Blasphemy & Genocide: Unpopular Green Day Opinions, Part 2

[The Disappearing Boy]

I'm pretty ambivalent on 21 Guns live performances, don't prefer the 21st Century Breakdown demo and I don't think I prefer the Static Age live sax solo.

[Spike]

I'm pretty ambivalent on 21 Guns live performances, don't prefer the 21st Century Breakdown demo and I don't think I prefer the Static Age live sax solo.

Are you ill?

[AlissaGoesRAWR]

It's definitely a better song with the AI cast

Said no-one ever

I said that ... and then got laughed out of this thread.

[DookieLukie]

Anybody know what a "cherub in the Arab Spring" means in Baby Eyes?

[Chin for a Day]

Anybody know what a "cherub in the Arab Spring" means in Baby Eyes?

The Arab Spring was a series of demonstrations and civil wars in various Arab countries that began in 2010. So, I always interpreted that line ot mean something like an innocent that ends up getting hurt in a situation. It seems to fit the song.

[DookieLukie]

The Arab Spring was a series of demonstrations and civil wars in various Arab countries that began in 2010. So, I always interpreted that line ot mean something like an innocent that ends up getting hurt in a situation. It seems to fit the song.

Doesn't the rest of the song paint him as the instigator of violence? "Bullet in your magazine", "pulled the trigger from the shooting star", "motor in your crashing car" etc. I don't see how he's innocent in this song.

[Chin for a Day]

Doesn't the rest of the song paint him as the instigator of violence? "Bullet in your magazine", "pulled the trigger from the shooting star", "motor in your crashing car" etc. I don't see how he's innocent in this song.

Well, I think he is looking upon himself as an innocent because she is making him do these things. A bullet isn't dangerous unless someone pulls a trigger, the motor can't cause a crash unless someone drives the car, the cherub in the arab spring is a baby in a fight. The shooting star one, that one confuses me more than the others.

[Sauli]

The song is on Dos. 'nuff said.

[Spike]

My interpretation of it is that it's mostly babble.

[DookieLukie]

Well, I think he is looking upon himself as an innocent because she is making him do these things. A bullet isn't dangerous unless someone pulls a trigger, the motor can't cause a crash unless someone drives the car, the cherub in the arab spring is a baby in a fight. The shooting star one, that one confuses me more than the others.

He blatantly says "my middle name is danger, the guy you keep away from strangers." I have a hard time seeing him as innocent.

The song is on Dos. 'nuff said.

Ok, very well. But just because you don't like the song doesn't mean you can just end our conversation about it.

[Chin for a Day]

He blatantly says "my middle name is danger, the guy you keep away from strangers." I have a hard time seeing him as innocent.

The line is "They say my middle name is Danger" Not that he is saying his middle name is Danger. I interpret the song to mean that he thinks that he is an innocent that is being either forced do something inappropriate or that he is being forced to look bad, beyond his control.

[DookieLukie]

The line is "They say my middle name is Danger" Not that he is saying his middle name is Danger. I interpret the song to mean that he thinks that he is an innocent that is being either forced do something inappropriate or that he is being forced to look bad, beyond his control.

Good point

[Libertine Angel]

This is probably looking way too far into it, but the original Cherubim were the guardians of the Tree of Life and the throne of God, so it could be that he's saying he looks like a pure, holy innocent but is in fact very dangerous if you do something wrong.

[grene cniht]

Also, a "cherub" applies mostly to the Christian religion, while the Arab Spring spread in many Muslim countries. It could mean he's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Guest]

Also, a "cherub" applies mostly to the Christian religion, while the Arab Spring spread in many Muslim countries. It could mean he's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Not true. It applies equally to all three of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity). Actually, considering nearly all mentions of Cherubrim occur in the Torah/Old Testament, Judaism would be considered the main origins of Cherubrim.

But there's no way Billie Joe is smart enough to know any of that so it's pointless

[grene cniht]

Not true. It applies equally to all three of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity). Actually, considering nearly all mentions of Cherubrim occur in the Torah/Old Testament, Judaism would be considered the main origins of Cherubrim.

