Give Me Novacaine

So there’s some good theories listed about this song. I’m not shooting any of them down or saying that they’re absolutely wrong but I’m going to disagree and build on the theory that it’s the newly transformed Jesus of Suburbia (now Jimmy) talking to/about whatsername. When I read the posts about American Idiot songs, I really notice that people are missing the fact that American Idiot is a Punk Rock Opera, so an idea that may not make sense by itself or may lack evidence of making sense by itself can fit together perfectly with the other songs.

I really don’t think that Jimmy’s talking about drugs, mostly based on the fact that he’s talking about a kiss goodnight. He’s talking about a feeling, but I really think he’s talking about love. He’s never felt it before, because as mentioned in “Jesus of Suburbia,” nobody’s ever been there for him, especially his mom and “Brad,” and I really think this refers more to Billy Joe’s dad, who died when BJ was a kid. The sense that his mom was never there could relate to the fact that she was picking up extra shifts at work to make up for lack of a second paycheck coming in.

It’s a “Bitter sweet migraine” because the love he’s getting feels so good, but because it’s been introduced so recently it’s overwhelming. It makes him feel special and like he belongs, a feeling that he’s never experienced. Whatsername is giving him so much attention and caring that it’s building up inside of him, and because nobody’s ever been around, he himself can’t describe or release the feeling that are bottling up inside of him. He’s asking for the novacain because he just can’t deal with the pressure building up inside of him.

The line “Kiss the demons out of my dreams I get the funny feeling, that’s alright Jimmy says it's better than here” is a bit controversial in my mind, it’s not quite clear to me. I’ve basically established that Jesus of Suburbia transforms into Jimmy, but why does he then talk about Jimmy. The only thing I can come up with is that this is whatsername talking to Jimmy. So depending on where you stand on this issue, you could either see it as Jimmy talking, Whatsername talking, or both of them talking to each other. I really feel strongly about it being Jimmy’s point of view, but it’s only my opinion.