Saturday, May 5, 2012
Magic of Music
Well, I just heard Billie Joe Armstrong and Green Day perform live for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Singing along with Letterbomb from American Idiot, I'm reminded of how much these guys helped me during a difficult time to process a myriad of emotions, singing with them to mitigate the horrors and the heartfelt and troubling joys. Yes, Billie Joe behaved badly with his "f" bombs and throwing (can't believe it), throwing his guitar on to the stage, but the genuine smile he gave at the end of the performance, after forcing the tuxedo wearing and evening gown auditorium crowd to get up on their feet, makes me smile, too. How old will these guys be when they stop rocking? They will never stop rocking. It's not Billie Joe's fictional characters that especially get to me; it's the energy and the emotion and the deep seated love and the acceptance of flawed humanity... And as I'm writing and listening to the show, Donovan is being inducted, harking back to Catch the Wind, which is the early Donovan I love. His acceptance speech is a poem. Poet/Philosophers? Perhaps that is the appeal. And music, it makes you move.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Green Day: All About Love
A year ago yesterday, on a Sunday, my husband, son, and I saw Green Day perform live at the Gwinnett Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. My husband texted me a few times today while we were both at work, wishing we were on that vacation now- the one that took us from Green Day to the Blue Ridge Parkway, to Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive, and the opening day of last year's Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire.
In commemoration of that amazing trip, and our front row seats, I am linking to my article about our Green Day Concert experience, including three original photographs. At the bottom of this post, I'm linking to a series of articles analyzing Billie Joe Armstrong's song writing technique as it applies to creative writing, and my "love affair" with Billie Joe Armstrong as inspiration for three novels-in-progress, one short play, and one mini-novella.
Because I wrote fifteen or so articles about Green Day, I've been indexed by Google and several fan sites, and I get some forty-five blog hits a day from people looking for information about Billie Joe Armstrong's songwriting technique, or more often, from people looking for photographs, especially of Billie Joe and his wife, Adrienne.
*Click here* to see the photographs and to read my observations and reflections about Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong; and also how they relate to some of my writing. I include excerpts from professionally written articles with links to the original sources. If you're a Green Day fan, a musician, or a writer, enjoy!
In commemoration of that amazing trip, and our front row seats, I am linking to my article about our Green Day Concert experience, including three original photographs. At the bottom of this post, I'm linking to a series of articles analyzing Billie Joe Armstrong's song writing technique as it applies to creative writing, and my "love affair" with Billie Joe Armstrong as inspiration for three novels-in-progress, one short play, and one mini-novella.
Because I wrote fifteen or so articles about Green Day, I've been indexed by Google and several fan sites, and I get some forty-five blog hits a day from people looking for information about Billie Joe Armstrong's songwriting technique, or more often, from people looking for photographs, especially of Billie Joe and his wife, Adrienne.
*Click here* to see the photographs and to read my observations and reflections about Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong; and also how they relate to some of my writing. I include excerpts from professionally written articles with links to the original sources. If you're a Green Day fan, a musician, or a writer, enjoy!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A Writing Inventory
A generous friend helped me with a reading, and some feedback on my short play. He talked about the play reflecting a region in folkways and mores. At first, I wasn’t certain what he meant, but my mind took over, as I was dreaming, and I woke up realizing I am influenced by my surroundings, the era I grew up in, and where I live now in the suburbs of a sprawling urban area. I’m also influenced by the impact of my childhood, both joys and trauma, everything I’ve ever done and known, and my current experiences as the mother of a teenage boy, and as a librarian.
I’ve written two short stories involving homeless men, one of them a newspaper vendor running away from his life as a journalist after the unexpected death of his fiancé, and one of them an alcoholic artist who hangs out at a train station, separated from his wife and children, and longing for redemption. I knew I was directly influenced by seeing such men standing on street corners, or hanging out at the library where I work, and the downtown library where I used to work. We often dismiss such men as invaluable members of society, but what do we know about their backgrounds, and who they are?
My first short story, after ten plus years of writing novel length fiction (story starts, novels-in-progress), poured out of me, after a first line, surprising me completely, because I didn’t know I was going to write about teens working at the mall and Hot Topic, a teen/young adult clothing store, frequented by young punks and goths, and aging tattooed store clerks with red hair and face piercings. A teenage girl escapes assault, when a teen working as a custodian rescues her from a group of boys. A few days later she goes back to the mall to find him, recognizing her restless attraction.
My realistic short play, one story novella, and one novel-in-progress, all involve alternative rock musicians and the women they meet and turn to in a time of crisis. They are not the same characters, in the play, the story, or the novel, but, as I have admitted before, the male characters, who are not Billie Joe, were inspired by Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day.
It’s not so much that my son led me to Green Day’s music; it’s my husband and I who were led to Armstrong, first through the song and the album, American Idiot. We saw him perform live in 2005, and the attraction began, but it is Armstrong’s photograph on a Rolling Stone cover that made all the feelings coalesce, and I began to write the stories.
