21st Century Breakdown
21st Century Breakdown
Song Meaning
Billie Joe Armstrong (Guitar World, 2009): "I just thought, Wow, what an unfortunate year to graduate, but what a cool year, too. I wouldn't mind wearing a T-shirt that says 'Class of 13.' So I just started thinking about the generation zero, born under a bad sign. Maybe we're all part of the Class of 13 right now. And it can also be, like, the name of the band that's actually playing. Instead of Green Day, maybe we could call ourselves the Class of 13."
Billie Joe Armstrong (Guitar World, 2009): "I had the song 21st Century Breakdown as a demo version, just a four-track. And we had this whole other song Class of 13, with an Irish kind of part in it. Those were two completely different songs, and I just thought, you know, if I drop the key of 21st Century Breakdown and I put it together with the Class of 13, that could really work. And I realized that that's really what this whole record is about: breaking down a moment in time to try and make sense of it. And, literally, it's like a nervous breakdown."
Billie Joe Armstrong (laut.de, 2009): "'I never made it as a working class hero' is first of all, a reference to John Lennon. I'm a huge fan of his. When he sang that song, being a working class hero still meant something. Now, at least in the US, there are so many losers and homeless people that it's been completely devalued. And even though I was a welfare kid myself, I never had the feeling that a huge pile of shit and baggage had been piled on my shoulders for the next few decades that I now have to work off."
The line 'my town is blind from refinery sun' refers to the Phillips 66 San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, where Billie Joe and Mike grew up.
Billie Joe Armstrong (Guitar World, 2009): "I had the song 21st Century Breakdown as a demo version, just a four-track. And we had this whole other song Class of 13, with an Irish kind of part in it. Those were two completely different songs, and I just thought, you know, if I drop the key of 21st Century Breakdown and I put it together with the Class of 13, that could really work. And I realized that that's really what this whole record is about: breaking down a moment in time to try and make sense of it. And, literally, it's like a nervous breakdown."
Billie Joe Armstrong (laut.de, 2009): "'I never made it as a working class hero' is first of all, a reference to John Lennon. I'm a huge fan of his. When he sang that song, being a working class hero still meant something. Now, at least in the US, there are so many losers and homeless people that it's been completely devalued. And even though I was a welfare kid myself, I never had the feeling that a huge pile of shit and baggage had been piled on my shoulders for the next few decades that I now have to work off."
The line 'my town is blind from refinery sun' refers to the Phillips 66 San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, where Billie Joe and Mike grew up.
Have your own interpretation of "21st Century Breakdown"? Leave a comment below.
Lyrics
Born into Nixon I was raised in hell
A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled
The last one born, the first one to run
My town was blind from refinery sun
My generation is zero
I never made it as a working class hero
21st Century Breakdown
I once was lost but never was found
I think I am losing what's left of my mind
To the 20th Century Deadline
I was made of poison and blood
Condemnation is what I understood
Videogames to the tower's fall
Homeland Security could kill us all
My generation is zero
I never made it as a working class hero
21st Century Breakdown
I once was lost but never was found
I think I am losing what's left of my mind
To the 20th Century Deadline
We are the class of 13
Born in the era of humility
We are the desperate in the decline
Raised by the Bastards of 1969
My name is no one
The long lost son
Born of the 4th of July
Raised in an era of heroes and cons
That left me for dead or alive
I am a nation
A worker of pride
My debt to the status quo
The scars on my hands
And the means to an end
Is all that I have to show
I swallowed my pride
And I choked on my faith
I've given my heart and my soul
I've broken my fingers
And lied through my teeth
The pillar of damage control
I've been to the edge
And I've thrown the bouquet
Of flowers left over the grave
I sat in the waiting room
Wasting my time
And waiting for judgement day
I praise Liberty
The "Freedom to Obey"
Is the song that strangles me
Don't cross the line
Dream, America dream,
I can't even sleep
From the lights early dawn
Scream, America scream
Believe what you see from heroes and cons?
A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled
The last one born, the first one to run
My town was blind from refinery sun
My generation is zero
I never made it as a working class hero
21st Century Breakdown
I once was lost but never was found
I think I am losing what's left of my mind
To the 20th Century Deadline
I was made of poison and blood
Condemnation is what I understood
Videogames to the tower's fall
Homeland Security could kill us all
My generation is zero
I never made it as a working class hero
21st Century Breakdown
I once was lost but never was found
I think I am losing what's left of my mind
To the 20th Century Deadline
We are the class of 13
Born in the era of humility
We are the desperate in the decline
Raised by the Bastards of 1969
My name is no one
The long lost son
Born of the 4th of July
Raised in an era of heroes and cons
That left me for dead or alive
I am a nation
A worker of pride
My debt to the status quo
The scars on my hands
And the means to an end
Is all that I have to show
I swallowed my pride
And I choked on my faith
I've given my heart and my soul
I've broken my fingers
And lied through my teeth
The pillar of damage control
I've been to the edge
And I've thrown the bouquet
Of flowers left over the grave
I sat in the waiting room
Wasting my time
And waiting for judgement day
I praise Liberty
The "Freedom to Obey"
Is the song that strangles me
Don't cross the line
Dream, America dream,
I can't even sleep
From the lights early dawn
Scream, America scream
Believe what you see from heroes and cons?
2 videos
Videos
Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown [Official Music Video]
Live History
Live History
- Total Plays
- 155 times / #40 most played
- Most Recent
- October 29, 2010 San Jose, Costa Rica
- Earliest Known
- April 7, 2009 San Francisco, CA
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Comments
Song Comments