Billie Joe Armstrong Names Favorite Green Day Song + Album
Forget the “they’re all like my kids” platitude! In a recent chat with Vulture, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong got down to naming names when it came to his favorite song and album in their catalog as well as a few other specific things related to the band’s music.
Given its epic nature and very personal feeling, it should probably come as little surprise that “Jesus of Suburbia” from the American Idiot album is Billie Joe’s choice for favorite song.
He states, “‘Jesus of Suburbia’ is the one that sticks out. It’s so epic. I mean, I’m tooting my own horn, but I think it encompasses so much about my life and friendship and family, and it’s flamboyant and big and bombastic. It’s one of those moments where I was feeling like I wanted to take a big risk. It’s so fun to play live, seeing how the entire crowd sings along. It’s just one of those songs.”
Green Day, “Jesus of Suburbia”
The choice was a little harder when it came to picking a favorite album, but Billie Joe didn’t choose either of the band’s biggest selling records. Instead he went with one of their earliest outings.
“At the moment, I’m going to say [1991’s] Kerplunk,” stated the singer. “It’s kind of autobiographical. We wrote that record when I was 18, 19 years old, and it was at a time before punk became mainstream. There’s something about it that feels like a fanzine. All of us were living together, living in bands together. It was a coming of age in a way. A song like ‘Welcome to Paradise’ wasn’t just about teenage heartbreak anymore. It had a lot more to do with life slapping you in the face.”
As stated, Billie Joe offers more insights on his views of his band’s musical history, detailing his most fun on a video shoot, the toughest song he ever had to write and more.
Green Day released their Father of All… album in 2020 just ahead of the pandemic and while they’ve released songs from the set, their plans for touring in support of the record on the Hella Mega Tour with Weezer and Fall Out Boy have been delayed. But at present it does look like plans are moving forward with 2021 shows and you can see their scheduled dates here.
The group did return with a stand-alone single, “Here Comes the Shock,” back in February. It has not been revealed if the song will eventually turn up on a future release or if it will remain a non-album track.