What's that one Green Day lyric that you feel is the best they've ever written?

[darenmay]

What's that one Green Day lyric that you feel is the best they've ever written?

Mine is "You can't go forcing something if it's just not right."

i love this line, it's simple yet it is so true and does mean a lot. i think it's the best they have yet.

[Trotsky]

I think the lyrics to Letterbomb might be some of the best and most artistic lyrics Green Day has ever done, I've always appreciated them.

Where have all the riots gone

As the city's motto gets pulverized?

What's in love is now in debt

On your birth certificate

So strike the fucking match to light this fuse!

The town bishop is an extortionist

And he don't even know that you exist

Standing still when it's do or die

You better run for your fucking life

Also, the last part of American Eulogy

I want to take a ride to the great divide

Beyond the "up to date"

And the neo-gentrified

The high definition for the low resident

Where the value of your mind

Is not held in contempt

I can hear the sound of

A beating heart

That bleeds beyond a system

That's falling apart

With money to burn

On minimum wage

'Cause I don't give a shit

About the modern age

Also, I stay in General Discussion 99% of the time so if this thread was already made and I was supposed to point that out, I abandon all accountability for that as a mod.

[chatnoir]

She...

She screams in silence

A sullen riot penetrating through her mind

[SparklingWaterMan]

The American Eulogy Part as John. said is just amazing !

But the best lyric is:

Look this direction, I know it's not perfection, it's just me...

I want to bring you up again now

[Fiona?]

I have a few, actually:

Well, ALL of the Jesus of Suburbia lyrics, cause I think they are probably the most meaningful lyrics Billie has every written (to me, anyway) Those lyrics are extremely powerful and they pretty much have you hooked on "I'm the son of rage and love, the Jesus of Suburbia"

American Idiot:

"Dont wanna be an American Idiot

One nation controlled by the media

Information age of hysteria is calling out to Idiot America"

And the lyrics to Are We the Waiting, especially,

"Lost and found

City bound

In my dreams and screaming

Are we we are are we we are the waiting"

So overall, some of my favorite lyrics are on American Idiot.

[Smoothed Out]

For me it would either be, Holiday's "I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies."

Or JOS's "I don't feel any shame I won't apologise, when there ain't no where you can go. Running away from pain when you've been victimised. Tales from another Broken Home."

The first one being the `best` and like Tre's Busted Drumkit said the second is not so much the best but the most meaningful to me, my life and my experiences

[Cameron.]

Mister Broken Drumkit, your posts are always so quality.

I have to agree with those saying the entirety of Jesus of Suburbia. I think Jesus of Suburbia really defines life as a whole, who we are, why we are. The poetic-like lyrics really bring this idea to life, and it only works so beautifully because it is real, not fake. It's straight from the heart and soul, and that's what really gives the song it's depth and meaning. Colorfully painting a picture of rage and love to us, I feel Billie Joe definitely delivers his most articulate lyrics to date.

& This verse from One of My Lies always stuck out to me.

Why does my life have to be so small?

Yet death is forever...

And does forever have a life to call its own?

Don't give me an answer 'cause you only know as much as I know

Unless you've been there once, and well I hardly think so

[!VivaLaGreenDay!23]

Like some previous post above..

Some from Jesus of suburbia

*home is where your heart is but what a shame

cuz eveyones heart doesn't beat the same.

It's beating out of time..

*I don't feel any shame I won't apologize

when there ain't nowhere you can go

running away from pain when you've been victimized

tales from another broken home..

Android

*it seems so frightening

time passes by like lightning

before you know it you're struck down

I always waste my time on

my chemical emotions

it keeps my head spinning around

and waste away...

There's sooo much but just these for now, they have always stuck with me..

[solongfromthestars]

For me, Viva La Gloria! is the best song they've ever written. The lyrics caught me the first time I heard it and ever since I've noticed them more and more. My favourite line is "you found a home in all your scars and ammunition". I suppose that's just because it's meaningful to me and I can relate to it, but I really do think that overall the lyrics to that song are the best they've ever written. They create such a strong and positive image, they're amazing.

I could pick so many more but that's my one super special lyric

[chatnoir]

I'm the son of rage and love

The Jesus of Suburbia

That would have been my second choice.

Actually it was the one that came at first to my mind, but I still decided for the opening line of She, because I always was so impressed that it is such a simple line, but still so meaningful, among other because he put "She'" not only as the title of the song, but also at the beginning (twice). I like how the emphasis is on her and her state of mind/feelings, which are well observed and cared for, not on him and his feelings. I always found that rather unique for a punk rock song.

[Blond-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap]

"I'm walking down the line that divides me somewhere in my mind, on the borderline of the edge

where I walk alone"

Took me about 5 years before I realised what an absolutely amazing line (and song) that is, it's so Fight Club-esque.

For old school Green Day , I'd have to go with "life's a bitch and so am I, the world owes me so fuck you "

or as other people have said, any line from She.

