Green Day: Jesus Of Suburbia Meaning
Song Released: 2005
Jesus Of Suburbia Lyrics
The Jesus of suburbia
From the bible of none of the above
On a steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones I got away with
And there's...
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I think saint jimmy and JOS aren't the same person. but he also can be. after jimmy kills himself there is still someone wondering bout whatshername. but killing saint jimmy and putting his name in that bathroom could be JOS killing the part of his life that haunted him. It could go both ways.
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Okay, what I'm going to say is probably going to sound like what every1 else has said but ill give it a go.
okay
American Idiot: If any of you have brought the cd you will have seen that the table of contents belongs to "jimmy" I think that in this song "jimmy" A.K.A The jesus of suburbia is basically having a go at the media and is trying to convince himself that there are more problems in the world then just his life. So he has a big dig at america and then goes all over emotional when he can't handle how his life is going.
JESUS OF SUBERBIA: the jesus of suburbia ( J.O.S.) is basically going through shit. To put it bluntly. His mom is a hard out religious woman who has dated many loser guys and is currently going out with one called brad (while the mums and brads are away), he is being ignored by basically everyone and can't realise what he's done wrong so he starts going out and turning bad. He robs stores and sprays graffiti everywhere he pleases (at the center of the earth in the parking lot of the 711[an american dairy] where I was tought the motto was just a lie yadda yadda yadda) he becomes crazy basically and joins up with a gang but the gang isn't as crazy/rebellious whatever as him (but what is shame because everyones heart doersnt beat the same) so he ditches his gang and runs away on the open road(another lost highway) and winds up in the city (the city of the dead)where kids are homeless (lost children with dirty faces) and he just doesn't care about anything(I don't care).he blames it on his parents(born and raised by hypocrites) and starts up a new gang of rebels in this city and leaves behind his old self(jimmy).
HOLIDAY: J.O.S. wanders through the streets with his new gang of rebels, rain of shine, causing havoc everywhere possible (the falling rain, coming down like an armegeddon flame)(hear the dogs howling out of key)(a gag, a plastic bag on a momument) he starts critising the goverment again as they bring in more law enforcers to the city (kill all the fags that don't agree) these new undercover cops come and torch the gangs hideout(trials by fire set in fire) but this just encourages the gangs rebellion(just because were outlaws yeah!)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams: J.O.S. Is lonely, his gang can't cheer him up and all that he can do to entertain himself is to cause more havoc.
ARE WE THE WAITING: J.O.S. debates with himself the reason for his rebellios nature, why? and what is this going to build up? he ditches his old self and takes on another nature, a leader, an alter ego, saint jimmy.
ST JIMMY:St Jimmy is the jesus of suburbias new alter ego and leads his gang(the underbelly, check letterbomb) on a similar but more guided havoc quest as before, he takes drugs ect and in general becomes a punk vandal(I know it sounds corny lol)
GIVE ME NOVACAINE: J.O.S. Starts to feel the pain of loneliness again and uses novacane to escape his pain, he doesn't want to fuck up his body that bad though but his new act of leader makes him tell himself it won't hurt(tell me jimmy I won't feel a thing).
SHE'S A REBEL: St jimmy somehow meets whatsername and falls in love with her in an instant, she manipulates him and togeather with the underbelly they do all this crazy shit and finally J.O.S. feels like he has found his calling.
EXTRAORDINARY GIRL: J.O.S. Temporarily ditches St jimmy for his love for whatsername and all this does is make him look like an idiot in her eyes, she can't undertstand what went wrong between them and J.O.S. doesn't have the guts that jimmy had to tell her that she means the most to him. In the end all this does is cause a series of arguements that make whatsername weep for the man she once knew.
LETTERBOMB: The underbelly doesn't like this change in J.O.S. and one by one all ten members leave him (the underbelly stakes up ten high), with no one to turn to J.O.S. Turns to whatsername for help but she's just as confused and fucked off as the underbelly and leaves J.O.S.
WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS: Jimmy is extremely sad and wants to just hide from the world and mean and be nothing, this sudden sadness forces him to remember the good old days when his father was alive, jimmy was seven when he died and is 27 now because twenty years have gone since the death.*
HOMECOMING: J.O.S. feels no need to be connected to st jimmy any more and "kills him" he then gets a job to pay for money for a trip home.
WHATSERNAME: J.O.S. feels the blank space in his heart that whatsername filled, he thinks he sees her on the street but as he realises is was only a dream he also realises that he can't remember her name, only the times they spent togeather.
* wake me up when spetember ends has more meaning to it then just the storyline, after 7 yrs greenday realeased dookie, thier 1st album, in thier 20th year they realesed american idiot, billy joes father dying also put a lot of emotion in this song so it is dedicated to him.
Greenday 4eva weather I'm right or wrong....
PUNK ROCK!!!!
=Raven= -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Okay, this is what I choose the believe *cackle* and if you don't like it tough.
Okay:
American Idiot: I don't think it has anything to do with JOS to be honest ...
Jesus of Suberbia: We are intruduced to JOS. I think this was interesting because he was acting really high, and then in the next part he gets all thoughtfull.
Then in City of the Damned he gets a little ... depressed. I think what happends is whenever he's had a night out, the next day he gets depressed. It's the same with Holiday and BLVD. His mother seems to go to partys and get high a bit herself, and also may be being abused by someone, hence her face in the video.
Then he gets angry. He says he doesen't care, but it's obviouse he does. What this bit probably means is that no one cares about his problems so he pretends not to care either.
Dearly Beloved, might have some religous terms, also probably about his drugs.
Broken home: he runs away.
Holiday: His first day in the city. He gets high and has fun.
BLVD. The next day. He's depressed. Probably not on drugs in this one.
Are we waiting: Maybe about religon.
Saint Jimmy: I personally think he is another person. The song, "Novacain" wouldn't make sence if it wasn't. It's just my opinion and I can have it so NARE! I think Saint Jimmy is slightly older and tougher. Someone JOS starts to look up to. I have a feeling Jimmy is suicidal, and has a lot of opinions. He's also a druggy. I have a feeling he put JOS on some more drugs. JOS looks up to him. I think SJ (saint Jimmy) probably played on this. But not sure. Just my op.
Novacain: Like I said, SJ is getting JOS more into drugs. And this song I think explains that JOs looks up to SJ and believes him.
She's a Rebal: JOS falls in lurve :p
Extraordinary girl: I think she might be going out with someone else ...
Letterbomb: or not ... She leaves town and leaves poor lil JOS to. I think she does it by letter, which explains the title :p
Wake me Up when September Ends: This can have a lot of meanings, and I think that was how it was meant to be. It can mean 9/11, Billies Dad, JOS's loss of Whatsername, the war ... your suppost to believe what you want. I personally am more inclinded to the war side of it.
The Death of Saint Jimmy: SJ commites suicide, leaving JOS feeling lost and sad.
I forget the titles ... but he is probably thinking of his old friends and how they have probably forgotten him.
Rock and Roll Girlfriend: No freakin idea.
We're coming home again: JOS has had enough and goes back to ye old Jingletown.
Whatsername: I think JOS has been in Jingletown for a bit (wether he went back to his mum or not I am not sure) and in this song I think it says that he wouldn't go back to the city, but he doesen't regret having gone their. And he remembers Whatsername more than he'd like to tell.
The thing with the Booklet is that his name is Jimmy. I don't know. Unless Greenday disclose these secrets we can have our own opinions, and this is mine.
In short, I want to give poor JOS a hug :( poor guy. -
Jesus of Suburbia is the beginning of the plot. American Idiot gave the setting for this rock opera to take place. Jesus of Suburbia has 5 different movements.