But there's no way Billie Joe is smart enough to know any of that so it's pointless

True for the Judaism, but Islam doesn't have cherubs, or they aren't called that way at least.

[BilIie Joe Armstrong]

True for the Judaism, but Islam doesn't have cherubs, or they aren't called that way at least.

They are called "Karrub". That's close enough, imho. It doesn't make a difference anyway. There's a link between Cherub and the other metaphores (something goes wrong and dangerous) but I'm puzzled by the Arab Spring...even that makes sense though. The Arab Spring started as something positive - then went wrong and violent.

This means than Billie is either capable of coming up with something so complex or babbling so well that Dos starts making sense only after a midnight Bible, Tora, Coran and Wikipedia reading. Remarkable.

[TimmyChunks]

I absolutely love this conversation as Baby Eyes is one of my favorites off of Dos. The Arab Spring refers to the Middle East uprising in 2012 that occurred as a youth led and largely social media rebellion against the tyrannical ruling parties in power at the time. The cherub reference is very well placed as a cherub is a Christian-Anglo reference to a young, sweet, and unblemished angel. The juxtaposition says it all. Awesome song, and great testament (pun fully intended) to Billie's lyrical abilities.

[Maid Meringue]

When the album first came out, I thought Baby Eyes was about Jakob being old enough to break girl's hearts seeing as his middle name IS Danger...
But "year of the rat, last of the litter" is most definitely BJ

[Hermione]

Love these interpretations! Feel like I have a much better understanding of the song now.

When the album first came out, I thought Baby Eyes was about Jakob being old enough to break girl's hearts seeing as his middle name IS Danger...
But "year of the rat, last of the litter" is most definitely BJ

I bet he waited for years until he found himself with a song he could add the phrase "my middle name is danger" to . He's so proud of himself for giving him that middle name and loves to mention it, even though the song isn't about Jakob I'm sure that phrase is there as a little embarrassing dad shout out to him.

[The Disappearing Boy]

Are you ill?

A little explanation:

21 Guns live:

Plus points: Jason Freeze's piano after the solo is incredible

Minus points: Billie consistently failing to hit the falsetto, they tend to drag it out too long.

But I'm ambivalent about the song in general, so.

21st Century Breakdown demo:

I'd actually prefer a mix of the two: the demo lyrics, combined with the overall completeness of the proper version. Like the little guitar bit between the verses, the extra guitar in the solo, the extra guitar in the outro. Not sure which intro I prefer, though.

Static Age sax solo:

This one's a dilemma. I really like the little octave bridge/solo thing of the album version. I also like the sax solo. More Jason Freeze is good. The problem with it is is that it drowns out the guitar. Drowning out Jason White is never good. Perhaps they ought to do one after the other when they do it live. More Jasons can only be good

[Hermione]

A little explanation:

21st Century Breakdown demo:

I'd actually prefer a mix of the two: the demo lyrics, combined with the overall completeness of the proper version. Like the little guitar bit between the verses, the extra guitar in the solo, the extra guitar in the outro. Not sure which intro I prefer, though.

I must say I completely agree with this, a hybrid like that would be perfect. As it is I'm just glad we have both versions because there's really cool things about both.

[Chin for a Day]

I have a question for everyone. When they did 21 Guns live, where in the set list was it? Could the problems with him hitting the falsetto simply be because it was too far down in the set list and his voice was gone by that point? Could the issues be simply to put it earlier in the set?

[Guest]

I have a question for everyone. When they did 21 Guns live, where in the set list was it? Could the problems with him hitting the falsetto simply be because it was too far down in the set list and his voice was gone by that point? Could the issues be simply to put it earlier in the set?

I think it was a choice more than anything. He probably knew he was going to miss the falsetto so he didn't even try. Even at award shows where 21 Guns was the only song they played he mostly didn't do it.

[Chin for a Day]

I think it was a choice more than anything. He probably knew he was going to miss the falsetto so he didn't even try. Even at award shows where 21 Guns was the only song they played he mostly didn't do it.

Interesting. I've heard him hit falsetto's live. Why not on 21 Guns. I'm not a singer but I wonder if it is just a hard song to sing.