decca Posted January 15, 2011 Posted January 15, 2011 Static Age is probably my favorite song on 21CB. I was really bummed that it was dropped from the set on the second leg of the US tour and the South American tour. I would've really liked to hear it live more than once. Especially with the sax solo that the live version had.
Broken_Tune Posted January 16, 2011 Posted January 16, 2011 wouldn't be one of my first choices but still pretty awsome
farley drexel hatcher Posted January 16, 2011 Posted January 16, 2011 "All I want to do is I want to breathe, batteries are not included". Awesome. The key change in this song is epic, too. But it's always been one of my favourites off the album and is an absolutely stunner live. It would have been interesting to see a video made for this song, too.
J'net Posted January 16, 2011 Author Posted January 16, 2011 "All I want to do is I want to breathe, batteries are not included". Awesome. The key change in this song is epic, too. But it's always been one of my favourites off the album and is an absolutely stunner live. It would have been interesting to see a video made for this song, too. Totally agree - and I love your ava, btw .
November's Storms Posted January 16, 2011 Posted January 16, 2011 Totally agree - and I love your ava, btw . Yeah me too! Can't remember though, what question was it that got that response anyway?
Pres Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 This is defiantly one of my favorite songs off of 21st century breakdown I could listen to this songs hundreds of times it never gets old The best line in my opinion is Whats the latest way that a man can die screaming hallelujah
Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love Posted January 17, 2011 Posted January 17, 2011 I like how right after he sings that line ^, there's a soft high "hallelujah" in the backing vocals I also really like all the (elaborate) posts in this thread... I love reading them, wish I had something to add to it!
green day climber Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 I love this song. All the commments and the song are reminding me of this time me and 3 of my friends were driving to Austin (which is about threee hours away) and we were all goofing off and talking and one of my friends spent the entire time texting and listening to her ipod. she did the same thing the whole way back. really pissed me off.
Tubbie Head Posted January 18, 2011 Posted January 18, 2011 It's a really great song! I looove it live, it was one of those songs I was really looking forward to hear/see them playing that song live, and when I did I started crying. I wasn't expecting that at all! But yeah, when Billie sung these lines "All I want to know is a God-damned thing, Not what's in the medicine. All I want to do is, I want to breathe Batteries are not included. What's the latest way that a man can die screaming hallelujah? Those are my favourite lines, specially the "bold" one.
deadair Posted January 19, 2011 Posted January 19, 2011 It's a really great song! I looove it live, it was one of those songs I was really looking forward to hear/see them playing that song live, and when I did I started crying. I wasn't expecting that at all! But yeah, when Billie sung these lines "All I want to know is a God-damned thing, Not what's in the medicine. All I want to do is, I want to breathe Batteries are not included. What's the latest way that a man can die screaming hallelujah? Those are my favourite lines, specially the "bold" one. I love when they played it live and Billie changed the line in bold to "What's the latest way that a man can die, HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH!" like he did at my show, lol.
Bastard of 1967 Posted January 24, 2011 Posted January 24, 2011 I am SOOOO late to the table with this but was out of town last week. I have just a few things to add to the many fantastic postings that have already gone up in this thread: "The silence of the rotten, forgotten" always nails me. In 6 short words Billie says this to me: What's really important in the world is dead and buried, decaying in the ground, to the point where all of us are now mute to it. It is "screaming at you" -- screaming in silence, parallelling a lyric that Billie also used effectively in She -- at us, at any of us who actually gives a God Damn about what is real in this world. All the "static noise" drowns out this screaming and thus blinds us from truth. And on that point: "I can't see a thing in the video/I can't hear a sound on the radio/In stereo in The Static Age" -- broadcast interference that blitzes out a carrier signal (radio term of art) is used here as a highly effective metaphor for the daily bombardments of our senses...sight, sound, taste, touch...masking and muting our attention to harsh reality. It's the "billboard on the rise on the dawn's landscape, working your insanity" -- it hits you literally from the moment you awaken every day and it never.lets.up. And after awhile, it makes you go nucking futz. So for me, the message of The Static Age can be summed up in one simple sentence: Turn off all the fucking noise -- if you want to live. Apologies again for the late post. See you soon in the Fink thread!