The novel began before the play. Part of the attraction in writing about the “Billie Joe” characters, is the exploration of the difference between the public and private persona. Who are these people we admire? Why do we demand so much of them? Do they realize how much they have helped us? Will they accept help from a stranger, when we know so much about them, at least what is printed in books and magazine articles, and from their music?
Another one of my stories involves a children’s librarian who is not me or any one person that I know. She is dying, with some hope of recovery, from cancer. She becomes mesmerized by a story time dad, because she is so lonely, and grieves for the loss of the children she may never bear. It’s a very short story, and I have some hope of its publication. It was rejected with a very kind note from Susan at Glimmer Train. I haven’t submitted it anywhere else recently, but I believe I’m working up the gumption to start submitting my work again.
The fantasy novels come from another place. I may enjoy writing them the most. I have come to believe the fact that well written fantasies embrace universal truths. It is in fantasy, that my deepest feelings can be expressed. It is all there, fears and attractions, independence, courage, sensuality, tragedy, and transcendence. It is the most difficult and complex fiction to write. There are no dragons in these stories, no elves. There are newly created magics, and intertwining relationships. And there is hope in the face of the impossible. I complicate the requirements with multiple points of view.
My substantially written novels-in-progress include two realistic, two historical, and two fantasy fictions. I have three more novels substantially started. All require completion and revision. I have numerous story or novel starts. Sporadically, I write poems. The demands of work, marriage and motherhood make it difficult for me to stay focused. I write in spurts, and by the time I write again, it’s often on a new project. The act of writing is cathartic, but I want my efforts to mean something, and be read. I’m not sure how to accomplish this. And I thank my friend for helping me.
I’ve written two short stories involving homeless men, one of them a newspaper vendor running away from his life as a journalist after the unexpected death of his fiancé, and one of them an alcoholic artist who hangs out at a train station, separated from his wife and children, and longing for redemption. I knew I was directly influenced by seeing such men standing on street corners, or hanging out at the library where I work, and the downtown library where I used to work. We often dismiss such men as invaluable members of society, but what do we know about their backgrounds, and who they are?
My first short story, after ten plus years of writing novel length fiction (story starts, novels-in-progress), poured out of me, after a first line, surprising me completely, because I didn’t know I was going to write about teens working at the mall and Hot Topic, a teen/young adult clothing store, frequented by young punks and goths, and aging tattooed store clerks with red hair and face piercings. A teenage girl escapes assault, when a teen working as a custodian rescues her from a group of boys. A few days later she goes back to the mall to find him, recognizing her restless attraction.
My realistic short play, one story novella, and one novel-in-progress, all involve alternative rock musicians and the women they meet and turn to in a time of crisis. They are not the same characters, in the play, the story, or the novel, but, as I have admitted before, the male characters, who are not Billie Joe, were inspired by Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day.
It’s not so much that my son led me to Green Day’s music; it’s my husband and I who were led to Armstrong, first through the song and the album, American Idiot. We saw him perform live in 2005, and the attraction began, but it is Armstrong’s photograph on a Rolling Stone cover that made all the feelings coalesce, and I began to write the stories.
The novel began before the play. Part of the attraction in writing about the “Billie Joe” characters, is the exploration of the difference between the public and private persona. Who are these people we admire? Why do we demand so much of them? Do they realize how much they have helped us? Will they accept help from a stranger, when we know so much about them, at least what is printed in books and magazine articles, and from their music?
Another one of my stories involves a children’s librarian who is not me or any one person that I know. She is dying, with some hope of recovery, from cancer. She becomes mesmerized by a story time dad, because she is so lonely, and grieves for the loss of the children she may never bear. It’s a very short story, and I have some hope of its publication. It was rejected with a very kind note from Susan at Glimmer Train. I haven’t submitted it anywhere else recently, but I believe I’m working up the gumption to start submitting my work again.
The fantasy novels come from another place. I may enjoy writing them the most. I have come to believe the fact that well written fantasies embrace universal truths. It is in fantasy, that my deepest feelings can be expressed. It is all there, fears and attractions, independence, courage, sensuality, tragedy, and transcendence. It is the most difficult and complex fiction to write. There are no dragons in these stories, no elves. There are newly created magics, and intertwining relationships. And there is hope in the face of the impossible. I complicate the requirements with multiple points of view.
