09 - Too Dumb to Die

[alaniluau]

While it didn't stand out to me on first listen, Too Dumb To Die has grown into one of my favorite Rev Rad offerings. The chorus melody is absolute candy to the ears, and the change from "Santa Claus" to "camouflage" is not only phonetically pleasing but intriguing from an analysis/meaning standpoint. I wish I could articulate why I'm so smitten with "Everything will be alright / Not every Sunday can be Easter." Is it the nostalgia in Billie's voice as he recounts an adage from his daddy? Is it the melodic lilt at the end of the line? As a (garbage) songwriter, I envy Billie's ability to evoke so many feelings with so few words. 

[The Grohl]

This song's been stuck in my head all morning. I think I connect with it especially with the line about having a dream that's too dumb to die. I feel like that's me and my desire to have a writing career. I haven't given up yet though many think it's a dumb move

[platypus136]

Its a good song, i like the lyrics

[unextraordinarygirl]

Despite repeated listens to the album,  I still don't like this song. It irritates me for some reason. I just don't like it! 

[Johnny Higher]

I love that song but damn, I don't understand what it means.

"santa claus", "cello over a rainbow" , "camouflage"

Looks like random words to me.

[gerardsangel4977]

1 hour ago, Johnny Higher said:

I love that song but damn, I don't understand what it means.

"santa claus", "cello over a rainbow" , "camouflage"

Looks like random words to me.

well, I admit I don't have much insight into the "cello lost somewhere over the rainbow" bit, apart from the obvious homage to the Wizard of Oz:

So the only real question is "Why a cello?" lol

But I do have some ideas about the "Looking for a cause/And all I got was camouflage". Taking into account that the preceding verse talks about his father going on strike with the Teamsters, in particular, it makes me think he's talking about looking for a cause to believe in and fight for (this, of course, fits in thematically both with the band's political activism and several other Green Day songs like "21 Guns" and "Viva La Gloria"). The camouflage part is more interesting because it can be taken in a couple of different ways. Camouflage is essentially a means of disguising yourself so that you blend in with the scenery. Hunters use it to help them sneak up on animals. The military uses it to make themselves harder to see for the enemy troops. One could take the military usage of camo and apply it to this, as in "I was looking for a cause to fight for, and all I got was a uniform" but, given the directly personal nature of the rest of the song (and that Billie is not a soldier), it seems more to me like he's referring to a self-made disguise. More specifically, it's hard for me to not make the mental leap to thinking that he's referencing his relationship to the punk scene here. But I'm interested to hear if others have a different take on it.

[That Dude]

My favorite RevRad song.  I'm actually considering adding the title to a tattoo design I have in the works but I'm holding off on it for the moment.   

This song and Youngblood are getting so much hate for their lyrics and I don't get it.  Everyone is enjoying the album in their own way though, and that's cool.    

[gerardsangel4977]

2 hours ago, thatdude03 said:

My favorite RevRad song.  I'm actually considering adding the title to a tattoo design I have in the works but I'm holding off on it for the moment.   

This song and Youngblood are getting so much hate for their lyrics and I don't get it.  Everyone is enjoying the album in their own way though, and that's cool.    

yeah, with this one especially, I don't get it. Most of the lyrics on this song are fairly straight-forward and have a lot to say imo. Youngblood is okay, lyric-wise, but I feel like it probably makes more sense to Adrienne than to us 

[PursuitOfEpicness]

Although it doesn't really fit I love the intro part it's so good. THis one gets stuck in my head the most!

[Grinch]

  This is probably my favorite song on the entire album now. FIRST it was Bang Bang, then it was Somewhere Now, then it was Troubled Times, then it was Outlaws, then it was Forever Now, and now it's this and that's a really good thing. I'm really really enjoying the music on this album. I can't get enough of this song.

  

 I think the intro sounds really awesome but when it drops into loud heavy guitars, a fast drum beat, and Billie comes in singing "I was a high school atom bomb...", I just want to shout along with it or start playing guitar along with the song!

