Our Ten Best: Green Day Tracks

One of the most influential rock bands around in music today, Green Day have come a long way. From the early days of Gilman Street, all the way to shows in Japan to support “21st Century Breakdown,” Green Day has plenty of history.

Below is a list of the Top 10 Green Day songs, not decided by popularity but by what actually counts- the music and the meaning behind it.

10: When I Come Around: From “Dookie,” the band’s third studio album released February 1st, 1994 through Reprise Records, this song would be one of the band’s breakthrough singles. With a smooth sound, the song takes you on a ride, the only that three chords can provide. Also, with a memorable music video, it’s hard to omit this from any music list in general.

9: Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?: Off their second studio album, “Kerplunk!” released on January 17, 1992, this song is actually about “The Catcher In The Rye,” one of the most deepest works of literature- the song fits. That was Billie Joe Armstrong’s favorite book.

8: American Eulogy: Off of 2009’s “21st Century Breakdown,” the song begins how the album starts off and soon explodes into guitars that burst with siren-like riffs. Mike Dirnt even lends his vocals in the song and pulls it off greatly. This song stands out the most of their newest material.

7: Boulevard of Broken Dreams: “My shadow’s the only one that walks beside me, until then I walk alone.” It’s nearly impossible not to connect the band to this song, this is the song that most of the “newer” fans know them by. Between the song’s intro and the chorus, it’s easy to see why this is one of the band’s most known songs. The music video is quite excellent too.

6: Jason Andrew Relva: This song was featured on the Angus movie soundtrack; it was one of the band’s first songs to give them mainstream attention. The song, about a close friend of the band that had been killed, has deep, personal lyrics that almost anybody can relate to. The song is about moving on when someone passes and just try to live life the very best way possible.

5: Waiting: Off the band’s 2000 effort, “Warning,” the song pays homage to another song named “Downtown.” The song has lyrics, “Better thank your lucky stars,” and that is still to this day one of the band’s most deepest, personal lyrics. On an album that saw the band go outside of the sound they were most known for, this song closely resembles that.

4: Holiday: Off “American Idiot,” the song is a burst of energy from start to finish and truly embodies the new “American Idiot” sound. Politics and music can be a bad combination if done poorly, but the band makes it work on this song.

3: Brain Stew: Off “Insomniac,” the song has a pretty simple rhythm and is an easy song to learn and play if one wishes to do so. Green Day still makes this song work no matter how simple it is. “Insomniac” represented a more angrier sound, as it was a time when the band was looked down upon for “selling out” with Dookie and they took all the rage of rejection and brought it with them into the studio and they made it work. The song’s music video is shot in black and white and features shots of the band sitting on the couch and the song is also about the troubles of insomnia.

2: King For A Day: Saxophones and horns on a Green Day song? Yes, you heard right. “Nimrod” from 1997 showed the band’s abilities to play a bunch of different styled songs. This will probably be the band’s only “ska” song but boy, is it memorable. When the song is played live, Armstrong gets the crowd amped up and the band takes things even further and usually incorporate the song “Shout!” with it. To see one of the best performances of the song live, just look for “King For A Day/Shout!”off their Bullet in a Bible live album. Ironically enough, the song is about a drag queen. Go figure.

1:Good Riddance (Time of Your Life): There isn’t one graduation or wedding that didn’t use this song at some point. Always looked at as a “happy” song about having the time of your life, it is actually a really sad song when you concentrate on the lyrics. The song is really about memories and being able to finally let go of someone. The song is incredibly deep with lyrics that are known to any music fan alike, “It’s something unpredictable but in the end is right, I hope you have the time of your life.” The song was also featured in the last episode of “Seinfeld,” and remains one of their most popular hits.