J'net Posted January 24, 2011 Author Posted January 24, 2011 I am SOOOO late to the table with this but was out of town last week. I have just a few things to add to the many fantastic postings that have already gone up in this thread: "The silence of the rotten, forgotten" always nails me. In 6 short words Billie says this to me: What's really important in the world is dead and buried, decaying in the ground, to the point where all of us are now mute to it. It is "screaming at you" -- screaming in silence, parallelling a lyric that Billie also used effectively in She -- at us, at any of us who actually gives a God Damn about what is real in this world. All the "static noise" drowns out this screaming and thus blinds us from truth. And on that point: "I can't see a thing in the video/I can't hear a sound on the radio/In stereo in The Static Age" deploys broadcast interference that blitzes out a carrier signal (radio term of art) as a highly effective metaphor for the daily bombardments of our senses...sight, sound, taste, touch...masking and muting our attention to harsh reality. It's the "billboard on the rise on the dawn's landscape, working your insanity" -- it hits you literally from the moment you awaken every day and it never.lets.up. And after awhile, it makes you go nucking futz. So for me, the message of The Static Age can be summed up in one simple sentence: Turn off all the fucking noise -- if you want to live. Apologies again for the late post. See you soon in the Fink thread! I would always prefer to get your comments late if the only alternative is not getting them at all. I love reading your thoughts on every song, and missed you here. Welcome back .
justcause Posted January 24, 2011 Posted January 24, 2011 I would always prefer to get your comments late if the only alternative is not getting them at all. I love reading your thoughts on every song, and missed you here. Welcome back . Hear, hear - I was like, Static Age, and Bastard of 67's not weighing in on this? This is a great thread, for a song that hits the spot for so many people - I really feel like it should've been a single, because it speaks the moment as much as American Idiot did.
Laura33 Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 This is my fav song on 21stCB, it was from my very first listen of the album. I just remember it giving me goosebumps. The last verse especially, the lines 'What's the latest way that a man can die? Screaming hallelujah?' always just hit me. I remember hearing it live for the first time in Belfast and just going mental. I had kept myself away from setlists from previous shows so it was a surprise.
Bastard of 1967 Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Hear, hear - I was like, Static Age, and Bastard of 67's not weighing in on this? This is a great thread, for a song that hits the spot for so many people - I really feel like it should've been a single, because it speaks the moment as much as American Idiot did. That's why I still got the post up...can't disappoint my fans. Regarding your "hits the spot" comment -- that got me thinking again (I know, I know, everybody run!! ) .....but seriously: the part of the song that really brings home its full emotional punch for me is at/after the key change (where the lyric begins "All I want to know is a God damned thing..."). There's something not quite right with the first two verses -- the lyrics are very truth telling, extremely powerful and very heavy-hitting here, yet there's something about the way Butch mixed it that robs these verses of some of the power that Billie is trying so hard to load them with. Maybe it's as simple as the key that the first two verses are in are clashing with the song's "big picture"? But I think a lot of it has to do with the mix and studio effects though -- Billie sounds like he's singing inside a tin can, Mike's bass lines are indistinguishable in the mix, and even Tre's trademark in-your-face machine gun drum rolls sound muffled, like they had trouble getting outta bed this morning. The studio track *wants* the power of Green Day's Insomniac/Nimrod-era songs, but just doesn't get there. And as a result it plays SO much better live. I love the song overall, especially the third verse into the final choruses, but there's this factor with it that I wish they'd fixed before the album went to press. I would always prefer to get your comments late if the only alternative is not getting them at all. I love reading your thoughts on every song, and missed you here. Welcome back . Thanks...out of town investigating new quarters in Dallas last week. Looks like we're going to move this summer. Same job, same firm, different office, and (yea!!) less traffic. Sorry I couldn't get to a computer for long last week, literally every second of every day was filled with something.