Part 1 - Jesus of Suburbia: We begin the song with JoS sitting at home in his hometown of Jingle Town bored out of his mind. His mother is dating some guy named brad, whom JoS disapproves of. Eventually it is apparent that JoS does drugs to escape from his 1-dimensional life.
Part 2 - City of the Damned: JoS talks of how stupid and meaningless Jingle Town is, and how he started his drug use in the parking lot of the 7/11.
Part 3 - I Don't Care: Basically, JoS just talks of how he doesn't care about anything. 'Nuff said.
Part 4 - Dearly Beloved: JoS continues speaking of his drug addiction, refering to it as therapy. "Oh therapy can you please fill the void". JoS is also questioning society about why things are right and wrong.
Part 5 - Tales of Another Broken Home - JoS finally decides to run away from Jingle Town to pursue a life in the City, leaving Jingle Town in the dust.
*Note: Contrary to what seems to me like popular belief, JoS and St. Jimmy are one and the same. St. Jimmy is the alter ego of Jesus of Suburbia which he uses to pose as a rebel and seem tougher than he really is.
Due to this fact, in the Death of St. Jimmy, St. Jimmy doesn't really die JoS sees no point in keeping a useless alter ego and decides to stop using it "its my own private suicide" indicates that it isn't an actual person dying. dur. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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It¡¯s about a guy called jimmy who calls himself the Jesus of suburbia. He feels alone and broken and that his life is so messed up that he just wants to let it all go. I guess everything was just too much for him so he just wanted to ease the pain and he turned to alcohol, drugs and cigarettes. I guess he doesn't really wanna show how he really feels so becoming like everyone else makes him fit in to the low expectations of everyone around him. He feels that projecting that image and doing the stuff he does helps to keep him sane. I think he's somewhat mad that about his life cause his mom was like a slut I guess. She cared more for her own needs and desires leaving him to fend for himself. He finds comfort reading and adding to the graffiti in the bathroom stall. He's also pissed of at the hypocrisy of people. Everyone¡¯s becoming like their parents: hypocrites. I guess he's also pissed off that they don't believe in people like him {punks} because of the way they are and they look down of them. He believes that he is normal but is confused by people looking down on him, therefore he questions whether he is the one who is wrong. But in the end he just wants to run away and leave everything behind because it¡¯s just too much. He has no home and no place to go but he leaves and it continues with boulevard of broken dreams.
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Jesus of Suburbia is a young man about eigteen years old who hates his life in the suburbs, smoking drugs, masturbating, and feeling as if there is no one he can trust. He has no inspiration in his life other than getting high again. His mom is constantly dating stupid jerks whom Jesus of Suburbia hates. Jesus of Suburbia wants companionship so he blows all his money away on girls who end up disappointing him. He goes to a bathroom stall to get high and reads the graffiti scrawled onto the door and becomes so depressed that he begins to hate the world and all the hypocrites living in it. He later reads a recruitment pamphlet for the military, which tells him that if he joins, he can visit fantastic places across the world. He feels that if he joins the army, he can leave the suburb and all its lies to find what he believes in. He's leaving home...
The story is continued in "Holiday." -
This song is very deep and, being part of a rock opera and all, has a whole storyline it's a part of.
It's about a guy who calls himself Jesus of Suburbia. He's young, restless, and tired of living in his broken home while his mom dates various guys (or is married to a guy he doesn't like). He's pretty hooked on drugs and apathetic about life. He really hates his life.
But he doesn't blame himself for his problems, just the messed up world around him. As he explains in self-justification "But there's nothing wrong with me...this is how I'm supposed to be... in a land of make believe that don't believe in me..."
He sees hypocrisy all around him and doesn't see why he should be any different. Why should he rise above the low expectations set for him as a young adult in America? By doing drugs and stuff he's just living up to the image.
He ends up getting angry and frustrated and leaving home to run away to the City, also called Jingletown. (the City is supposedly to be a reference to several different real life cities, but it's also a metaphor of sorts).
The story started here continues as a common thread throughout the album.
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