My substantially written novels-in-progress include two realistic, two historical, and two fantasy fictions. I have three more novels substantially started. All require completion and revision. I have numerous story or novel starts. Sporadically, I write poems. The demands of work, marriage and motherhood make it difficult for me to stay focused. I write in spurts, and by the time I write again, it’s often on a new project. The act of writing is cathartic, but I want my efforts to mean something, and be read. I’m not sure how to accomplish this. And I thank my friend for helping me.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Paul Zollo Interviews Billie Joe Armstrong at Bluerailroad: Why It Matters to the Writer of Fiction and Why It Matters to Me
I've discovered an insightful interview: Inside Green Day with Billie Joe Armstrong, by Paul Zollo, in an online magazine of the arts: Bluerailroad. Zollo sets the scene for his interviews, and discusses the background of each songwriter, so the reader imagines the conversation in real time.
Armstrong's interview took place soon after the 2000 release of the Green Day album, Warning, one of my personal favorites, at a time when some critics considered Green Day to be in a slump. You would never know it from Zollo's balanced article, and Armstrong's thoughtful responses to Zollo's questions.
Zollo, the author of the classic Songwriters on Songwriting (De Capo Press, 4th ed, c2003), and Bluerailroad's editor, is compiling a second collection of interviews with prominent songwriters, to be published as a Volume 2. Generously, Zollo is publishing a selection of the interviews at Bluerailroad, including the full text of an incredible interview with James Taylor, a Woody Guthrie tribute, Armstrong's interview, and a monthly question and answer column with Bob Dylan.
Within some of the interviews, Zollo, a photographer, as well as a singer, writer, and songwriter, intersperses his own photographs of the artists, and a selection of their songs. True to its name as an online magazine of the arts, Bluerailroad also offers original fiction and poetry.
You will also find classic interview excerpts from Songwriters on Songwriting on Paul Zollo's blog at American Songwriter. In her 1989 interview, Carole King discusses writer's block:
"Songwriters, both lyricists and melody writers, are often plagued with the thing most often known as writer’s block. All writers are, writers of prose as well. I have found that the key to not being blocked is to not worry about it. Ever... Trust that it will be there. If it ever was once and you’ve ever done it once, it will be back. It always comes back and the only thing that is a problem is when you get in your own way worrying about it." ~ Carole King
Here's a tiny sample from Billie Joe Armstrong's interview with Paul Zollo:
Zollo: "Where do you think the great songs come from?"
Armstrong: "I don’t know. I really don’t. It comes from somewhere deep down inside of you that you didn’t even know existed. It’s kind of like seeing a shrink or something. (Laughs) There can be a lot of anger, or sadness, or joy, that you had but you didn’t even know you really had – but it can all come out. You feel a connection with it, and so other people can, too. You strike a nerve." ~ Billie Joe Armstrong
Since that time, Billie Joe Armstrong has had a lot of time to think about his songwriting process and where his songs come from; but sometimes I think it's best, like he said it then, to say it plain. A fellow writer, Alisia Leavitt, recently posted on her blog about a cathartic experience she had writing a scene in her novel-in-progress. She titled the post: Becoming Emotionally Involved. The more I read about songwriters and their process, and writers and their process, the more I am convinced song= story= poem= narrative= art= life, and that creativity, in music, writing, or the visual arts, all comes from the same place; we just use different languages and the instrument of the individual to express it, and emotion is the key.
I'm planning to buy Zollo's book, Songwriters on Songwriting, appreciating the insight I can gain from each artist's view on the creative process, and I'm looking forward to the second volume. And now, I wonder, all along, have I been missing something? Should it have been obvious to me that song= story= poem= narrative= art= life? It has come to me as a revelation, why, I am drawn to music, beyond being a human, and why, Billie Joe Armstrong's songs have had such a profound effect on me, even though I cannot identify with their details. I always knew a song was a poem, but I didn't know it was a story, my story, rendered in the emotion it conveys.
When I was a little girl I heard a song on the radio in the dark in the middle of the night: Richard Harris singing Someone Left the Cake out in the Rain. I don't think that I can take it, cause it took so long to bake it, and I'll never find that recipe again. Oh, no. Oh, no.... I've barely heard that song again in my entire life, but I'll never forget those words and the melody, because of what combination? The unusual words (on the surface silly), the music, and the emotion in the voice, parts of it ruined for me by the hokey music, but the overriding emotion winning out, Richard Harris singing me his story. I was "arrested" by that song, and it made an "indelible mark." And somehow, that song relates- to Billie Joe Armstrong- and to every other song, and to every other novel, and to every other poem, and every other painting, and every other drawing I've ever loved or responded to- all parts of me, and who I am.
For my other articles about Billie Joe Armstrong, the song writing process, and the writing process, please click on the labels below this post.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: Paul Zollo kindly contacted me and sent me a complimentary copy of Songwriters on Songwriting. Thank you, Paul.
Armstrong's interview took place soon after the 2000 release of the Green Day album, Warning, one of my personal favorites, at a time when some critics considered Green Day to be in a slump. You would never know it from Zollo's balanced article, and Armstrong's thoughtful responses to Zollo's questions.