justcause Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Regarding your "hits the spot" comment -- that got me thinking again (I know, I know, everybody run!! ) .....but seriously: the part of the song that really brings home its full emotional punch for me is at/after the key change (where the lyric begins "All I want to know is a God damned thing..."). There's something not quite right with the first two verses -- the lyrics are very truth telling, extremely powerful and very heavy-hitting here, yet there's something about the way Butch mixed it that robs these verses of some of the power that Billie is trying so hard to load them with. Maybe it's as simple as the key that the first two verses are in are clashing with the song's "big picture"? But I think a lot of it has to do with the mix and studio effects though -- Billie sounds like he's singing inside a tin can, Mike's bass lines are indistinguishable in the mix, and even Tre's trademark in-your-face machine gun drum rolls sound muffled, like they had trouble getting outta bed this morning. The studio track *wants* the power of Green Day's Insomniac/Nimrod-era songs, but just doesn't get there. But this isn't Insomniac/Nimrod era. The songs on those albums are in a way coming from a simpler time, their themes are personal - this one comes direct from The Static Age, and channels it. The first two verses are all of this stuff coming at you, mayhem, 'music to my nervous system', and I feel like it's right that the stuff gets 'lost' in the mix, because that's what this song is saying - that there's no clarity, that the beliefs you held are all scattered, that the bass line is blurred and it's hard to hear the drum, and all you've got is this voice trying to make itself heard, or even to hear itself. I think that's what makes the 'all I wanna know' so powerful, because here's where this voice breaks free and grasps onto the clarity of a moment to go 'here I am, and this is what I want'. The same moment in Born to Run comes with 'the highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive' - in Static Age, the 'all I wanna know' part is the last-chance power drive, summoning up the power of self, the who-I-am, away from the maelstrom of mixed-messages.
newsflash777 Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Yeah, I love this song. First time I heard it I thought it was too poppy I guess, but the lyrics are brilliant. I mean this age is The Static Age, I just saw a movie where some teacher was saying "I don't understand why this generation is so obsessed with sharing every thought that ever comes to mind via the internet." Just everywhere. I mean, it's getting to the point where people are getting record deals online and all this other shit that used to take so much effort.
Bastard of 1967 Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 But this isn't Insomniac/Nimrod era. The songs on those albums are in a way coming from a simpler time, their themes are personal - this one comes direct from The Static Age, and channels it. The first two verses are all of this stuff coming at you, mayhem, 'music to my nervous system', and I feel like it's right that the stuff gets 'lost' in the mix, because that's what this song is saying - that there's no clarity, that the beliefs you held are all scattered, that the bass line is blurred and it's hard to hear the drum, and all you've got is this voice trying to make itself heard, or even to hear itself. I think that's what makes the 'all I wanna know' so powerful, because here's where this voice breaks free and grasps onto the clarity of a moment to go 'here I am, and this is what I want'. The same moment in Born to Run comes with 'the highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive' - in Static Age, the 'all I wanna know' part is the last-chance power drive, summoning up the power of self, the who-I-am, away from the maelstrom of mixed-messages. You make some phenomenal points there (for a change. )....especially the parallel you draw to Born to Run -- the two songs are indeed structured very closely. I guess I'm still stuck in the "American Idiot motif" where the rage just busts out of the song from the opening notes. In The Static Age, I sense the rage, I understand it myself, and I guess I'm being pissy and impatient -- I don't want to wait to actually *feel* it in the song until the third verse. Gonna give it a good listen again with your thoughts in mind..... great post!
justcause Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 You make some phenomenal points there (for a change. )....especially the parallel you draw to Born to Run -- the two songs are indeed structured very closely. I guess I'm still stuck in the "American Idiot motif" where the rage just busts out of the song from the opening notes. In The Static Age, I sense the rage, I understand it myself, and I guess I'm being pissy and impatient -- I don't want to wait to actually *feel* it in the song until the third verse. Gonna give it a good listen again with your thoughts in mind..... great post! American Idiot had something to rage against, all in the negative, 'don't wanna be' - which begs the question, 'what do you wanna be, what do you want?'. The villain who was the focus leaves the stage, and the questions remain - shit, looking for the something in the video, the radio, the consciousness, from somewhere in the out there. This lonely radio's still sending out the signal, waiting for the response, in all of the static.
