Before the Lobotomy Lyrics
In my opinion: This is the first song from Gloria's point of view. Remember, the song before this, Viva la Gloria, when we were introduced to this character who completely changed midway through the song? That was quite obviously in Christian's point of view and the last line was "Tell me the story of your life." Well here it is, this is Gloria's story that he asked for, much like 21st Century Breakdown was Christians story. Problem is, she can't remember much. She didn't get a literal "lobotomy" but joining life with Christian, the extremist revolutionary leader, has wiped away most of her fond dreams and memories. The brutal sadness of reality has washed away the time with her family, even laughter and a more fulfilling life.
The negativity and pain has tarnished her innocence and without her faith she compares herself to a "lost refugee." Also I think "Christian sang the eulogy" is, in a way, referring back to "Viva la Gloria" but also Christian basically killed the person who was Gloria, as she has morphed into a completely different person since initially meeting him. In her mind, she's not any worse though, because she found out the "truth" about the cons of America from Christian - yet she's not in love with him either, because she's too drugged out and disgusted with the world.
I've listened to quite a few concept albums and this is right up there. Great stuff Green Day.
Green Day playing with time signatures! What?!
Ha ha, I love it. My favorite off the new album so far. Incredible energy bookended by the emotional "dreaming, singing, dying, laughter" sections. Two great characters are being developed here: Gloria and Christian (patriotism and faith personified, respectively). Gloria got a lobotomy after 9/11. Christian tried to offer comfort and reasurrance because of the ordeal.
What sticks out to me is the "to cast a stone and throw a brick" line, which connects a gospel reading to the Dookie song "She" in a very interesting way. The whole Jesus and Mary Magdalene thing, yes.
"I got so high, I can't stand up." is also a stand out. There is a lot of irony in this song, and it almost demands an explanation.
I'm probably wrong.. I always think of religion when I listen to this song..
I'm probably wrong.. I always think of religion when I listen to this song..
It just seems like whoever's point of view it's from...they've stopped believing in something. "Dreaming I was only dreaming Of another place and time Where my family's from
It just seems like whoever's point of view it's from...they've stopped believing in something. "Dreaming I was only dreaming Of another place and time Where my family's from
Singing I can hear them singing When the rain had washed away All these scattered dreams" and the the brutality of reality...it's like, believing something for a long time, and then you realize it's was all wrong.
Singing I can hear them singing When the rain had washed away All these scattered dreams" and the the brutality of reality...it's like, believing something for a long time, and then you realize it's was all wrong.
Now, lobotomy..means to literally cut connections in the brain, and as a result, the "patients must...
Now, lobotomy..means to literally cut connections in the brain, and as a result, the "patients must sacrifice some of the virtue, of the driving force, creative spirit or soul." A lobotomy also cuts off the part of the brain that tells right from wrong.. So, losing what you believe in? Religion? I dunno..
AWESOME SONG, THOUGH!
Oops..I didn't mean to make that a reply.
Oops..I didn't mean to make that a reply.
I'm kinda new to this.
I'm kinda new to this.
"Well I'm not stoned, Im just fucked up" "I got so high, I can't stand up" Sounds a bit like "Basketcase" Maybe a bit more personal than at first glance. Perhaps Billie Joe is reminiscing on his own past here
"Well I'm not stoned, Im just fucked up" "I got so high, I can't stand up" Sounds a bit like "Basketcase" Maybe a bit more personal than at first glance. Perhaps Billie Joe is reminiscing on his own past here
greenday2012vp: i get more out of these songs then i would with books (not that i dont LOVE to read)...but i think they're more meaningful in songs form. billie has said that 21st century breakdown is the continuation of american idiot and i can really see that right here. This song always gives you something more the more times you listen to it. my favorite line is probably remember to learn to forget...it reminds me of 1984 by george orwell
    To continue with the idea expressed by greenday2012vp, I would argue that a book for each album would not work. I also feel that as poignant as the new album can be at times,  it (even and perhaps especially if American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown are viewed as one overall artistic work) only tells one part of the Christian/Gloria story. Fully told, Christian's story would probably be a much larger piece spanning several albums.    Act I would most likely begin with Longview and Who Wrote Holden Caulfield as a means of setting the stage for his disillusionment...
