Basket Case Lyrics
About nothing and everything all at once
I am one of those melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone, no doubt about it
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up, I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid? Or am I just stoned?
To analyze my dreams
She says it's lack of sex that's bringing me down
I went to a whore
He said my life's a bore
So quit my whining cause it's bringing her down
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
A ya-ya-ya
So I better hold on
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up
Am I just paranoid?
Or am I just stoned?
Being helpless or incapable of functioning normally due to overwhelming stress or anxiety, going into a trance like state of mind during this and talking about insignificant and significant topics all mixed together into a psychotic rant. Making a big deal out of nothing and sensationalizing it anxiously.
Scaring and tricking yourself due to paranoia, and if you do this enough times you will form schizophrenia and can literally go insane. Many people when they smoke Marijuana feel paranoid, but if it isn't drug induced maybe the irony is drugs would help this condition?
As for the verse "I went to a shrink, To analyze my dreams. She says it's lack of sex that's bringing me down. I went to a whore, He said my life's a bore, And quit my whining cause it's bringing her down." I think the whore is both the he and she, as in a cross dresser because of the way he say's "He said my life's a bore" sounds like something a gay or cross dressing person would say. (Not to be stereotypical, just honest).
So obviously this song is about paranoia and panic attacks, and is really well worded and due to the great description we can see inside the mind of such a subject.
As for whether Green Day is punk or not? I guess I would say they are Alternative Rock, that's how I've always seen them but I really try not to put labels on music I like. It's not the image that should attract you, it's the music. Why brand yourself? Be an individual, be original.
@AbsentMinded really cool interpretation! I figured it says both "he" and "she" in the verse about the whore because Billie Joe is bisexual. I've never heard another theory so that's rly cool!
@AbsentMinded really cool interpretation! I figured it says both "he" and "she" in the verse about the whore because Billie Joe is bisexual. I've never heard another theory so that's rly cool!
Billie Joe wrote this song when he was having panic attacks. At the time he didn't know what they were and he thought he was going insane.
Awesome song, good live too. Pop Disaster Tour OWNED!
dude… he wrote this she he was high on meth… and then when he came down he hated the song… but the more he played it… the more it became an anthem…
dude… he wrote this she he was high on meth… and then when he came down he hated the song… but the more he played it… the more it became an anthem…
A song about the casing used inside baskets. The singer is well known for lyrics which drop interior decorating tips.
This is my theme song... how sad is that...
@duct_tape_faerie hello 2001 ! Great year ! Glad to see you shucking 🌽 and jive recording in 2001. Hello 👋 from 2025
@duct_tape_faerie hello 2001 ! Great year ! Glad to see you shucking 🌽 and jive recording in 2001. Hello 👋 from 2025
OK, who cares if this song is punk or alternative, all we know is that it is a good song. thank you!
sounds like an anxiety attack. maybe he didn't actually go to those people (shrink whore) or whine to her about everything he just did in his head as a way to calm him down . 'so quit my whining it's bringing her down' he doesn't say anything so he doesn't worry her but he still thinks he is going mad. probably doesn't make sense this i nterrpretation. just what I think :)
i think its really pathetic that everyone seems to care so much whether green day is punk. as if there is a strict definition of punk, and it has to sound a certain way. i thought the punk attitude was about breaking rules... so therefore if green day really is breaking the punk code of conduct doesnt that make them even more punk? ehh never mind
@zeph this as been a case since way before them. There was at the time what punks called true punk (Rancid, Misfit, etc.), and other genres labelled with punk in it, like ska punk, street punk, indie punk, punk rock, etc. The fact is that, every purists in every genres, but especially punk metal and rap music, will always rant about other fusions from their beloved style. My personnal example is Korn. When this band came out in 1994, both Metalheads and Rappers went all out rage, that this was nor metal nor rap music and they where shoked...
@zeph this as been a case since way before them. There was at the time what punks called true punk (Rancid, Misfit, etc.), and other genres labelled with punk in it, like ska punk, street punk, indie punk, punk rock, etc. The fact is that, every purists in every genres, but especially punk metal and rap music, will always rant about other fusions from their beloved style. My personnal example is Korn. When this band came out in 1994, both Metalheads and Rappers went all out rage, that this was nor metal nor rap music and they where shoked to ear Korn music. And so about Slipknot, even still today. Green day as not escaped it.
I love how people are trying so hard to label what is and isn't punk, this completely undermining what punk is meant to be: raw, rebellious, expression and fighting a system you don't believe in, and doing your own thing no matter what others say. Green Day is rebellious. American Idiot was about how wrong our system is. A lot of people say American Idiot is when they became alt rock, but I disagree. American Idiot was not my favorite album but it was very much punk. It was an album that not only took shots at our screwed up system, but also expressed the story of suburbian kids that most of us can relate to in someway. And their early albums were all about growing up, adolescence, angst, and learning to be yourself.
yes! you are the smartest person ive never met. when it comes to people theyre mostly just a bunch of fucktards when it comes to punk. and some of them dont even accept it as a label. which is why people try to call me 'goth' or 'emo' lol.
yes! you are the smartest person ive never met. when it comes to people theyre mostly just a bunch of fucktards when it comes to punk. and some of them dont even accept it as a label. which is why people try to call me 'goth' or 'emo' lol.
No man, punk music is about selling clothes and accessories. But i agree that arguing about what is and isnt punk is stupid.
No man, punk music is about selling clothes and accessories. But i agree that arguing about what is and isnt punk is stupid.
American Idiot was 100% punk, but don't get me wrong, the last abums (Uno,Dos,Tres), a lot of the songs were not punk at all... it's sad beacause they can make good punk music, but sometimes marketing is also important for a band and then the songs will suffer.
American Idiot was 100% punk, but don't get me wrong, the last abums (Uno,Dos,Tres), a lot of the songs were not punk at all... it's sad beacause they can make good punk music, but sometimes marketing is also important for a band and then the songs will suffer.
Old GREENDAY=good shit. There new stuff is just not enough to hold me interested...
Green Day is pop-punk, Sex Pistols/The Clash/The Damned etc, are punk rock, (early) Bad Religion/Agnostic Front/Adolescents/Black Flag/etc are hardcore punk. It's not just "punk" and "not punk", there are different sub-genres. What makes a song a punk song is its quick pace, progressions, and general theme of rebellion/disillusion/anti-social tendencies/etc.
This song is about being young, restless, and stressed out.
One thing that makes it so good is that it takes its chord progression from Johann Pachelbel's "Canon".