a lot like "A Quick One" but that's a good thing I love Mike and Tre's part especially

[armatage]

One of my favorite Green Day songs EVER. It's totally underrated. I'm in love with 1st and 5th parts.

Homecoming and JOS seem so inseparable to me. I dunno where I got this from but to me JOS is best to listen to in the morning or at night and Homecoming when the sun is going down. A weird thing I know, can't help it.

Oh, and I love how JOS kinda opens the whole story and Homecoming closes. The songs are twins!

[AfterShock]

Oh, and since everyones comparing it to JOS, I'd definitely say that I prefer Jesus of Suburbia over Homecoming.

[November's Storms]

No comparing! I mean yeah JoS is a great song, but this thread is about Homecoming! Let it have a turn!

[Tre_Gina]

This song is awesome and one that often gets overlooked - but not on this forum!

[theviridiansea]

When I first heard this song I kept replaying the beginning over and over.

[xjernpqvrnbfv]

This song is epic! I love the lyrics and the song structure and everything else!

Oh and I love they way BJ sings Jimmy died today, he blew his brain out into the bay

[PasalacquaBomb]

I absolutely love this song!!

The transition between Rock N Roll Girlfriend and We're Coming Home Again is just amazing. <3

[Eeefaa.]

I love it more than JOS, always have I mean, all the boys have their own bits added to it, and it's so random and buzzing and full of this raw energy it's just... gahh

Possibly one of the most underrated songs on the album, it's always overlooked for JOS!

I absolutely love this song!!

The transition between Rock N Roll Girlfriend and We're Coming Home Again is just amazing. <3

Yesss !!!

Here they come marching down the street...