Bastard of 1967 Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 American Idiot had something to rage against, all in the negative, 'don't wanna be' - which begs the question, 'what do you wanna be, what do you want?'. The villain who was the focus leaves the stage, and the questions remain - shit, looking for the something in the video, the radio, the consciousness, from somewhere in the out there. This lonely radio's still sending out the signal, waiting for the response, in all of the static. The Static Age begins to answer some of those questions, at least in the third verse anyway -- I want to *breathe*, I want to live without all the fucking noise, without being under constant assault from all of the distractions.
koolkev Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 This week’s Song of the Week is The Static Age, one of my favorites from 21st Century Breakdown. Please use this thread to discuss your thoughts and feelings about the song. 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day's eighth studio album, was recorded at Ocean Way Recording, Studio 880, Jel Studio, and Costa Mesa Studios. The album was produced by Butch Vig, marking the first time Rob Cavallo wasn't part of a major release Green Day album. The album was released May 15 2009 and reached #1 on the USA Billboard. It also hit #1 in 15 other countries around the world. It has sold over 3.5 million copies since its release. This song was never released as a single from the album, and I will never understand why. The first time I heard The Static Age live was at the Bowery Ballroom show on May 18 2009 (I took my son to New York to see this show as a surprise birthday present). That night and the following night at Webster Hall, I could feel the wooden floorboards giving under the bouncing of the crowd like trampolines. It remains one of my absolute favorites to hear live, and I love the sax solo we get from Jason Freese at the live performances! I remember during those shows and in Central Park (a day or two after Webster Hall) when Billie sang, “What's the latest way that a man can die?” And instead of singing “Screaming Hallelujah,” he just screamed, “Hallelujah”. He did that at several shows afterwards, but eventually started singing it again. Now, choosing a favorite lyric from this song of amazing lyrics and word play is incredibly difficult, but, for me, I think it’s got to be, “All I want to do is I want to breathe.” When I hear that lyric, I get a tight feeling in my chest. It’s almost like a panic attack (at least, that’s what I imagine). I’m guessing that’s how the whole “static age” feels to Billie. What’s your favorite lyric? Here’s a wonderful video for you to watch. It was recorded at the above-mentioned Webster Hall concert. I was on the barrier right in front of Billie’s microphone with my son, Daniel, and Dorie, Mac, and ToniAnn beside us. Many other people who were and are now good friends were also there. It was a memorable night for many reasons, but I won’t go into all of those now. Instead, just watch this … The Static Age Lyrics Can you hear the sound of the static noise? Blasting out in stereo Cater to the class and the paranoid Music to my nervous system Advertising love and religion Murder on the airwaves Slogans on the brink of corruption Vision of blasphemy, war and peace Screaming at you I can't see a thing in the video I can't hear a sound on the radio In stereo in the static age Billboard on the rise in the dawn's landscape Working your insanity Tragic a'la madness and concrete Coca Cola execution Conscience on a cross and Your hearts in a vice Squeezing out your state of mind Are what you own that you cannot buy? What a fucking tragedy, strategy Screaming at you. I can't see a thing in the video I can't hear a sound on the radio In stereo in the static age I can't see a thing in the video I can't hear a sound on the radio In stereo in the static age Hey hey it's the static age This is how the west was won Hey hey it's the static age millennium All I want to know Is a God-damned thing Not what's in the medicine All I want to do is I want to breathe Batteries are not included What's the latest way that a man can die Screaming hallelujah? Singing out "The dawn's early light" The silence of the rotten, forgotten Screaming at you. I can't see a thing in the video I can't hear a sound on the radio In stereo in the static age I can't see a thing in the video I can't hear a sound on the radio In stereo in the static age I can't see a thing in the video I can't hear a sound on the radio In stereo in the static age I can't see a thing in the video I can't hear a sound on the radio In stereo in the static age The static a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aaaaaaage ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ah... I love yur laugh, J'net, (random) FUCKING AWESOME VID!
JuliaX_Ray2020 Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 video -> and I fucking love this part: All I want to know Is a God-damned thing Not what's in the medicine All I want to do is I want to breathe Batteries are not included What's the latest way that a man can die Screaming hallelujah? Singing out "The dawn's early light" The silence of the rotten, forgotten Screaming at you.
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