Zollo, the author of the classic Songwriters on Songwriting (De Capo Press, 4th ed, c2003), and Bluerailroad's editor, is compiling a second collection of interviews with prominent songwriters, to be published as a Volume 2. Generously, Zollo is publishing a selection of the interviews at Bluerailroad, including the full text of an incredible interview with James Taylor, a Woody Guthrie tribute, Armstrong's interview, and a monthly question and answer column with Bob Dylan.
Within some of the interviews, Zollo, a photographer, as well as a singer, writer, and songwriter, intersperses his own photographs of the artists, and a selection of their songs. True to its name as an online magazine of the arts, Bluerailroad also offers original fiction and poetry.
You will also find classic interview excerpts from Songwriters on Songwriting on Paul Zollo's blog at American Songwriter. In her 1989 interview, Carole King discusses writer's block:
"Songwriters, both lyricists and melody writers, are often plagued with the thing most often known as writer’s block. All writers are, writers of prose as well. I have found that the key to not being blocked is to not worry about it. Ever... Trust that it will be there. If it ever was once and you’ve ever done it once, it will be back. It always comes back and the only thing that is a problem is when you get in your own way worrying about it." ~ Carole King
Here's a tiny sample from Billie Joe Armstrong's interview with Paul Zollo:
Zollo: "Where do you think the great songs come from?"
Armstrong: "I don’t know. I really don’t. It comes from somewhere deep down inside of you that you didn’t even know existed. It’s kind of like seeing a shrink or something. (Laughs) There can be a lot of anger, or sadness, or joy, that you had but you didn’t even know you really had – but it can all come out. You feel a connection with it, and so other people can, too. You strike a nerve." ~ Billie Joe Armstrong
Since that time, Billie Joe Armstrong has had a lot of time to think about his songwriting process and where his songs come from; but sometimes I think it's best, like he said it then, to say it plain. A fellow writer, Alisia Leavitt, recently posted on her blog about a cathartic experience she had writing a scene in her novel-in-progress. She titled the post: Becoming Emotionally Involved. The more I read about songwriters and their process, and writers and their process, the more I am convinced song= story= poem= narrative= art= life, and that creativity, in music, writing, or the visual arts, all comes from the same place; we just use different languages and the instrument of the individual to express it, and emotion is the key.
I'm planning to buy Zollo's book, Songwriters on Songwriting, appreciating the insight I can gain from each artist's view on the creative process, and I'm looking forward to the second volume. And now, I wonder, all along, have I been missing something? Should it have been obvious to me that song= story= poem= narrative= art= life? It has come to me as a revelation, why, I am drawn to music, beyond being a human, and why, Billie Joe Armstrong's songs have had such a profound effect on me, even though I cannot identify with their details. I always knew a song was a poem, but I didn't know it was a story, my story, rendered in the emotion it conveys.
When I was a little girl I heard a song on the radio in the dark in the middle of the night: Richard Harris singing Someone Left the Cake out in the Rain. I don't think that I can take it, cause it took so long to bake it, and I'll never find that recipe again. Oh, no. Oh, no.... I've barely heard that song again in my entire life, but I'll never forget those words and the melody, because of what combination? The unusual words (on the surface silly), the music, and the emotion in the voice, parts of it ruined for me by the hokey music, but the overriding emotion winning out, Richard Harris singing me his story. I was "arrested" by that song, and it made an "indelible mark." And somehow, that song relates- to Billie Joe Armstrong- and to every other song, and to every other novel, and to every other poem, and every other painting, and every other drawing I've ever loved or responded to- all parts of me, and who I am.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
For my other articles about Billie Joe Armstrong, the song writing process, and the writing process, please click on the labels below this post.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Note: Paul Zollo kindly contacted me and sent me a complimentary copy of Songwriters on Songwriting. Thank you, Paul.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Nothing Wrong With Me: An Excellent Green Day Fan Site
I found this Green Day web site, after the happy surprise of realizing Delfina had posted a link to my Billie Joe Armstrong/ Green Day posts. Visit Nothing Wrong With Me: A Green Day Fan Site, for a one stop grouping of links to articles and reviews about Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day's music, their current tour, and the American Idiot Musical. Read original insight from the web site's contributors, like this excellent article, Foundations, by Amanda, where she explains her assertion that "Green Day's music grabs you by the heart and doesn't let go."
(Amanda's article will grab you by the heart. Click on the word, "essay," below her post, and you will taste a wide variety of intelligent writing, intimate thoughts and exposed emotions, regarding all things Green Day.)
In her profile, Delfina states why she started the site: "There are a lot of Green Day sites out there already, and I personally owe them a huge debt for all the news, information, community, and general love and satisfaction they’ve given me. So why one more? I just want something with more words. I want to read about thoughts, feelings, opinions, observations, and whatever else thinking about Green Day can inspire, and I hope that people who stop by will want to submit some of their own."