[iScottie]

One of the greatest songs on the entire album (probably right behind 'Still Breathing' for me).

[End Of The World]

Too Dumb To Die: how GD would look like if they were re-making Nimrod. And honestly, that's a pretty awesome re-make

[Second favourite son]

This is probably the song on the album I like the least (not that I don't like it, I'm just having a hard time getting into it.  Maybe a few more listens will do the trick).  The 'I was a high school atom bomb' part is absolutely awesome though, maybe the best single bit of the album.

[St. Jonny]

Always gets stuck in my skull for hours, and I always run through the entire album everyday seeing as it's so short. Not some of my favorite lines off this album but catchy as hell! Wonder if they'll be pulling this out on tour.

[That Dude]

When you are worried a song is going to be a remix of "Sex, Drugs and Violence" from Tre because of the title but then you get your absolute favorite album-track from Green Day since........couldn't even say!   

I was seriously imagining "too dumb to die I guess" on a feedback loop.   I got a powerful song about Billy Joe's father and the art of surviving trials and tribulations.   

DANG DANG

 

[Stefano Bras]

The chord progession is insane and the first verse has to be one of the best moments of the album, what a song.

[Bastard of 1967]

On 9/25/2016 at 11:55 PM, Todd said:

What's up with the intro? How does that fit the rest of the song? 

One thematic element I've noticed in the album is the guys go low-fi when they get retrospective and reminiscent.  I think Billie is framing the song as a bookend for Outlaws.  See my post later on this thread, I hope I've made some sense of the song as a whole.

On 10/7/2016 at 1:17 PM, thatdude03 said:

Further proof that this was, at some point, a concept record.     

Or....could just be talking about his dad.  Or his wife.   Or his children.   Or someone else.  

"Was"?  Try "Is".

[Bastard of 1967]

 

On 10/9/2016 at 11:44 PM, alaniluau said:

While it didn't stand out to me on first listen, Too Dumb To Die has grown into one of my favorite Rev Rad offerings. The chorus melody is absolute candy to the ears, and the change from "Santa Claus" to "camouflage" is not only phonetically pleasing but intriguing from an analysis/meaning standpoint. I wish I could articulate why I'm so smitten with "Everything will be alright / Not every Sunday can be Easter." Is it the nostalgia in Billie's voice as he recounts an adage from his daddy? Is it the melodic lilt at the end of the line? As a (garbage) songwriter, I envy Billie's ability to evoke so many feelings with so few words. 

 

On 10/13/2016 at 11:21 AM, Johnny Higher said:

I love that song but damn, I don't understand what it means.

"santa claus", "cello over a rainbow" , "camouflage"

Looks like random words to me.

 

On 10/13/2016 at 3:13 PM, gerardsangel4977 said:

well, I admit I don't have much insight into the "cello lost somewhere over the rainbow" bit, apart from the obvious homage to the Wizard of Oz:

So the only real question is "Why a cello?" lol

But I do have some ideas about the "Looking for a cause/And all I got was camouflage". Taking into account that the preceding verse talks about his father going on strike with the Teamsters, in particular, it makes me think he's talking about looking for a cause to believe in and fight for (this, of course, fits in thematically both with the band's political activism and several other Green Day songs like "21 Guns" and "Viva La Gloria"). The camouflage part is more interesting because it can be taken in a couple of different ways. Camouflage is essentially a means of disguising yourself so that you blend in with the scenery. Hunters use it to help them sneak up on animals. The military uses it to make themselves harder to see for the enemy troops. One could take the military usage of camo and apply it to this, as in "I was looking for a cause to fight for, and all I got was a uniform" but, given the directly personal nature of the rest of the song (and that Billie is not a soldier), it seems more to me like he's referring to a self-made disguise. More specifically, it's hard for me to not make the mental leap to thinking that he's referencing his relationship to the punk scene here. But I'm interested to hear if others have a different take on it.

