10 Song Meanings Fans Can't Accept
4. Green Day's "Good Riddance" Is An Angry Break-Up Song
Every single graduation until the end of time will most likely feature "Good Riddance" by Green Day somewhere in their playlist. The song's exquisite use of strings along with Billie Joe Armstrong's level-headed vocal paint a great sonic portrait of moving on from one stage of life to another.
However, the more universal side of the lyrics was not at the forefront of Billie Joe Armstrong's original composition. When the band were still recording their smash album Dookie, Armstrong wrote the tune after a recent breakup he had had with a girlfriend from the punk rock scene. Although many people marvel at the laid back tone of the vocals, Armstrong has even said that it took a lot of practice for him to come off as level-headed because of the raw frustration he still felt towards his jilted relationship.
A lot of the more casual fans of the song don't even bother to pay attention to the actual snide title "Good Riddance" but instead decide to focus on the more optimistic "Time Of Your Life." Lost love can certainly bring about great art, but this staple of proms and graduations was probably not the first thing Armstrong had in mind when writing this tune.