Pulling Teeth

I'm pretty sure Pulling Teeth is about Mike Dirnt's ex-wife. They were having a pillow fight and Mike turned around the corner and hit his head on a low beam and then fell backwards and broke both of his elbows. (suddenly "I'm all busted up, broken bones & nasty cuts, Accidents will happen, But this time I can't get up" makes a little more sense!)

I've also heard that there is a Metallica song called "Anesthesia Pulling Teeth", and because Mike's ex-wife's name was Anastasia, Billie Joe made made the song called "Pulling Teeth".

this song follows Misery wicked well, but thats not what its really about. i always thought it was misery, but i read somewhere it was about mike and his wife laying in bed and mike fell out of the bed and broke both his arms and legs. or maybe she pushed him. i have no idea if this is true, but thats just what i read.

they should really to write dookie over and over again. They'd be unstoppable.

This song is incredible, probably one of my favs from them. I do have to admitt its Lyrics and sound (more its sound) is very Beatlesque like their song Last Night on Earth.

Whenever this song used to come on, I would usually skip it and move on to the next track, but after a few weeks it started to grow on me very gradually, and now I would rate it as one of the best on Dookie (although it's got some stiff competition because that album is frankly the shit).

The above comment about the connection to Mike Dirnt's accident with his ex is a pretty compelling argument, but the beauty of the song is that it can be looked at on several different levels; in fact any guy who has ever been a relationship where he gave more than he got back would surely be able to relate to a lot of these lines.

'I'm all busted up Broken bones and nasty cuts Accidents will happen But this time I can't get up.'

Green Day, you fucking legends. You think you can bounce back from anything, but when you're knocked down by that special someone, you don't think you'll ever get up off the canvas. This opening line is the best in the song by a country mile.

'She comes to check on me Making sure I'm on my knees After all she's the one Who put me in this state.'

The occasional text or phonecall, just to make sure that she's got you exactly where she wants you - on your knees.

'Is she ultra-violent Is she disturbed? I'd better tell her that I love her Before she does it all over again Oh god she's killing me...'

To be honest, this part has more undertones of physical violence rather than emotional manipulation, which kind of undermines my interpretation and makes some of the other comments a little more convincing (ie perhaps a physically abusive relationship), but then again it could still fit. What's the matter with this girl? Does she just get off on making me miserable? I want to tell her that I love her, in a last-ditch effort to get some recognition...

'For now I'll lie around Hell that's all I can really do She takes good care of me, Just keep saying my love is true.'

By my interpretation, this is Green Day being a bit tongue-in-cheek. Yeah, she's taking good care of me - every now and again getting in touch to assure me that the relationship is going somewhere, keeping my hopes alive by a flicker.

'Looking out the window for someone that's passing by, But no-one knows I'm locked in here, all I do is cry.'

Again, this doesn't really fit in with my view - most people have commented that it fits better with the notion of an abusive relationship rather than unreturned love, which I accept. I always took it to mean looking out the window to see if she is coming, wasting my life away shedding tears for her. But as you can probably tell, I'm letting my own experiences get in the way, lol.

Anyway, some good comments on a fantastic song - which explains why I've rambled on about it for this long, apologies.

This is my favorite Green Day song...as you can tell by my nickname and everything.....

This song is loosely based on the book/movie Misery, by Stephen King. This story is about a mentally ill woman who kidnappes and tortures a famous writer she is in love with. The lyrics of this song tell the story. "For now I'll lie around. Hell, that's all I can really do." She broke his legs with a sledge hammer. "Is she disturbed? I better tell her I love her." She wants him to confess his love for her. "She comes to check on me...After all shes the one that put me in this state." She beat him and made him immobile yet she says she loves him. If you read the book or saw the movie you'll know what I'm talking about.

good call Cleo, I'd never noticed the reference before, despite actually LOVING the book and movie. Some of King's best work, if you ask me.

Good call both Cleo and Insomniac86. It's really hard to tell who's right. You both make very good points, and I really have no idea what the songs about. All that I know it that this song kicks ass and that Green Day is awesome.

Cleo is wrong Insomniac86 is right