    To continue with the idea expressed by greenday2012vp, I would argue that a book for each album would not work. I also feel that as poignant as the new album can be at times,  it (even and perhaps especially if American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown are viewed as one overall artistic work) only tells one part of the Christian/Gloria story. Fully told, Christian's story would probably be a much larger piece spanning several albums.    Act I would most likely begin with Longview and Who Wrote Holden Caulfield as a means of setting the stage for his disillusionment with society. Here he is simply a bored suburban kid, reduced to intermittent masturbation by a semi-dysfunctional family and environment. As he drifts through suburbia, his boredom begins to shift to discontent, at first playfully (Basket Case, Walking Contradiction, and Minority), but slowly taking on an edge as he begins to rail against traditions of all sorts, i.e. politicians (Jackass, Holiday) and religion (East Jesus Nowhere) until he finally hits a breaking point (Jesus of Suburbia) and leaves for the city.     Act II would probably open with Welcome to Paradise, as Christian arrives in the slums of the city, living among the lost and damned. It is there, seeking something more, that he meets St. Jimmy, a charismatic drug dealer modeled in part on Tyler Durden (St. Jimmy). At first the fixes provide an amazing release for him, allowing him to fly higher than he's ever flown before (Best Thing in Town). However, the highs do not free him but rather cloud his mind and desensitize him to the suffering around him (Brain Stew, Desensitized). Over time he slides into a deep depression and the heroin is all he has to keep him together (Give Me Novocaine). While there, he meets Gloria, one of the girls Jimmy keeps around him (Extraordinary Girl). He quickly attaches to her, but she becomes disgusted with Christian and grows hateful of St. Jimmy because she blames him for Christian's decay. After a particularly bad fight (Viva la Gloria?-Little Girl), she denounces both Christian and Jimmy and leaves (Letterbomb). The very next morning, Christian goes to Jimmy and demands out (J. A. R.). Things get violent and St. Jimmy ends up dead (Homecoming Parts I and II). Having nowhere else to go, he wanders.    Act III is largely about Christian withdrawing from heroin and wandering the streets in search of himself. He spends much of the day wandering the streets (Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Wake Me Up When September Ends) until he crashes in an alley and sleeps. Christian then enetrs a hellish dream sequence in which he begins to process all that has happened to him over the past two acts (21st Century Breakdown, Before the Lobotomy, Christian's Inferno). He wakes a broken man and professes his love for Gloria (Last Night on Earth) before going in search of her. This decision, combined with the high from a little heroin he has left, leads him to return to Jimmy's old hangout to rough up some of Jimmy's old gang (Horseshoes and Handgrenades). Battered yet triumphant, he arrives at an abandoned house in which Gloria lives that evening.     Act IV deals with the new relationship between Christian and Gloria, which begins with a bit of role reversal; Gloria got into a dustup with an old boyfriend that left her badly shaken, and she finds herself turning to Christian for comfort. He reassures her (One for the Razorbacks) and they sleep together (1,000 Hours). That evening, a riot takes place in the area, forcing them out of the house. Some of the other displaced street urchins rally behind Gloria and Christian and they do what they can to protect each other (Murder City). Christian sees this group as a chance for a new beginning (¡Viva la Gloria!). However, at the same time, a second wave of rioting interrupts this vision (American Eulogy) and many in his new group are killed. Gloria is sent to the hospital. This latest loss very nearly drives Christian over the edge (The Static Age) and forces him to question whether it was all worth it (21 Guns). The act ends with Christian by Gloria's side in the hospital expressing hope for the future (See the Light).Â
someone explain something to me. this album seems to take a lot of stabs at Christianity and seems to be saying that Christians are hypocrites, but isn't Billie Joe a tad bit religious himself?
i dont think that christianity is ever directly "stabbed" at in the album, relgion in general is however, you might be getting confused because one of the main characters is called Christian and it pays to remember that religion and the church(and its equilivants in other religions) are very different things, i think this song and the album hit at the church but not religion
i dont think that christianity is ever directly "stabbed" at in the album, relgion in general is however, you might be getting confused because one of the main characters is called Christian and it pays to remember that religion and the church(and its equilivants in other religions) are very different things, i think this song and the album hit at the church but not religion
ahhh ok. thanks.
ahhh ok. thanks.
actually no, im not taking that now.. Billie Joe himself said that he wrote about the hypocrisy of Christianity and other religions. and I'm not getting confused becuase of the name Christian, i'm not stupid for fucks sake. religion and the church is hardly different, wtf..
actually no, im not taking that now.. Billie Joe himself said that he wrote about the hypocrisy of Christianity and other religions. and I'm not getting confused becuase of the name Christian, i'm not stupid for fucks sake. religion and the church is hardly different, wtf..
All of his songs have this theme because he's passionate about what he does. I can greatly respect that. He's a truth seeker and beacon, it's the only thing that brings him peace.
From what i can see, Christian has been reminiscing [sp?] and relizes the best of the past ("Songs of yesterday/Now live in the underground") and his dreams ("I can hear them singing/When the rain had washed away/All these scattered dreams") have been shattered by the end of the century and he's given up on love ("I'm not in love 'cause I'm a mess"). I think it also has to do w/ how the leaders try to make everything seem ok and not to worry 'bout the past ("We are normal and self-controlled/Remember to learn to forget/Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes"). That's all i've noticed so far, and i can't wait to see what other people turn out on the meaning and how this fits in to the full album's storyline.
ive always had the feeling that it was a sort of flashforward of what is to happen in the story. i guess thats how ive felt about the whole cd. i feel like the story is over and someone is now narrating the story back over to us.
ive always had the feeling that it was a sort of flashforward of what is to happen in the story. i guess thats how ive felt about the whole cd. i feel like the story is over and someone is now narrating the story back over to us.
what a sad song.
I love it.
What about the fact that towards the end, it is realized that "We're Lost like Refugees, the brutality of the reality is the freedom that keeps me from.." and the music cuts back into the dreaming section. But this time he states "I WAS only dreaming" as if he is contradicting himself. He says he finds the "reality" of things but then thinks: "I was only dreaming" as if to say the thoughts he was having were wrong to have, no one is lost- even though they are. Especially since it says "Christian's lesson is what he's been sold" as if he was talked out of these thoughts by society.
I just thought that was interesting. And the fact that he says "The freedom that keeps me from.. Dreaming" is also a complete contradiction of freedom itself- much like our country perhaps? "Lost like refugees" I think might also suggest that once, our country had purpose to create freedom and refuge for all, and was symbolized by this, but now we've lost that purpose and are unsure where to turn for true refuge.
Does any of that make sense? Feedback please.
screaming, you will hear me scraming, when the fog will make you see my lost memories.
thank you, Kinus
I think this song's about Christian getting the lobotomy, with him singing his own eulogy and the eulogy being the "dreaming, singing, dying, laughter" part. Of course its not a literal lobotomy, but I think it describes him becoming more apathetic toward the world around him.
could be, thats the great thing about this album....it could be explored in many ways by every person who buys it.
could be, thats the great thing about this album....it could be explored in many ways by every person who buys it.