Lights Out – Green Day
This unreleased single from 21st Century Breakdown is the perfect theme song for this year’s Super Bowl.
Some years ago the New Orleans Saints played in the Super Bowl. I don’t know a thing about football but the best thing to come from that game was the half-time show. Green Day and U2 teamed up to performed “The Saints Are Coming.” It’s pretty epic and even though they’re not playing again tonight, I thought it was appropriate to post.
So, I don’t have a preference for who I want to win as I still think football is ridiculous, but lets at least hope for a kick-ass half-time show, yes?
My high school had a kick-ass drama program. We did 8 (EIGHT) shows a year. Yeah, it was crazy and fun, and amazing. I directed, acted, ASM’ed, operated the sound board, and was an assistant producer on various productions.
But all that aside, we were also a family. We hung out in our office (which was in the back of our black box theatre and had a couple of couches, a fridge, a microwave, and a stereo. Yes, I never went to gym during my final semester and spent a LOT of time in there even when I didn’t have a free period), went to the various diners in our town, and even held certain friend’s hair back when they drank a bit too much Smirnoff at a cast party.
We also listened to a lot of Dave Matthews Band, and more importantly: Guster. Their current album was “Lost and Gone Forever” and after burning a copy during my senior year, it’s lived on my iPhone and iPod since then.
I’ve listened to them on and off over the years but I’ve never gotten to see them live. But all that is changing. I bought tickets to see them next Friday in Port Chester, NY. Its about a half hour outside the city and I’m totally looking forward to it.
“4, 3, 2, 1…”
I went to a lot of benefits when I was in college. I mean A LOT. I saw a lot of shows, and ever more benefits. I don’t go to many, if any, anymore, so when my office offered to buy whoever wanted to go tickets to tonight’s Hurricane Sandy benefit at the Gershwin Theatre, I was excited.
And then I saw Julia Murney was performing and I remembered back to 2005. It was the beginning of my rush of benefits, and she performed this song first at the Hurricane Katrina benefit (also at the Gershwin Theatre – though I didn’t attend that one) and later at a benefit (also for Katrina) at Joe’s Pub (which I did attend). She performed “Amazing the Things That Float” at both and the above MP3 is from her performance of the song at Joe’s Pub.
I tweeted at Ms. Murney earlier today when I remembered her and this song, and I almost immediately got this response. I tried not to get my hopes up too high, but I had a pretty good feeling she’d sing it.
And sing it she did. I got chills. And it was lovely.
The entire benefit was lovely, but especially this song. Now go and enjoy this song.
Dos!, the second installment in Green Day’s trilogy, was released on Tuesday and it’s been a good week ever since. Before listening to it, I read in AMNY that it was the low point of the three albums. Awesome, I thought, this one will definitely be my favorite! (Since the album Warning is one of my favorites and it’s often cited as the near-death of Green Day…)
Anyways… I’ve listened through Dos! probably ten times since Tuesday and I absolutely love it. Here’s the rundown:
See You Tonight: A quick, acoustic one that’s kind of sweet. It’s far from one of my favorites, but I definitely don’t dislike it.
Fuck Time: I don’t think I really need to go into much description about this. The guys wrote this song in 2010 after it became a pre-show ritual at American Idiot. They wrote it and performed it as a Foxboro Hottubs song, but I’m quite O.K. with them recording it as Green Day. It sounds a tad different from when I’ve heard them play it live, but it’s still an awesome, rockin’ time. (I love the shout-out to Amanda Jones at the beginning of the second verse too. God, that woman certainly left a mark on Billie Joe’s soul.)
Stop When the Red Lights Flash: I’d heard this for the first time at Webster Hall in 2011. It’s a solid song, and one that I definitely enjoy. I need to look over the lyrics to this and Oh, Love and see if there’s any relation (because in that one they say “don’t stop when the red lights flash,” so why is he now telling us to stop?). Definitely love the opening guitar riff too.
Lazy Bones: Took me a couple of listens to warm up to, but I like it now. Again, I love the intro riff. This song makes you realize why Billie Joe might’ve put himself in rehab after they finished up these albums.
Wild One: This is one I skipped over at least two times. It seemed to go on for forever. But after listening to it for a few times, I grew to appreciate it. It’s sweet, really.
Makeout Party: I remember loving this one at the Webster Hall concert and I still love it. Awesome opening riff, uptempo, and I love the lyrics.
Stray Heart: It’s definitely more pop than rock or punk. Almost sounds like something that could’ve been played at a 1950’s Sockhop? I love the chorus.
Ashley: Who is the girl that Billie Joe wrote this for?? She’s sounds vile, but I’d like to meet her. He certainly did a number on him and pissed him off. But I think we can all relate to being strung along by someone. In short: I love this song. One of my favorites on the album.