LOVE your interpretation of "camouflage" and its relevance within the song.  Got a couple of thoughts of my own on all this that I wanted to share.  There's some artistic brilliance going on here -- I think Billie is relating the wasted, who-gives-a-fuck, whatever dream or purpose I'm supposed to have in life "doesn't matter anyway" (see Forever Now) attitude of his youth, to what his father (didn't) achieve from all his time and experience walking the picket line.  What was his dad's job? It was supposed to be driving a truck to earn money to support his family...but what was his job *really*?  He probably spent more time on the picket line than he did in the driver's seat.  It was supposed to make life better for himself and his family, he tried over and over again to press his union's cause, and never got anywhere with it.  And then, when the money ran out, he also ran out of options:  "You'll be a scab, not a martyr" -- you're not working so you don't get paid, the union's strike fund only gets you so far, and if you cross the picket line because you've gotta go to work to feed your kids for Christ's sake, you're as good as dead.  Channeling his inner Bruce Springsteen, Billie sends the message that when you're young, you may have a dream that you simply can't act on because you're young and stupid...your dream is there, it gets you nowhere, and it's too dumb to die.....then when you're grown up you don't dream anymore because your dreams are now stifled by your fear, you have too much to lose so you don't act -- notice how the lyric changes to "too scared to live, but too dumb to die."

So what about that cello and the homage to The Wizard of Oz?  "Cello" isn't a throwaway word.  Yeah it fits the rhyme but it also tells us something -- something about being played like an instrument in someone else's symphony.  Remember in 21st Century Breakdown which visited some similar themes, Billie wrote "the scars on my hands and a means to an end is all that I have to show"?  Same concept emerges here, I think.  "Somewhere over the rainbow" is pure youthful fantasy, reinforcing the song's "your dreams get you nowhere" message: why bother dreaming about a better future when you're just being used in someone else's grand scheme, and being told to pay no attention to the fraud who's working behind the curtain?  So taken as a whole, I think the song focuses on one overriding theme: futility.

How Billie ties these all these threads together, wraps them around a common core of youthful apathy feeding failing dreams feeding grown-up recognition of being used as a means to an end but being paralyzed by the fear of losing whatever you have, and so accomplishing nothing as an adult in the exact same way you accomplished nothing as a kid....then builds with that beautifully textured guitars, furious percussion, and soaring vocals and harmonies....absolutely incredible.  Fantastic song, I think one of the best on the album overall.

 

[JardyOfSuburbia]

This was the song that really stuck out to me when listening to the album for the first time. I remember having one of those "Oh, wow" moments when the chorus came in. Great tune.

[That Dude]

9 hours ago, JardyOfSuburbia said:

This was the song that really stuck out to me when listening to the album for the first time. I remember having one of those "Oh, wow" moments when the chorus came in. Great tune.

YES!   On first listen this song and "Say Goodbye" were instantly amazing, whereas the rest of the tracks took time to get to know.   

 

[Spike]

This song is so poppy and Warning-esque, I absolutely love it. It's just so bouncy and fun. It's great to hear that in between all the big arrangements and multi-part tracks Billie's still got a great ear for a simple pop melody. 

[zeldachick14]

God the intro to the song is amazing to me 

[SuperXCsabre495]

I've had Too Dumb To Die on repeat it feels like for the past week. All of a sudden I just really really started liking the song.

[Thatsername]

3 hours ago, zeldachick14 said:

God the intro to the song is amazing to me 

Yeah, it is! It still feels as though it was supposed to be an own song. I mean, I love it the way it is and leads into TDTD, but the idea of the intro being a wonderful 13th song on the album is just too great, either.

[Leni.]

6 hours ago, SuperXCsabre495 said:

I've had Too Dumb To Die on repeat it feels like for the past week. All of a sudden I just really really started liking the song.

Yeah, when I want to listen to RevRad I start with Forever Now, Somewhere Now, Bouncing and then Too Dumb To Die and the idea of hearing the rest of the album is destroyed. Basically I listen to that song over and over again till the time of the full tracklist is gone so I stop after 40 minutes. Such marathon. That has never happened to me with any song before I guess.