Billie Armstrong Satire

Discovering One’s Self Through Jesus of Suburbia The things that happen to teenagers can be detrimental to their discovering of who they truly are. Unfortunately, the events that can occur can have a negative impact. Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer and guitarist of Green Day, suffered through a very traumatic experience when he was 10 years old. According to VH1’s Behind the Music, Armstrong’s father died of esophagus cancer. After his father passed away, Billie Joe locked himself in his room and told his mother, “Wake me up when september ends,” and this line ended up crafting one of Green Day’s most successful and beautiful pieces of music to date. After his father’s passing, Armstrong picked up playing guitar in order to honor his

Billie Joe Armstrong writes from such an authoritarian perspective. Armstrong easily convinces his audience of youth to feel sorry for this teenager that is going through life. Yes, it is a shame that he does drugs and has sex, but a lot of other teenagers have done the same. Why should anyone feel sorry for this teen that could be a cookie cutter representation of all disenfranchised youth? Armstrong effectively uses lyrical structure and dialogue to make the Jesus of Suburbia more worthy of his audience’s attention. The chorus of the first section, “There is nothing wrong with me,” speaks to many youth. This is what they say to their parents when they feel like they are being badgered. They do not want to talk about what is going on and because the Jesus of Suburbia feels the same way, Armstrong makes his audience more vulnerable and able to relate to his

This audience is very vast and different people could take different messages to heart. Some of their older fans could find the song, Jesus of Suburbia somewhat childish because of the way that the Jesus of Suburbia reacts to events that can be relatively common for teenagers that age, but this also means that this song could speak wonders to Green Day’s teen fan base. Having a character that is going through a similar experience to you could be extremely reassuring and the Jesus of Suburbia has many characteristics similar to the disenfranchised teens of the world. Armstrong was aware that this piece was a cut above the rest and he was hoping that his older fans would appreciate the complex musicality and intense lyrics of the piece while the younger fans could relate to the character that Armstrong is describing. Ultimately, Armstrong was very successful in accomplishing his goals as many of his fans refer to this piece as the Bohemian Rhapsody of the 2000’s. The song was musically complex along with having a extremely strong message that had a huge impact on fans of Green Day across the