[Guest]

I THINK IS

"Dickhead, fuckface

Cock smoking, mother fucking asshole

Dirty twat, waste of semen

I hope you die"

[Izzard]

"You can spank me when I do not behave, mack me in the forehead with a chain"

is not it.

I can't think of one...there are just SO many...

[Alan86]

I love so many Green Day lyrics

I was reading through the lyrics to the 21st Century Breakdowns album the other day and I really liked this Lyric from "See the Light"

I crossed the desert

Reaching higher ground

Then I pound the pavement

To take the liars down

But it's gone forever

But never too late

Where the ever after

Is in the hands of fate

It's like a little poem on its own

(See the Light is a song I rarely listen too cause I dont really like it, but this Lyric just jumped out at me )

[drumstick]

Love all the lyrics to Letterbomb..this one especially

"Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself and where will we all go when it's too late?"

[M3G4N]

It's extremely difficult to pick just one lyric. Billie Joe has a way of packing so much emotion and meaning into the simplest of lines. Even after listening to songs I've heard dozens of times, I still find new meanings and think shit, that's amazing. And it's not just a couple good one-liners here and there, he puts so much into every single word from the beginning of the song to the end. I'm always in awe of that man's lyrical skill.

But anyway, the one line that sticks out to me right now is I lost myself in the space between heaven and hell from Lights Out. Simple and vague, but it's always so fucking powerful to me.

[Marlee]

The brutality of reality is the freedom that keeps me from dreaming

seriously, this lyric gives me goose bumps is so brilliantly written

oh but there's so many more!

[justcause]

Walking Contradiction is a fucking great lyric, because it's taut and brooding and it just hammers stuff out, line after line, not a word wasted. I love -

Standards set and broken all the time

Control the chaos behind a gun

Call it as I see it even if

I was born deaf, blind and dumb

Losers winning big on the lottery

Rehab rejects still sniffing glue

Constant refutation with myself

a victim of a catch 22

Newer stuff, great lines -

Christian's crying in the bathroom,

and I just wanna bum a cigarette -

that's fucking killer. That's flick-of-the-wrist perfection.

Little Girl - every time I think of 21CB, and all of the differently-great stuff on there - passionate and vulnerable and angry and intellectual and visionary - this one stands out as just a great, polished piece of songwriting. It's so dark and knowing and gallows-humor - it fucking glitters like a black diamond. It's cruel but it's not entirely merciless - and it's very, very clever. It takes huge pleasure in knowing what no-one else knows, and that gives it a deep, warm glow in the darkness. It completes itself.

[The Bunny Abides]

Mine:

"What's the cosolation prize

Economy Sized dreams of hope."

[Satan]

it`s hard to say, but i`m really into the lyrics of last night on earth. the song as a whole is just so effortlessly cheesy but so beautiful that it doesn't even sound cheesy (does that make sence?) it's like you've heard words like that a million times. but in the song as a whole, the vulnerability and the uncertainty of it makes the lyrics behind it seem so authentic. Like he's not just saying the words, but he's living every moment of his life by them.

i'm also loving "i hold my breath and close my eyes and ... dream about her" it makes me melt every time.

[Scumbag86]

"What's the difference between you and me?

I do what I want, and you do what your told, so

listen up and shut the hell up, it's no big deal."

-Reject.

[radiofriendlyunitshifter]

So Gloria

Send out your message of

The light that shadows in the night

Gloria

Where's your undying love

Tell me the story of your life

Your life!

[fashionvictim86]

I have many that mean something to me, and thus I think they are the best they've ever written... Here's a few..

"Who the hell are you to tell me...what I am...and what's my master plan?" - Reject

"There's nothing wrong with me, this is how I'm supposed to be....in a land of make believe, that don't believe in me." - Jesus of Subrubia

"Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial...for what it's worth it was worth all the while..." - Good Riddance (I have the second part tattooed on my arm)

"The last one born and the first one to run..." - 21st Century Breakdown

[Laura!]

These lines have always been my favorites ever since I became a fan:

"The motto was just a lie

It says home is where your heart is

But what a shame

'Cause everyone's heart

Doesn't beat the same

It's beating out of time"

And:

"Nobody's perfect and I stand accused

For lack of a better word and that's my best excuse"

It would take me forever to think about all their lyrics that I feel is the best, Billie is such a talented writer.

[Blond-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap]

It's extremely difficult to pick just one lyric. Billie Joe has a way of packing so much emotion and meaning into the simplest of lines. Even after listening to songs I've heard dozens of times, I still find new meanings and think shit, that's amazing. And it's not just a couple good one-liners here and there, he puts so much into every single word from the beginning of the song to the end. I'm always in awe of that man's lyrical skill.

But anyway, the one line that sticks out to me right now is I lost myself in the space between heaven and hell from Lights Out. Simple and vague, but it's always so fucking powerful to me.

Kudos for picking a b-side Lights Out for me is better than a fair amount of the songs from 21st CB, that line is superb.