In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Standing on the corner of
Stuart and the Avenue
Ripping up my transfer
And a photograph of you
You're a blur of my dead past and rotting existance
As I stand laughing on the corner of insignificance
Well, destiny is dead
In the hands of bad luck
Before it might have made some sense
But now it's all fucked up
Seasons change as well as minds
And I'm a two faced clown
You're mommy's little nightmare
Driving daddy's car around
I'm beat down and half brain dead
The long lost king of fools
I may be dumb
But I'm not stupid enough to stay with you
Well, destiny is dead
In the hands of bad luck
Before it might have made some sense
But now it's all fucked up
Well, destiny is dead
In the hands of bad luck
Before it might have made some sense
But now it's all fucked up
We're all fucked up
You're all fucked up
Stuart and the Avenue
Ripping up my transfer
And a photograph of you
You're a blur of my dead past and rotting existance
As I stand laughing on the corner of insignificance
Well, destiny is dead
In the hands of bad luck
Before it might have made some sense
But now it's all fucked up
Seasons change as well as minds
And I'm a two faced clown
You're mommy's little nightmare
Driving daddy's car around
I'm beat down and half brain dead
The long lost king of fools
I may be dumb
But I'm not stupid enough to stay with you
Well, destiny is dead
In the hands of bad luck
Before it might have made some sense
But now it's all fucked up
Well, destiny is dead
In the hands of bad luck
Before it might have made some sense
But now it's all fucked up
We're all fucked up
You're all fucked up
Lyrics submitted by bonj, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Stuart And The Ave. Lyrics as written by Frank E. Billie Joe Armstrong
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Stuart is a street on Berkeley near the local hospital Alta Bates and junior high school called Willard. I am assuming the Ave. part of the song is Telegraph Ave, a major street in Berkeley with lots of shops and restaurants.
Billie wrote it about a girl he liked but then he realized he didn't really like her. Stuart and the Ave refers to the corner of Stuart Street and Telegraph Avenue in Berkley, California. And this is a great song. Love the part "but now it's all FUCKED UP!"
This song goes along with, "Westbound Sign," three songs later, and shows the breakup and problems with the protagonist, Billie Joe. Apparently, Billie has just realized that his lover or girlfriend is rotten and a bitch, stating, "Ripping up my transfer, and a photograph of you. You're a blur of my dead past and rotting existence, as I stand laughing on the corner of insignificance." Throughout the rest of the song, he states that the relationship from the start has been fucked up, and destiny is not a place for them. Since Green Day, Tre, Mike, and Billie, lived in Oakland, San Francisco, and Berkeley Bay around this time, and Stuart and the Avenue is located in Berkeley near Alta Bates National Hospital.
Billie's relationships and the girl is pretty fucked up, like he repeats redundantly, but pass all of this is "Westbound Sign," also on Green Day's fourth stdio album. Westbound sign is the aftermath of this relationship. Both songs are streets that Billie reflects off of in this album.
This is one of my fav. GREEN DAY songs "Destiny is dead In the hands of bad luck Before it might have made some sense But now it's all fucked up" I feel like that a lot "I'm beat down and half brain dead The long lost king of fools I may be dumb But I'm not stupid enough to stay with you" Hell yeah!
This is a really great song. I love the meaning which is just having have lost the meaning to their life and not knowing what to do. Well thats what it means to me anyway.
i think Insomniac is underrated and often dismissed as Green Days 'poorest' album, a title that no Green Day album deserves! this song is one of my favourites on the album and i like to sing it with my band, the power and feeling you can out into 'but now its all fucked up'... i love it! J.
when greenday released this album, to a mixed reception. the album was diliberately made to be unlike their previous album, dookie, because they wanted to lose the "tiny bopper following" that they had required, abd return to their roots. alot of people just wanted dookie part two, but the band wanted to rebel against the set expectations
when greenday released this album, it was to a mixed reception. the album was diliberately made to be unlike their previous album, dookie, because they wanted to lose the "tiny bopper following" that they had aquired, and return to their roots. alot of people just wanted dookie part two, but the band wanted to rebel against these set expectations. in 1996, they abruptly canceled their european tour in order to spend the rest of the year writing. i think that insomniac is a brilliant album, and stuart and the avenue is one of the most amazing songs i have ever heard. rock on!
X peace X
The base parts are awesome on insommniac! It's great that it's so much darker than dookie, and I think I like it better too.
yea, this is the song that inspired me to play bass. that was long time ago, i'd long since stopped listening to green day (still come back to em every now and then;-)) but it's jsut funny to think that this is the root for the music that i ended up playing which really isnt anything like it