Are Green Day FF Fans?

POSTED BY: oddness2her
UPDATED: Monday, February 14, 2005 20:32
VIEWED: 4754
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ODDNESS2HER

Friday, February 11, 2005 9:02 PM

So I'm listening to my American Idiot CD for the umpteenth time and it occurs to me that many of the songs have lyrics that could relate to Firefly. To wit:

Track 1 - American Idiot
Substitute "Alliance" for "American" and you have Mal's reasons for going to war. Sample lyric:
Don't want to be an American Idiot
Don't want a nation under the new mania

Track 2 - Jesus of Suburbia
or Simon Becomes Aware of Dark Forces. Sample lyrics:
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care

Everyone is so full of s--t!
Born and raised by hypocrites.

I don't feel any shame,
I won't apologize
when there ain't nowhere you can go.
Running away from pain when you've
been victimized.

Track 3 - Holiday
Mal finds a ship and takes to the Black. Sample lyric:

Hear the sound of the falling rain
coming down like an Armageddon flame
The shame
The ones who died without a name.
I beg to dream and differ from the
hollow lies.
This is the dawning of the rest of
our lives on holiday.

Track 4 - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
What Mal might be thinking late some night. Sample lyric:

My shadow's the only one that walks
beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing
that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there
will find me
Till then I walk alone.

Track 6 - St. Jimmy
or maybe St. Jayne? Sample lyric:

St. Jimmy's coming down across the
alleyway upon the boulevard like a
zip gun on parade.
Light of a silhouette, he's insubordinate
Suicide commando that your momma talked
about.

Track 7 - Novacaine
What River longs for? Sample lyric:

Take away the sensation inside
Bittersweet migraine in my head
It's like a throbbing toothache
of the mind
I can't take this feeling anymore.

Track 8 - She's a Rebel
or When Wash Met Zoe. Sample lyric:

She's a Rebel, She's a Saint
She's the salt of the Earth and
she's dangerous.
She's the symbol of resistance
and she's holding on my heart like a
hand grenade.

Track 9 - Extraordinary Girl
Mal and Inara in a nutshell. Sample lyric:

He lacks the courage in his mind
like a child left behind
Like a pet left in the rain.
She sees the mirror of herself
an image she wants to sell
to anyone willing to buy.

Track 11 - Wake Me Up When September Ends
Isn't that when the BDM comes out?

Track 13 - Whatsername
Assuming Inara did leave for good. Sample lyric:

She went away and then I took a
different path
I remember the face, but I can't
recall the name
Now I wonder how Whatsername has been
The regrets are useless in my mind
She's in my head.

So the question before the court is, should Green Day change their name to Brown Coats?

MANIACNUMBERONE

Friday, February 11, 2005 9:09 PM

Excellent spotting and creativity. I'd say though, that since this album came out first, perhaps Joss is a Green Day fan instead of the other way around.

ODDNESS2HER

Friday, February 11, 2005 9:12 PM

What do you mean? American Idiot came out last year. Way after the debut of Firefly.

QUICKSAND

Friday, February 11, 2005 9:19 PM

I think you're just noticing the similarites between the Alliance and the current American Government. I doubt there's a direct link between Joss and Billie Joe, but they're both rebelling against the same things: loss of freedom, abuse of power, and standing up for what you believe in.

___\_o_/___
--------------- (Qs)

SHINY

Friday, February 11, 2005 9:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by oddness2her:

Track 11 - Wake Me Up When September Ends
Isn't that when the BDM comes out?

How long ago did they record this album? To fit your theory, it should probably have been "Wake Me Up When April Ends" since the push back to September was quite recent...

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

ODDNESS2HER

Friday, February 11, 2005 9:32 PM

I think you're taking me a bit too literally.
I don't actually think that Green Day wrote this album about Firefly, just that the lyrics made me think about aspects of the show/movie.

Anyway, I want to thank you all for reading and responding to my very first thread.

GRAHEIM

Friday, February 11, 2005 10:10 PM

I'd say that Firefly and American Idiot are both very high quality productions that speak to common human emotions. Despair, frustration with the "system", desire for escape, love... To Firefly, of course, we can added an even longer list of positive things. Loyalty, Family, Hope, etc.

As you say, they're probably not Firefly fans (Or rather their love of Firefly didn't influence their song writing process because how could any intelligent person not be a Firefly fan?) but they created a record that accurately reflects many of the same aspects of humanity that Firefly reflects.

Two pictures of the same mountain painted from different angles, perhaps.

"You're my kinda stupid."

MANIACNUMBERONE

Friday, February 11, 2005 10:41 PM

really?
it seems like many years since that came out.
guess I've just heard it a lot.
anyways... continue

-------------------------------------------
Inara: Who's winning?
Simon: I can't really tell, they don't seem to be playing by any civilized rules that I know.
-------------------------------------------

ODDNESS2HER

Friday, February 11, 2005 10:44 PM

Yeah, in fact it's up for several Grammys this Sunday!

NYWOE

Saturday, February 12, 2005 1:47 AM

It's funny, a few months ago someone online posed the question: "What songs make you think of Firefly." My answer was "No songs do that except for the ones in Firefly!"

But ever since that day, EVERY song I listen to makes me think of Firefly! Some fit so perfectly, I wonder, could the writers be fans? Doubtful, but it still makes for good fan video fodder! If only I weren't lazy...

And welcome!

I have heard of a place where humans do battle in a ring of Jell-O.
--Teal'c

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