Baby Eyes: I hate the title, but I love the opening riff. This is probably one of the songs I like less on the album. Probably because I don’t understand the lyrics yet.
Lady Cobra: This was written for the lead singer of Mystic Knights of the Cobra, a band that’s pretty popular among some my friends (though I’m not very familiar with them). Another awesome opening riff that pulls you in right away. It’s a solid, awesome song.
Nightlife: Featuring the aforementioned Lady Cobra, when I first listened to this song, the first thought I had was, “WTF is this?” It is probably the furthest thing from typical Green Day fare since 2000’s Misery. Billie Joe’s voice is distorted, it’s featuring a female singer, and the lyrics are out there (even for him!). I really like this one though – or rather: I’ve grown to appreciate it over the past couple of days.
Wow That’s Loud!: They played this at Webster Hall and I loved it then, and I still love it. I love the opening and recurring guitar riff – as has been the case with so many of the songs on Dos!. I haven’t listened closely enough to the lyrics yet to figure out what the song is about exactly, but I adore it regardless. And that’s saying something.
Amy: This one leaked around Halloween last year and I think it’s a great way to end in the album. It’s one that was written for Amy Winehouse and it’s a really pretty, simple, melodic song. And when you find out it was written for Amy Winehouse, it’s also pretty sad.
Those are my thoughts on Dos!. I think it’s pretty unique, and I also think it’s a pretty good album, so sue me. Nightlife has to be heard by everyone, so you can listen to it above. Leave your opinions below on it if you have one.
Another National Anthem (Assassins)… I’m just going to leave this here. Happy Fourth of July everyone!
Get Away From You (Martin Solveig, Smash)…. I’ve spent this week getting acquainted with Martin Solveig’s album Smash and I’ve had this song on repeat for the last few days (literally). I love it.
If I wanted to be dramatic, I could say this is how I felt about the last guy I was dating, but that’s not true because there was no animosity, just frustration. I often make a bigger deal than necessary with small relationship-ish things that should’ve meant nothing (but for some reason they did mean at least a bit). Dear self, stop trying to be needlessly dramatic.
I’m thisclose to buying a ticket for day 2 of Electric Zoo so I can see him do his thing live. Does anyone know if he ever sings when he… performs?
I spent the summer studying abroad in England in 2007. The Saturday after we arrived it was the annual Trooping the Colour celebration for the Queen’s birthday. She wore lime green and stood out on a platform for a while and we all cheered. Today’s her Jubilee, so happy 60 years as Queen, your majesty.
And I thought the above song was the only one appropriate for today.
There’s really no good way to write about a breakup. But let me try because this thing was important to me. On the night of the Superbowl, I received a Facebook message from a guy. We had no idea why we were Facebook friends because we literally had no recollection of speaking in twelve years of going to school together. We kept talking for some reason and I suggested we meet a couple of weeks later just to catch up. We fell for each other that night. Hard. It was insane. We saw each other the next two days too, and then counted down the days until we saw each the next weekend during the week that followed.
Here was the catch: We had nothing in common and he lived and worked outside of the city. We were polar opposites – he was introverted (his words) and I was extroverted. Still, I thought it could be good and he could balance out my huge personality and maybe mellow me out. It was great for about three weeks.
Then things started to change: he claimed he was too spontaneous to make plans in advance for the weekends, but all of his weekends seemed to be booked up already somehow. He would come into the city with his friends and not tell me – sometimes for entire weekends at a time. I know we all need our friends and we definitely shouldn’t be neglecting them when we get into something that seems like a relationship, but I just wanted to feel integrated into his life and he seemed to be totally uncomfortable with that and unwilling to compromise on anything that was outside his comfort zone.
But this was a learning experience. I grew during this because I realized I needed more attention than someone could give me from a state away. I had a few uncomfortable conversations that made me so nervous going in that I wanted to cry (but I didn’t) and that was something I hadn’t really forced myself to do in the past. I asked for what I wanted. He was also the one who encouraged me to start running, which I’m liking (so far). Looking back he was oblivious to what I needed/wanted and seemed to be too much in his own head to try to empathize with what I was feeling. There’s a woman out there who will like that and be able to handle it, but that woman isn’t me.
All that aside, he was (is) a good guy. He was respectful, thoughtful (in his own way), really sweet at times, and incredibly smart. He just wasn’t comfortable having uncomfortable conversations or talking about feelings – or listening to mine. I was also sent the link to this article from eHarmony titled “Ten Signs You are Dating the Wrong Person.” Almost every single one applied.
We weren’t right for each other and that is neither one’s fault. It just wasn’t meant to be and I’m glad I ended it when I did. As one friend put it, I didn’t accept the unacceptable and that’s huge.
for lauren.
This is my very good friend Nick Cearley’s cover of Weezer’s “Island in the Sun.” I love Nick and I love Weezer so this was an automatic reblog situation.
That Girl Allison 