I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus of Suburbia
The bible of "none of the above"
On a steady diet of
Soda Pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones that I got away with

And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me

Get my television fix
Sitting on my crucifix
The living room or my private womb
While the Moms and Brads are away
To fall in love and fall in debt
To alcohol and cigarettes
And Mary Jane
To keep me insane
Doing someone else's cocaine

And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me

At the center of the earth
In the parking lot
Of the 7-11 where I was taught
The motto was just a lie
It says, "Home is where your heart is," but what a shame
'Cause everyone's heart doesn't beat the same
It's beating out of time

City of the dead (hey, hey)
At the end of another lost highway (hey, hey)
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned (hey, hey)
Lost children with dirty faces today (hey, hey)
No one really seems to care

I read the graffiti in the bathroom stall
Like the holy scriptures of a shopping mall
And so it seemed to confess
It didn't say much, but it only confirmed that
The center of the earth is the end of the world
And I could really care less

City of the dead (hey, hey)
At the end of another lost highway (hey, hey)
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned (hey, hey)
Lost children with dirty faces today (hey, hey)
No one really seems to care (hey)

I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
(I don't care)

Everyone's so full of shit
Born and raised by hypocrites
Hearts recycled but never saved
From the cradles to the grave
We are the kids of war and peace
From Anaheim to the Middle East
We are the stories and disciples of
The Jesus of suburbia

Land of make-believe
And it don't believe in me
Land of make-believe (said it's, it's another lie)
And I don't believe

And I don't care (woo, woo, woo)
I don't care (woo, woo, woo)
I don't care (woo, woo, woo)
I don't care (woo, woo, woo)
I don't care

Dearly beloved, are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure

Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh

Oh, therapy can you please fill the void? (ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh)
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed? (ooh, ooh, ooh)
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused (ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh)
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse (ooh, ooh, ooh)

Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh

To live and not to breathe is to die in tragedy
To run, to run away, to find, what you believe

And I leave behind this hurricane of fucking lies

I lost my faith to this, this town that don't exist
So I run, I run away to the lights of masochists

And I leave behind this hurricane of fucking lies
And I walked this line a million and one fucking times
But not this time

I don't feel any shame, I wont apologize
When there ain't nowhere you can go
Running away from pain when you've been victimized
Tales from another broken

Home
You're leaving
You're leaving
You're leaving
Are you leaving home?


Lyrics submitted by prayingmantis84, edited by jadethahel, Mellow_Harsher, Tamood, sonicgelpen, LeMarkyDussod

Jesus of Suburbia Lyrics as written by Michael Pritchard Billie Joe Armstrong

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Jesus of Suburbia song meanings
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341 Comments

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  • +16
    My Interpretation

    This song is by far the greatest work of art that Green Day has ever written.

    Picture this.

    In a time worn city in the Midwest area there is a place in the city even worse than the rest. Trash everywhere. Homeless people living under bridges. houses boarded up. Barrel fires in the streets. Everyone has a gun. Life is tense. On a street corner near the center of the city there lives a man. Black is his color of choice, head to toe. He prefers to remain anonymous. His mother lives there too although she i almost always drunk/stoned. He must take care of himself. Yet in this torn mind a thinker emerges.

    Part1 This man calls himself the Jesus of suburbia, a social Marter. He pays for the sins of his city. All of the addiction and violence. He is save at home but only when he is alone there. He is an addict himself. There is nothing wrong here. No one expects anything of him (in a land of make believe that don't believe in me).

    Part2 The center of his world is a 7/11. the place he hangs out. It is the central hub of this part of town. this may be his home but he does not want to be here. this city is lost. no one cares about these people. The only place the voices of these hurting people are herd is through bathroom graffiti. He feels there pain. Unless things change this city is doomed to destruction (the center of the earth is the end of the world). He does not want to help.

    Part3 He is numb to all the suffering. Since no one cares, neither does he. He begins to criticize the upper class and politicians. This city could care less about him. But he doesn't care. They are all hypocrites.

    Part4 In violent fit of rage he runs through the streets. Mocking the suffering of these people. He wonders "Are we all demented? Or am i disturbed?" He does not know, it is such a fine line. Therapy will never help. He is too cynical to be saved. Nobody's perfect including him. He is also at fault, if you want to call it that. This is society's fault.

    Part5 The proverbial straw has been drawn. This is not real life. There is no freedom. All is chaos. Running away will find a new belief. He is leaving behind all the filth and lies. They can destroy themselves. He has no faith in humanity. He will not hurt himself any more. This is the end. He is leaving. He has no sympathy for the crumbling city. He will not apologize for his part because it will fall on deaf ears. He is running from his pain. He is a victim.

    -Insert from "Tales From Another Broken Home"

    The end. Everyone walks away. The Ipod begins to play next song. But you go back to hear it again. The feeling is real. You wonder why things are this way. And then it hits you. You are at fault!