Delfina specifically reaches out to fans of all ages, a plus for older fans like me, and she actively seeks contributors. The site is well organized, with easy sidebar links to favorite fan sites and recent news and information.
I'm always impressed by people who create something professional, out of love for their subject and a desire to share a vision, not because they're paid to do it. The wonderfulness that is Delfina's site, is that teens are writing alongside adults of all ages, and we all respond to Green Day, admiring them not only as musicians, but as people, brilliant and flawed, like each of us.
Please Note:
July 2010- Nothing Wrong With Me is no longer an active site. I have no idea why, but I have some hope for its return, so I've left this article and the links. My admiration for Delfina, and for the site, remains.
Feb 2011 - I am happy to say the site is back up!
(Amanda's article will grab you by the heart. Click on the word, "essay," below her post, and you will taste a wide variety of intelligent writing, intimate thoughts and exposed emotions, regarding all things Green Day.)
In her profile, Delfina states why she started the site: "There are a lot of Green Day sites out there already, and I personally owe them a huge debt for all the news, information, community, and general love and satisfaction they’ve given me. So why one more? I just want something with more words. I want to read about thoughts, feelings, opinions, observations, and whatever else thinking about Green Day can inspire, and I hope that people who stop by will want to submit some of their own."
Delfina specifically reaches out to fans of all ages, a plus for older fans like me, and she actively seeks contributors. The site is well organized, with easy sidebar links to favorite fan sites and recent news and information.
I'm always impressed by people who create something professional, out of love for their subject and a desire to share a vision, not because they're paid to do it. The wonderfulness that is Delfina's site, is that teens are writing alongside adults of all ages, and we all respond to Green Day, admiring them not only as musicians, but as people, brilliant and flawed, like each of us.
Please Note:
July 2010- Nothing Wrong With Me is no longer an active site. I have no idea why, but I have some hope for its return, so I've left this article and the links. My admiration for Delfina, and for the site, remains.
Feb 2011 - I am happy to say the site is back up!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Billie Joe Compares his Song Writing Process to Writing a Novel
Billie Joe ArmstrongTre Cool and Mike Dirnt
Wearing Leather Jackets
(And Pensive Expressions)
Studio Shot
I just found a great article I'd never seen before, where Billie Joe Armstrong (or at least his interviewer with the Associated Press) acknowledges that the song writing he's accomplished with the past two Green Day concept albums, American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, is akin to writing a novel.
Here's the link to the article, widely published, with the interesting title: Green Day is creating a 'soundtrack to life'
Billie Joe Armstrong and bass player, Mike Dirnt, do the bulk of the talking. The "soundtrack to life" quote is courtesy of Green Day's drummer, Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright III).
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I appreciate and admire Billie Joe Armstrong, as a person, a creator, and a catalyst, but in case I've never said it clearly before, I'll say it now: Billie Joe Armstrong may be the lead guitarist, lead singer, the lyricist, and the melody writer, but the three men together, make Green Day. Any other combination, Green Day would not exist. I am not a musician, but I can hear the difference. Mike Dirnt is an acknowledged genius with the bass, and Tre Cool plays the drums with the expression of any other instrument; he doesn't just keep a background rhythm, his contribution is integral to the dream. Together, they evoke emotion, and instigate catharsis. As a group, they've had their rough spots, but if you look for it, when they glance in each other's direction, you can see the brotherly love shining in their eyes; their long time history and friendship has to make a difference in their success. (Though I do have to wonder how the other two men are feeling with the latest album release, where Billie Joe makes the front cover of every music magazine, and they are usually relegated to the inside pages.)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Click on the labels below this post for more of my articles about Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day, the song writing process, 21st Century Breakdown, and my Gwinnett Arena Green Day concert experience.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Sing Us A Song For Me: Billie Joe Armstrong shifts point-of-view to great effect.
Billie Joe ArmstrongNME Magazine
June 6, 2009
Interview Excerpt
Someone searched on the phrase: poetic techniques in the song 21 guns by greenday. At the time, I had no answer for them, but they found my site, anniekwrites, through the key words in the search. They stayed for a minute or two, and maybe clicked the link to hear the song in a live performance. It got me thinking about impressions I’d already gleaned, pertinent for the writer, any writer, of prose, poetry, or song lyrics. Billie Joe Armstrong breaks the rule; he shifts his point of view.
One minute he’s in third person, the next it’s first, or it’s the second person, “you,” or the understood you, as in a command, sometimes all in the same song, or in the same sentence, and there are the layered elements of tone, narrator reliability, and distance. And nobody minds it, because it makes you feel included, and he readily admits, every song he writes, from a male or a female perspective, starting with the multiple points of view expressed in the concept album American Idiot, and continuing with 21st Century Breakdown, with its two major characters, is him. Often, when he uses the second person “you,” it’s almost like he’s talking to himself.
