Green Day: Letterbomb Meaning

Letterbomb Lyrics

Nobody likes you...
Everyone left you...
They're all out without you...
Having fun...

Where have all the bastards gone?
The underbelly stacks up ten high
The dummy failed the crash test
Collecting unemployment checks
?
What's in love...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Apr 16th 2007 !⃝

   The song begins with the Jesus of Suburbia's girlfriend breaking up with him. The song is entitled "Letterbomb" because she left a note and left. The note reads "nobody likes you, everyone left you, they're all out without you, having fun" He feels alone and rejected by everyone. "The dummy failed that crash test" is a reference to him thinking that his life was supposed to be the way he was living it with whatshername, and he failed at it.
   He is wondering what happened to his life. Everything from his old life seems to have disappeared around him (where have all the riots gone) And nothing is the way it was planed to be (As your city's model gets pulverized)
   He knows that his life, which is being represented by the city is going to crash down and fall apart and he just wants to get it over with (so strike the fucking match to light this fuse)
   The symbols of goodness and trust in his life are proven to be uncaring and fake (The town bishop is an extortionist
   And he don't even know that you exist) And he learns that when it is down to the wire you have to do something or else somebody else will (Standing still when it's do or die
   You better run for your fucking life)
   He begins to realize that it is never to late to change your life. (it's not over till you're underground)
   His whole life is falling apart, and he feels that it's not his problem.
   He wonders what use he is now that he feels that his job is done. He begins to wonder where he will go and what he will do with his life. (Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself? And where will we all go when it's too late?)
   He tells himself to not look back on his past and just keep working forward.
   
   "You're not the Jesus of Suburbia
   The St. Jimmy is a figment of
   Your father's rage and your mother's love
   Made me the idiot America"
   I believe that whatshername is telling him that, but he is telling himself that too. He begins to realize that he is not who he thought he was and that he imagined himself to be this wonderful person when he was king of the 7-11 only to make up for his awful home life. He begins to realize that he is no better than all the rest.
   The chorus repeats itself reminding you that he is going to let his old life go down in flames and rebuild a new life.
   The "city" is not his burden anymore because he abandoned his old life.
   "She said I can't take this place
   I'm leaving it behind
   Well she said I can't take this town
   I'm leaving you tonight"
   is what whatshername said in the letter that was mentioned in the beginning of the song. She was fed up with his lifestyle and she wanted to get out.
   This is repeated because the Jesus of Suburbia is still thinking about how she broke up with him, he is angry at her and frustrated.
   Also this last line is about the Jesus of Suburbia saying how he can't take his life and how he left it that night also
2. anonymous

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   Apr 20th 2017 !⃝

   Jesus is, in all respects, a martyr and a hero to those who were damned. By naming a character the "Jesus of Suburbia", it implies that he would be the saviour, or the redeemer of the town. He, however, doesn't believe it is his job to save it, and by making whatshername believe in him, he made her angry. "The city's burning, it's not my burden" highlights how he feels in this way. Eventually, she drops the "Letterbomb" and she breaks up with him in an attempt to pull him back to reality in that he's "Not the Jesus of suburbia" (as in he cannot save anyone) and basically telling him that St. Jimmy is a figment of his own imagination. And by being told this, he loses purpose in his life: "Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself?" He no longer had a reason to keep going. He no longer has this identity and this safety net, and he feels like he has to "Leave it behind," just like Whatshername left him behind.
3. anonymous

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   Feb 21st 2014 !⃝

   In the musical, Whatshername sings this song. It's her breaking up with "jesus of suburbia." The JOS has picked doing drugs with St. Jimmy, a alternate personality rather than be with Whatshername. So she writes him a letterbomb saying she is done with him and that he is nothing special and St. Jimmy is only in his mind. She also says that by believing in him that she was the true idiot. Great song
4. anonymous

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   Jan 31st 2012 !⃝

   I say that this song is about how everything he knew is losing itself to a less barbaric, more truthful and civilized world "Where, have all the riots gone?" shows that the world is becoming too civilized for him and has lost it's meaning and purpose. The "You're not the Jesus of Suburbia. "The St. Jimmy is a figment of your father's rage and your mother's love" might mean that he is not who he thought he was, and Whatsername reminds him that he is just a guy lost in his fantasies.
5. anonymous

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   Mar 9th 2011 !⃝

   I listen to this song whenever I'm feeling depressed, and feeling like I'm alone in the world. I prefer to think of it in a slightly happier light, even if it isn't that way. I always feel like the beginning of the song is talking about how you're all alone, and nobody else likes you, and the way the guitar sounds just makes me feel like it's saying "Screw them! You don't need them anyway! Just be yourself!"
6. anonymous

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   May 4th 2007 !⃝

   Jimmy's really pissed at his girl for dumping him that's where (So Send my Love A Letter Bomb and visit me in hell....)comes from.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
7. xKidxViciousx

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   Oct 29th 2006 !⃝

   This song is about st.Jimmy's girlfriend, whatshername, and how she writes him a breakup letter. She taunts him (nobody likes you everyone left you....) going deeper, I think she broke up with him because she wants him to save the city, but he doesn't care. (this city's burnin', it's not my burden....) and her anger towards him (your not the jesus of suburbia, st jimmy is a figment of your father's rage and your mother's love...) so, that's it.
8. anonymous

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   Sep 16th 2006 !⃝

   I think that this song is about how everything that surrounds the 'jesus of suburbia' is just caving in around him. His girlfriend doesn't like him, the city he's in is burning down, and the town bishop is a greedy extortionist. It's a very emotional song and you should be able to tell that from the lyrics. Espescially the ending part where he's told that he isn't the jesus of suburbia and that st. Jimmy is just a figment of his imagination.
   The ending lines are 'whatsername' telling him that she's leaving. Sad as hell. But it rocks.

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