"Misery" as written by and Billie Joe/wright Iii Armstrong....
Virginia was a "lot lizard" from F.L.A.
She had a compound fracture in the "trunk"
It started when she ran away
Thumbs out on the interstate
She hitched a ride to misery
"Mr. Whirly" had a catastrophic incident
He fell into a city by the bay
He liquidated his estate
Now he sleeps upon the Height
Panhandling misery
He's gonna get high high high
When he's low low low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams why oh why
I said I don't know
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
Vinnie was a hustler out of Amsterdam
He ran the drug cartel in "Tinseltown"
They found him in a Cadillac
Bludgeoned with a baseball bat in the name
Of misery
Gina hit the road to new york city
Mysteriously the night Vinnie croaked
She stopped in Vegas to elope
With Virgina and the dope
And kissed the bride eternally
They're gonna get high high high
When they're low low low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams why oh why
I said I don't know
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
Hell hounds on your trail now once again, boy
Its groping on your leg until it sleeps
The emptiness will fill your soul with sorrow
Because its not what you make, its what you leave
And we're gonna get high high high
When we're low low low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams why oh why
I said I don't know
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
She had a compound fracture in the "trunk"
It started when she ran away
Thumbs out on the interstate
She hitched a ride to misery
"Mr. Whirly" had a catastrophic incident
He fell into a city by the bay
He liquidated his estate
Now he sleeps upon the Height
Panhandling misery
He's gonna get high high high
When he's low low low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams why oh why
I said I don't know
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
Vinnie was a hustler out of Amsterdam
He ran the drug cartel in "Tinseltown"
They found him in a Cadillac
Bludgeoned with a baseball bat in the name
Of misery
Gina hit the road to new york city
Mysteriously the night Vinnie croaked
She stopped in Vegas to elope
With Virgina and the dope
And kissed the bride eternally
They're gonna get high high high
When they're low low low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams why oh why
I said I don't know
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
Hell hounds on your trail now once again, boy
Its groping on your leg until it sleeps
The emptiness will fill your soul with sorrow
Because its not what you make, its what you leave
And we're gonna get high high high
When we're low low low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams why oh why
I said I don't know
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
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This is a song about the consequences of bad decisions and, more specifically, lives ruined by drug adictions and involvement in drug dealing.
Everyone in the song is getting high wehn they're low, or using drugs to deal with their depression/failures.
Virginia was a truck stop whore whose problems started when she ran away and later suffered a compound fracture (broken bone protruding through the skin) in the trunk (presumably of a car, not in that part of her body). Mr. Whirly "liquidated" his estate in San Francisco and ended up a panhandler on the Haight, which means that he spent all of his money and ended up begging in a neighborhood known for its hippies, readily available drugs and not coincidentally beggars. His drug of choice may have been alcohol though b/c his estate was "liquidated" which suggests spending it on alcohol. Vinnie was a hustler (male prostitute or petty criminal) who was running a drug cartel until he was beaten to death. Gina left New York the night Vinnie was killed and "eloped" with Virginia and the drugs (probably Vinnie's) in Las Vegas. She then kissed the bride "eternally" which may suggest death.
The song is musically and lyrically interesting, but it is not about happy endings, it is about ruined lives and death.
"Vinnie was a hustler our of Amsterdam
He ran the drug cartel in Tinseltown
They found him n a Cadillac
Bludgeoned with a baseball bat in the name
Of misery"
Reminds me so much of the mafia because Vinnie possibly was a rat and squealed, and thus was taken out by being bludgeoned in the head with a baseball bat and then left in an abandoned Cadillac.
Honestly, my favorite Green Day song ever I think next to Jesus of Suburbia and Basket Case.
Well put, couldn't say it better myself.
Luv,
Louise
xxx