    Fury007on October 22, 2009   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I don't really know, but I think it's about how people are ignorant and don't care about what is going on around them as long as it doesn't affect them. Maybe he calls himself the jesus of suburbia because jesus was the one to bring the good news and change people's ways of thinking, only billy is doing this at another time and place. I interpreted the last piece of the song very different than most people. When he says to live and not to breathe is to die in tragedy to run, to run away to fight what you believe, it's like if you are religious, you're not allowed to do a lot of thing for example drinking, smoking, pre-marital sex etc. so you are alive, but you aren't really enjoying life.

    And I leave this hurricane of fucking lies behind I lost my faith to this, this town that don't exist Here I feel like he's saying, he's leaving behind what he has learned as a child about the good and bad, heaven and hell. So he lost his faith in heaven. Heaven is the town that doesn't exist.

    So I run, I run away to the lights of masochists. Here I think he means that since he doesn't believe in God etc. he is choosing to go to hell where he will eternally suffer and like it.

    He's not ashamed to say what he really thinks, feels and believes. There are so many broken homes who ruin their children. He's telling those children that soon they get to leave. They get to run away from those messed up homes. Freedom will come.

    christelle7on February 02, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Beautiful song, really. According to Billie it's "a take on religion and the Bible from someone who never actually read the Bible". Very, very intelligent. This song could easily go down in history as one of the greatest songs ever written.

    freewebs.com/thejakesite

    Jakeberton September 25, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Pt. 1 overview - This is pretty much a statement that he once was christian but renounced his faith due to the circumstances of his home life "while the moms and brads are away" Pt. 2 overview - He contemplates running away, he builds down his views of the world through a slummy 7-11 store where he's observing poor children, more than likely this 7-11 is a regular hangout spot for him Pt.3 - His anger builds as he feels helpless to any of his surroundings and the fact that most people blow off these situations of people being in poverty or being in a lower level of income Pt.4 - He talks to his mom about his rage problems and the mother cant take his scarcasm, so he goes to a psychologist still with his scarcasm and is making decisions that he just doesnt care for authority and is contemplating suicide Pt. 5 - "to live and not to breathe, is to die with tragedy" means that if you dont have freedom once in your life and if he kills himself would be tradgic. so he runs away from home to find himself and get out of his hell life at home.

    spam_wordon October 14, 2004   Link
  • +2
    My Opinion

    I think this part really refers to the band's fame. In a book I read, once the punk community felt Green Day had 'sold out' Billie Joe snuck into the old girls bathroom at night of the place they used to play before they signed a major record deal. On the wall it said 'BILLIE JOE MUST DIE'

    " I read the graffiti In the bathroom stall Like the holy scriptures of a shopping mall And so it seemed to confess "

    How he found what it said about him

    " It didn't say much But it only confirmed that The center of the earth Is the end of the world "

    He was the 'center of the earth' meaning, famous. The people who wrote this on the wall felt that it was the worst thing, the end of the world, what the band did.

    " And I could really care less "

    They don't really care.

    driaxxon January 11, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Best song off of there new CD.

    MeAndOnlyMeon September 21, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    WE HAVE A WINNER !!!! The best song off American Idiot. It is just 9 1/2 minutes of pure musical genuis.

    zao_163on September 22, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I honestly dont know where to begin. I was born in 1986 and I remember songs like "Basket Case" and "When I Come Around" and they were great. But other than that nothing from Green Day really stands out to me. This entire album however has touched me more than probably any other album I've ever heard. What they've done here is created an album on par with epics like The Wall by Pink Floyd. This album honestly has changed me in a way that not many things could. I encourage everyone to go out and buy it even if they could get it for free. This group deserves every penny for this album.

    el snapson October 18, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i think i figured out the CD..American Idiot: he gets fed up with being an 'idiot' Jesus of Surburbia: he starts to go bad and then learned something at the 7-11 and then reads a 'holy scripture' he realizes the religion is crazy, then he starts to not care, and realizes that people are dumb, he tells his mom he is leaving, and he leaves his broken home, holiday: he realizes how bad the world is Boulevard of broken dreams: he is leavin alone and is lonly Are we the Waiting: he becomes St. Jimmy St Jimmy:St. Jimmy explains that he is a hardcore rebel and that he thinks he is 'godlike' Give me Novacane: Jimmy starts to do drugs and he is telling himself (jesus) that it wont hurt him Shes a Rebel: he meets Whatsername Extraordinary Girl: he falls in love with Whatsername Letter Bomb: Whatsername breaks up with jimmy Wake me up when september ends: Jimmy is sad about losing Whatsername and wants to sleep for a month Homecoming: St. Jimmy is so sad that he 'kills himself' and becomes Jesus again, and Jesus gets a job and hates it so he becomes a 'good jimmy' (a jimmy that doesnt do drugs, and stuff like that) he starts a band and proves himself to himself, then he goes back to the town he left Whatsername: he remembers whatsername but cant remember waht she looked like or her name, and decides that he is glad that he lost her.

    thats just what i think the story is -eric

    eyesman2008on October 18, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    y?

    rhcproxon November 04, 2004   Link

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