In the June 6, 2009 British music magazine, NME, Billie Joe Armstrong is interviewed by Hardeep Phull. On page 10, Phull asks Armstrong:
The characters on 21st Century Breakdown are extensions of you, aren’t they?
“I think it’s 100% me. It’s just different names. Those songs could be ‘Billie’s Inferno’ or ‘Viva La Billie Joe’ (laughs). The character thing came almost by accident during recording. There’s a yin/yang element to them- it’s a little bit schizophrenic in a lot of ways.”
Doesn’t that worry you - that you’ve written an album that’s 100 percent you and yet it’s two different people?
“Yeah, and one’s a man and one’s a woman! What does that say (laughs)? I think it’s more down to creativity. When you put names and characters to it, it gives it flesh and blood… it means so much more than if the songs were all obviously me.”
Whether he knows it or not, Billie Joe Armstrong works to achieve what all good writers do: to translate his personal visions and demons onto the page through his characters, so that every word is accessible, without compromise, and essential to the piece.
Because of its emotional content and lyrical melody, the song, 21 Guns, is one of my favorites on 21st Century Breakdown, but it is not the best constructed of the songs in terms of poetic technique. In 21 Guns, Armstrong asks a series of questions and gives the listener an answer. This is an example from the third stanza and then the repeating refrain:
Did you try to live on your own
When you burned down the house and home
Did you stand too close to the fire?
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone
(incredible musical interlude, before powerful refrain)
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
You and I
The “You and I.” That’s when you learn he’s talking about a version of himself, and not an abstract concept. That’s why I call 21 Guns a song about relationships.
In the closing stanza before the final refrain, Armstrong starts out in the second person “you,” and in the third line, brings in the concept of the first person, “I.”
When it’s time to live and let die
And you can’t get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You’re in ruins.
Of course, you could consider it as a discourse, where he’s interjecting, as a third person omniscient observer, “Something inside this heart has died,” but I prefer to think of it in a first person context, and that he’s talking about his own heart. But, then, why doesn't he say "my heart"? (Because he wants you to feel included, the mark of a master writer, the ability to convince the listener to identify with the characters. And he wants you to know he's been in the same place, emotionally, so you can identify with him, the performer.)
(And if I haven’t thoroughly confused you yet, Green Day fan or bewildered reader, just remember, this is only my opinion, not a critical analysis. I write prose and poetry, but sadly, I was never an English major.)
When I was a ninth grade student, we were asked to analyze Paul Simon’s lyrics in songs like Sounds of Silence and Like A Rock. I still have that essay somewhere. It was a useful exercise, not because I learned to analyze the construction of the songs as poetry, but it gave me the opportunity to think about what the songs meant to me, and what I thought the first person character in I Am A Rock was really feeling when he said, “and a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries.” (I got an “A” on the essay.)
Ultimately, what a song (or a story or a poem) means to you is more important than any literary technique. But, as a choice from 21st Century Breakdown, 21 Guns is probably about the only song on there you could analyze for a high school class, though the title song from the album is probably the most ambitious in terms of technique.
Poetic technique in 21 Guns? There’s some slanted rhyming going on. There’s a stanza structure and a refrain. Lines repeat for emphasis. But the power of the song is in its performance. The words and the melody and the voice are ready companions, and there is no reason they should stand alone. Sung and played in the Key of F, in every note of 21 Guns, there is emotion and there is resonance.
© 2009 Annie King
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Green Day, MTV Video Music Awards, and Raunch
Green Day's energized performance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards rescued the broadcast. I’ve written before about how I identify with the emotion in Billie Joe Armstrong’s songs, even though the details of my life bear no relation. He doesn’t celebrate drug use; he chronicles its devastating effects. He uses the “f” word as an expletive, not as a euphemism for sex. In his songs, he respects women, and he idolizes the concepts of idealism, political awareness, and romantic love. His songs ask questions more than they offer solutions. He doesn’t tell you what to do; he just wants to make you aware there’s a problem, and that not everyone thinks or believes the same thing.
Thus, he’s written songs like East Jesus Nowhere, in which he indicts organized religion and tele-evangelism (as he would probably say, the song is not anti-God, it’s anti-hypocrisy), and yes, the lyrics are rough, but the song is actually fun. All of his songs are pop punk rock driven, drawing more than ever from classic rock and stadium rock traditions, best appreciated after repeated plays, when the melodies, vocals, instrumentation, and rhythm changes are drummed into your head.
