Green Day’s new album, 21st Century Breakdown, makes me love Billie Joe Armstrong all the more, the vulnerable man, the rebel, the dreamer, the defiled. One of the songs, Before the Lobotomy, clearly, relates to his father’s death and the reversal of his happy childhood. Certain songs stick in my mind, Viva La Gloria, and 21 Guns among them. This album is not American Idiot; I won’t call it better or worse, just different. The more times you listen to the rock opera, the more the music grows, and the lyrics and emotional impact expand. Like Idiot, listening to 21st Century Breakdown is an experience. And the range and perfection of Armstrong’s singing voice is increased.
PREMIERE PERFORMANCE
21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWN
OAKLAND, CA - 4-14-09
My husband suspects he’s spent some of the five years since Idiot taking singing lessons, improving what was already impressive. All I know is my concerns about the production of his voice on the album were erased with Armstrong’s flawless performance of the difficult 21 Guns during Green Day’s live performance, May 16th, on Saturday Night Live, and his masterful crowd energizing live performance, May 22nd, on Good Morning America. Armstrong looks happy and healthy, and the stage is where he claims to feel the best.
ROLLING STONE - ISSUE 1079 - 5-28-09There’s a great new article in the May 28, 2009 issue of Rolling Stone, where Armstrong talks about the insecurity that goes along with writing his songs: “You can scare yourself with ambition- having the audacity to want to be as good as John Lennon or Paul McCartney… There has been so much great shit before me that I feel like a student… But you have to battle past that… If you’re at that place where you’ve been working hard but don’t feel like you know what you’re doing anymore, then you’re onto something.”
STUDIO SHOT - 21ST CENTURY BREAKDOWNSo, I guess Armstrong’s words of encouragement give me permission to keep writing my several novels-in-progress to completion, even when I’m not sure what I’m doing, or how the final draft will ultimately shine. On the other hand, in the Rolling Stone article Armstrong also says, “I’ve been consumed. I tell my wife, ‘Sorry that for the last 15 years all I’ve talked about is being in a rock band.’”
BILLIE JOE, AND WIFE, ADRIENNE ARMSTRONGAnd he has concerns about what his children will think of his lyrics: “I like painting an ugly picture. I get something uplifting out of singing some of the most horrifying shit you can sing about.” He smiles. “It’s just my DNA.” About his 14 year old son, Joseph, listening to the new album: “I want to make sure ‘Christian’s Inferno’ (song title) isn’t going on in my house. I don’t think he understands everything that’s going on in there… But in the next few years, he’s definitely going to do some investigating.”
ADRIENNE AND BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONGSongwriting, or novel writing- our insecurities about our talent, our desire for connection, our worries about the time taken away from our relationships, and our concerns about revealing too much about our demons or our hopes- is much the same, it seems.
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HI Annie..I read your blog. I really enjoyed what you wrote of Billie Joe. HE is very special and I love his changes through the years and his beautiful voice that he has. To me he sings like an Angel ..I am writing something about him ( may I email you personally about it as its kind of special?) There is a certain energy that is spine tingling and I find that 21 Century Breakdown is actually more melancholy and sad and beautiful. Something I have always wanted to do since I started studying music as a child is transcribe other people's music. i have always told myself that I want to some so and so's music but I find it either too difficult or it didn't inspire me for something. Something on the other hand happened to me the last week. I transcribed three of the new songs in like just a few days. Now I am making my own arrangements on the piano and I treat them as classics. The songs are Viva La Gloria, Last Night on Earth and 21 Guns, These pieces have such simple musical stucture and arrangements ..perfection actually ,,and I am not supposed to be able to do this! the really spooky thing is that I memorized the tunes the first day I heard them. His voice is soft, silky, plaintive, yearning, earnest and such a treat to listen to..even his harder stuff is better to listen to as his diction is impecable Billie is becoming a fine tenor. my BF and I were saying that we have a tough time thinking what category Green Day is now...I just call it Beautiful music...I felt this way to a point with the new artist MIKA,,,but something was simmering in the background and the resurgence of Green Day is doing something to much of us..Bringing back the innoncence of the 90s that is lacking now these days...its hard to explain...But I think there something very magical happening..
ReplyDeleteSuzanne:)
Hi Suzanne,
DeleteI also love "Last Night on Earth," so reminiscent of an early Beatles love song, yet uniquely Billie Joe, in part, because it is a love song sung "just before the fire."
If you read my earlier post, I respond to the emotion in Armstrong's work. So many songs throughout the years sound energetic and upbeat, and then you listen to the lyrics, and you feel the torture, or the indecision, or the anger (often self directed), and through it all, the wish and hope for love and recognition.
Perhaps it is that emotional reservoir that has inspired you to compose variations on his songs, as I have composed variations on his life (inspired by his music and the look in his eyes) in my novels, play, and related poem. I think it’s because everything he does is genuine, it inspires us to create.
Would I like him if I knew him? Who knows? He’s known to be difficult at times, and I don’t share his addictive personality. I know I admire him, and I believe love inspires him to write his songs for all of us, to sing them for us, and to live in the world the best way he can, with the voice of an angel, the mischief of a jester, the heart of a child, and a vision of grace stronger than a fear of destruction.
Thank you for writing, Suzanne. I’m curious- How did you find me?
~ Annie
Hi Suzanne,
DeleteI'm glad you've found both inspiration and validation with Billie Joe Armstrong's life and music. I think that's what his music is all about.
Good luck with your projects!
Very encouraging what he says about working hard but not knowing what you're doing. I really wished I could believe that meant that you're on the right track.
ReplyDeleteHi Lori,
DeleteThere's more to the quote. Before that, he related a story that indicated you have to believe in yourself when other people put you down. I think that's what he really meant when he said that you should go ahead, even when you're not sure what you're doing.
He also relates working hard to not being overconfident. I'm interpreting, but I think he means working hard means you have doubts, and as long as you battle past them, that can be a good thing, making your final product that much better.
Another great review Annie... these guys should hire you to be their editorial publicist, if there is such a thing.
ReplyDeleteOh yay! For some reason your blog doesn't always load for me. :S But today it has. I really like your posts on Billie Joe - I'm a Greenday fan, but never really investigated the man behind the music, so it has been very interesting to find out more.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea,
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed them!
Wow, Annie! This is awesome stuff. I especially like what he says about how he worries about his lyrics when it comes to his son. I've always wondered how musicians balance those two worlds. It must be tough to do. A fascinating read:)
ReplyDeletegreen days songs bring out the best in all of us at times because Billie sings about what we are all thinking and of felling and that is why i respect him as an artist
ReplyDelete