Amanda
Released On
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool, Jason White
Jingletown Recording
Rob Cavallo, Green Day
1
2011-11-17
2011-11-17
Staple (80-100%)
Regular (50-79%)
Sporadic (20-49%)
Rare (1-19%)
Inactive (0%)
Performance Probability
0%
Odds of being played at the next showDoubtful
(Calculated from the last 100 shows)!For songs debuted recently, the percentage is calculated against total shows performed since the song's debut date rather than the full 100-show window.
Song Notes
Perhaps more surprising is the song 'Amanda' on ¡Tré!. It references Armstrong’s brief relationship with a militant feminist punk-rock girl, actually named Amanda, during the Gilman Street days. She broke up with him and has haunted Green Day’s body of work ever since, although usually in veiled or fictionalized form. She was the inspiration for Green Day’s mega-hit 'Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)' and also formed the basis for the character Whatsername in 21st Century Breakdown.
“Yeah, she’s in that,” Armstrong acknowledges, “and all the way back to a song like ‘Stuart And The Avenue’. She’s an old friend who goes back to a long time ago—kind of like a recurring dream. She’s shown up in different songs here and there that are bitter or bittersweet. I wrote the song ‘Amanda’ from a perspective of, ‘Okay, now that we’re grown-ups…’ She’s got her kids and her husband, and I’ve got my family. And it’s just asking the question, ‘How are you? What’s life like for you? This is what I’m up to.’ We had a chance to reconnect and talk a little bit. And that was that.”
- Guitar World
“Yeah, she’s in that,” Armstrong acknowledges, “and all the way back to a song like ‘Stuart And The Avenue’. She’s an old friend who goes back to a long time ago—kind of like a recurring dream. She’s shown up in different songs here and there that are bitter or bittersweet. I wrote the song ‘Amanda’ from a perspective of, ‘Okay, now that we’re grown-ups…’ She’s got her kids and her husband, and I’ve got my family. And it’s just asking the question, ‘How are you? What’s life like for you? This is what I’m up to.’ We had a chance to reconnect and talk a little bit. And that was that.”
- Guitar World
Lyrics
Amanda, don't you know
That I still walk around
This foggy roundabout
When I get back in town?
I was a different man
From five seconds ago
And you're a different woman, that's for certain
And I don't know a thing about
Is this some kind of love
That only hate would understand?
Amanda, I couldn't be your man
Amanda, don't you know
I wasn't strong enough?
And in your wild mind
I wasn't smart enough
I was a different kid
From fifteen years ago
And you're a different woman, that's for certain
And I wanna know about
Is this some kind of love
That only hate would understand?
Amanda, I couldn't be your man
I'm not playing with your mind
Unless you think I am
'Cause you're crushing my heart
Like a battering-ram
Is this some kind of love
That only hate would understand?
Amanda, I couldn't be your man