(In case I’ve given the impression I recommend Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong’s songs to every listener, I want to make it clear, I don’t blindly recommend their songs or their concerts for children or preteens, not without parental guidance.** I don’t necessarily recommend them for younger to mid teens, unless they already became aware of Green Day as ten year olds with the release of American Idiot and songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams, in which case there’s no stopping them. I also don’t recommend Green Day for adults who are sensitive to strong lyrics, or for adults who don’t agree that George Bush and his ilk were the worst thing that ever happened to our country, and that to be an American is to be an individual and to question authority. )
Green Day performed East Jesus Nowhere at the MTV VMA awards. It was an inspired performance. For anyone who caught the North American leg of their 21st Century Breakdown concert tour, you know its intent was to capture the energy of a concert performance, and it mostly succeeded, culminating with bringing hundreds of people up on stage. My husband and I called my son in from his homework to watch it, and we thoroughly enjoyed the antics: Armstrong going out into the audience and Security chasing him back, Armstrong playing his guitar behind his head…
The rest of the MTV VMA awards? We don’t ordinarily watch them. I know we are not a part of the target audience, but still, doesn’t anybody out there agree, the British MC (and I won’t even bother looking up his name or giving him the credit) was crude, tasteless, sexist, and above all- not funny. Whenever cameras panned to the crowd, after yet another, and another, and another lewd joke, at Lady Gaga’s expense, and later, even Beyonce and Taylor Swift, not a single celebrity was smiling. If I were Lady Gaga, I’d have considered stomping the man’s head and crushing his skull with a spiked heel. (Sorry- I digress.) I’m just glad, for the rest of the show, my son was out of the room. So, he missed the MC’s total disregard for women and their feelings. He missed Kanye West stealing the moment from nineteen year old Taylor Swift.
Back to Green Day. In the 8-20-09 issue of Rolling Stone, Billie Joe Armstrong is quoted as making a crude joke about a dog, telling it to the band and crew an hour before a concert. But that joke is not derogatory toward women, and what it’s really saying (if you want to analyze something so silly) is: Give them what they want, make sure they leave satisfied. In his concerts, his “on-stage” patter can be unusual, and his antics during Shout and King for a Day are designed to be raunchy. He must get some kind of exhibitionist thrill from mooning every audience (actually a partial moon, or a "moon peek" during King for a Day) or he wouldn’t still be doing it. But I realize now, why, as a parent, I “forgive him.” None of it is meant to hurt anybody, and none of it is degrading. (As a parent, my biggest concern is Armstrong and his band mates references to drinking.) His concerts are a celebration and an inspiration, and his songs, despite the anguish and the sometimes horrifying lyrics (as he has termed them), are predominantly about hope and courage and love, and those are good themes for everybody.
** So, can I recommend Billie Joe Armstrong’s songs for younger children, after all? If you pre-select the songs (and there are many that are beautiful and inspiring), and you explain a whole lot of things before and after a concert, Green Day (according to band mythology, named when they were seventeen years old after a “good day” of smoking marijuana and/or a reference to a Sesame Street episode with Ernie), has something to offer everybody. Choose wisely.
Billie Joe Armstrong
Thus, he’s written songs like East Jesus Nowhere, in which he indicts organized religion and tele-evangelism (as he would probably say, the song is not anti-God, it’s anti-hypocrisy), and yes, the lyrics are rough, but the song is actually fun. All of his songs are pop punk rock driven, drawing more than ever from classic rock and stadium rock traditions, best appreciated after repeated plays, when the melodies, vocals, instrumentation, and rhythm changes are drummed into your head.
(In case I’ve given the impression I recommend Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong’s songs to every listener, I want to make it clear, I don’t blindly recommend their songs or their concerts for children or preteens, not without parental guidance.** I don’t necessarily recommend them for younger to mid teens, unless they already became aware of Green Day as ten year olds with the release of American Idiot and songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams, in which case there’s no stopping them. I also don’t recommend Green Day for adults who are sensitive to strong lyrics, or for adults who don’t agree that George Bush and his ilk were the worst thing that ever happened to our country, and that to be an American is to be an individual and to question authority. )
Green Day performed East Jesus Nowhere at the MTV VMA awards. It was an inspired performance. For anyone who caught the North American leg of their 21st Century Breakdown concert tour, you know its intent was to capture the energy of a concert performance, and it mostly succeeded, culminating with bringing hundreds of people up on stage. My husband and I called my son in from his homework to watch it, and we thoroughly enjoyed the antics: Armstrong going out into the audience and Security chasing him back, Armstrong playing his guitar behind his head…
The rest of the MTV VMA awards? We don’t ordinarily watch them. I know we are not a part of the target audience, but still, doesn’t anybody out there agree, the British MC (and I won’t even bother looking up his name or giving him the credit) was crude, tasteless, sexist, and above all- not funny. Whenever cameras panned to the crowd, after yet another, and another, and another lewd joke, at Lady Gaga’s expense, and later, even Beyonce and Taylor Swift, not a single celebrity was smiling. If I were Lady Gaga, I’d have considered stomping the man’s head and crushing his skull with a spiked heel. (Sorry- I digress.) I’m just glad, for the rest of the show, my son was out of the room. So, he missed the MC’s total disregard for women and their feelings. He missed Kanye West stealing the moment from nineteen year old Taylor Swift.
