[pic=Top 10 Lyrics from the trilogy ]060513_trilogy.jpg[/pic] As a whole, ¡UNO!, ¡DOS!, and ¡TRÉ! have perhaps the most imagery-rich lyrics in Green Day's entire catalogue. Billie Joe tackled many different emotional states in his writing: love, fury, sexual passion, longing, and empathy, to name just a handful. Through American Idiot (2004) and 21st Century Breakdown (2009), Green Day released music that mainly involved fictional (and sometimes loosely autobiographical) characters embarking on journeys to find themselves. However, ¡UNO!, ¡DOS!, and ¡TRÉ! feature almost no characters or story lines; the band themselves said that they consciously avoided the rock-opera style. These new songs rely more on personal reflections to convey thoughts, ideas, and emotions. This style of writing is usually more relatable for the listening audience, and easily presents universal concepts with which anyone can identify.

Great lyrics catch my attention, and provoke more thoughts even as the song continues. That being said, featured below are the ten trilogy lyrics that I consider to be the most meaningful. I've also included short personal reflections to justify and explain each of my picks. They are presented in the order in which they appear throughout the course of the three albums. After you've read through all of my top ten, vote here (on our forum, GDC) to tell us which of these lyrics is your favorite (use the corresponding number to the left of each lyric).


#1: Fell For You
Each one of us has experienced a dream that we wished would've never ended. This type of dream usually results in an even stronger longing for the person we're missing.

#2: Angel Blue
These lyrics elaborate on a type of passionate, unrequited love that leaves one person feeling almost unworthy of the other. The narrator feels that he isn't making progress in a relationship, and can't seem to do anything the right way.

#3: Rusty James
Looking back on fond memories and experiences, it is sometimes hard to let them go. One can only hope for something comparable to come about in the future.



#4: Lazy Bones
The narrator is feeling completely drained in every way possible, a state of mind familiar to everyone. Sometimes, advice and outside suggestions aren't the answer; the only cures are peace and quiet

#5: Stray Heart
As cliché as it may sound, everyone truly does make mistakes. When a mistake is made that affects a loved one, we may find ourselves willing to do anything for forgiveness.

#6: Ashley
When it comes to relationships, there's nothing more annoying than being used

#7: Baby Eyes
Here, the narrator artfully describes himself as both a peacemaker in a time of chaos, and a chaotic instigator in a time of peace.


#8: 8th Avenue Serenade
"I want you out of my life forever, but I'll miss you."

#9: Dirty Rotten Bastards
This lyric just may get my vote for most powerful in the entire trilogy. So much meaning: the narrator has lost what means most to him, and now carries on with reckless determination.

#10: The Forgotten
These lines reference another common proverb that is both true and very cliché: "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Thanks for reading to the bottom of the list! The two lyrics below were edited out of their respective songs before the recording process. I absolutely adore these two, and really wish they would've made the final cut. You can see Billie Joe's original hand-written lyric sheets for these and other trilogy songs here.

BONUS: "She kills me with kindness / She's kissing me mindless now" -- "Wild One"
BONUS: "I'm just a rambler, a hurdy-durdy gambler / A love-sick and filthy swine" -- "Dirty Rotten Bastards"

Really love a trilogy lyric that wasn't included in this list? Tell us on the forum!