Back to Green Day. In the 8-20-09 issue of Rolling Stone, Billie Joe Armstrong is quoted as making a crude joke about a dog, telling it to the band and crew an hour before a concert. But that joke is not derogatory toward women, and what it’s really saying (if you want to analyze something so silly) is: Give them what they want, make sure they leave satisfied. In his concerts, his “on-stage” patter can be unusual, and his antics during Shout and King for a Day are designed to be raunchy. He must get some kind of exhibitionist thrill from mooning every audience (actually a partial moon, or a "moon peek" during King for a Day) or he wouldn’t still be doing it. But I realize now, why, as a parent, I “forgive him.” None of it is meant to hurt anybody, and none of it is degrading. (As a parent, my biggest concern is Armstrong and his band mates references to drinking.) His concerts are a celebration and an inspiration, and his songs, despite the anguish and the sometimes horrifying lyrics (as he has termed them), are predominantly about hope and courage and love, and those are good themes for everybody.
** So, can I recommend Billie Joe Armstrong’s songs for younger children, after all? If you pre-select the songs (and there are many that are beautiful and inspiring), and you explain a whole lot of things before and after a concert, Green Day (according to band mythology, named when they were seventeen years old after a “good day” of smoking marijuana and/or a reference to a Sesame Street episode with Ernie), has something to offer everybody. Choose wisely.
Billie Joe Armstrong5 Years Old in 1979
32 Years Old in 2004
"Fair Use" Image
from: Nobody Likes You
by Marc Spitz
(Hyperion, 2006)
(What were they named before they became Green Day? Sweet Children. Where did Billie Joe Armstrong perform, singing songs from musicals, when he was still a young teen, wearing a white shirt, black pants and a tie? At nursing homes, for elderly residents. Who scolded him about his Woodstock 1994 performance, after he ate the mud clods slung at him by an energized crowd, and dropped his pants? His mother. How many times did they have to bleep Billie Joe Armstrong at the VMA when he sang East Jesus Nowhere? Twice. How many times did they bleep Jay-Z? Every fourth word. What does Armstrong say he regrets most about his life? Not demanding from his teachers a good education.)
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For another delightful perspective about the Gwinnett Arena Green Day concert, there's a blog entry from Access Atlanta's Atlanta Music Scene: Green Day Party Bridges Generations. It did feel like a party, and from what I observed, every "kid" from child to grandparent, had a great time. I know it's something my husband, son and I will always remember as an amazing event, and we experienced it together. Is Green Day for kids? (At every concert, there are kids everywhere!) Let's leave it up to parental guidance.
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Click on the labels below this post for more about Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day, the Song Writing Process, 21st Century Breakdown, and Green Day at Gwinnett Arena.
Green Day and the Song Writing Process
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Billie Joe ArmstrongCover Shot
Guitar World - August 2009
Billie Joe ArmstrongCover Shot
Guitar Player - November 2009
For two great articles about Billie Joe Armstrong and the Song Writing Process, I recommend the August 2009 issue of Guitar World, and the November 2009 issue of Guitar Player. Both feature interviews with Billie Joe Armstrong, emphasizing his approach to writing the songs for 21st Century Breakdown. Both give a perspective on the history of Green Day and their music. In addition, Guitar World includes the BASS lines for the song, Know Your Enemy, and a feature on the guitars and the equipment Billie Joe Armstrong uses on stage and when he's recording. Guitar Player has an interview with Jason White and how he came to play with Green Day in their live performances. For the musician interested in learning and performing their songs, or for the serious Green Day fan, these articles are among the best. Note Armstrong's guitar on the cover of Guitar Player. It is his beloved "Blue," the first guitar his mother struggled to buy for him when he was only ten years old.
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Click on the labels below this post to read my other articles about Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, 21st Century Breakdown, and the Song Writing Process.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
21 Guns: Green Day Live
Billie Joe ArmstrongLive in New York
Webster Hall - May 19, 2009
This is the first time I've tried to embed a You Tube video, so here goes: Green Day performs 21 Guns live from the album, 21st Century Breakdown. Even if you're not among those who love the group or the song, you've got to admire Billie Joe Armstrong's voice, and the sweat pouring down his face midway through a marathon live concert performance!
Though some listeners would interpret 21 Guns as an anti-war song, I give it a broader interpretation. I consider it to be a song about relationships. It's a great song to listen to, very healing, when you've been fighting with someone you love, and you just want everything to feel right again. Sometimes it's okay for both parties to surrender, not because you're giving up, but so you can start over.
Billie Joe Armstrong is playing acoustic guitar in the song clip, but he wrote the melody, the music parts, and the lyrics; and he plays all of the acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and piano for every song on the recorded CD. The video captures the crowd's excitement, respect, and adulation, and a little bit of what it feels like if you are part of a Green Day live performance.
Here's another clip: A live performance of Static Age from the same concert.
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