Jesus Of Suburbia
Released On
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool
Studio 880
Ocean Way Recording
Ocean Way Recording
Rob Cavallo, Green Day
627
2004-07-29
2026-02-06
Staple (80-100%)
Regular (50-79%)
Sporadic (20-49%)
Rare (1-19%)
Inactive (0%)
Performance Probability
92%
Odds of being played at the next showStaple
(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
I loved 'A Quick One' by the Who, and I decided I’d love to write a song that felt like a mini-opera. We had a studio that we could work everything out at and experiment, and Mike, Tré, and I had been coming up with little 30-second vignettes and trying to connect them in the studio.
After I wrote 'American Idiot', I was like, “Who is this character?” Then the ideas started firing at me: “I’m the son of rage and love/The Jesus of Suburbia/The Bible of none of the above.” It felt like I was in uncharted territory, really for the first time. I’d taken my songwriting to another level. It starts almost doo-woppy, and then it ends up almost going into this sort of Black Sabbath direction. It’s kind of around-the-world-in-eight-minutes or something. And Jesus of Suburbia ended up becoming the character that ran throughout the entire album.
Billie Joe Armstrong (Rolling Stone)
'Jesus of Suburbia', that’s one of my proudest moments for Green Day. I remember the first time that we ever played it. We were rehearsing at the Olympic Auditorium down in Los Angeles. We were really tight. We were playing every day and we thought, “Hey, let’s do a cheap ticket, people can come see us play.” That was the first time that we played it in front of people. They kind of couldn’t believe what we had done. It was this nine-minute epic, where people were used to our two-and-a-half, three-minute songs. The reaction was so positive in a way where people just couldn’t believe what they were hearing. I’m really proud of that song and how it was inspired by The Who and we just got to have that moment.
Billie Joe Armstrong (Billboard)
I loved 'A Quick One' by the Who, and I decided I’d love to write a song that felt like a mini-opera. We had a studio that we could work everything out at and experiment, and Mike, Tré, and I had been coming up with little 30-second vignettes and trying to connect them in the studio.
After I wrote 'American Idiot', I was like, “Who is this character?” Then the ideas started firing at me: “I’m the son of rage and love/The Jesus of Suburbia/The Bible of none of the above.” It felt like I was in uncharted territory, really for the first time. I’d taken my songwriting to another level. It starts almost doo-woppy, and then it ends up almost going into this sort of Black Sabbath direction. It’s kind of around-the-world-in-eight-minutes or something. And Jesus of Suburbia ended up becoming the character that ran throughout the entire album.
Billie Joe Armstrong (Rolling Stone)
'Jesus of Suburbia', that’s one of my proudest moments for Green Day. I remember the first time that we ever played it. We were rehearsing at the Olympic Auditorium down in Los Angeles. We were really tight. We were playing every day and we thought, “Hey, let’s do a cheap ticket, people can come see us play.” That was the first time that we played it in front of people. They kind of couldn’t believe what we had done. It was this nine-minute epic, where people were used to our two-and-a-half, three-minute songs. The reaction was so positive in a way where people just couldn’t believe what they were hearing. I’m really proud of that song and how it was inspired by The Who and we just got to have that moment.
Billie Joe Armstrong (Billboard)
Lyrics
[Part I: Jesus of Suburbia]
I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus of Suburbia
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
'Least the ones I got away with
And 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
Get my television fix
Sitting on my crucifix
The living room, or my private womb
While the moms and Brads are away
To fall in love and fall in debt
To alcohol and cigarettes and Mary Jane
To keep me insane
Doing someone else's cocaine
And 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
[Part II: City of the Damned]
At the center of the Earth, in the parking lot
Of the 7-Eleven where I was taught
The motto was just a lie
It says "home is where your heart is," but what a shame
'Cause everyone's heart doesn't beat the same
It's beating out of time
City of the dead (Hey! Hey!)
At the end of another lost highway (Hey! Hey!)
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned (Hey! Hey!)
Lost children with dirty faces today (Hey! Hey!)
No one really seems to care
I read the graffiti in the bathroom stall
Like the holy scriptures of the shopping mall
And so it seemed to confess
It didn't say much, but it only confirmed
That the center of the Earth is the end of the world
And I could really care less
City of the dead (Hey! Hey!)
At the end of another lost highway (Hey! Hey!)
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned (Hey! Hey!)
Lost children with dirty faces today (Hey! Hey!)
No one really seems to care (Hey!)
[Part III: I Don't Care]
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care
I don't care!
Everyone's so full of shit
Born and raised by hypocrites
Hearts recycled, but never saved
From the cradles to the grave
We are the kids of war and peace
From Anaheim to the Middle East
We are the stories and disciples of
The Jesus of Suburbia!
Land of make-believe
And it don't believe in me
Land of make-believe
(Said it's, it's another lie!)
And I don't believe
And I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care! (Whoo, whoo, whoo)
I don't care!
[Part IV: Dearly Beloved]
Dearly beloved, are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented, or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure
Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh
(Ooh, ooh) Oh, therapy, can you please fill the void?
(Ooh, ooh-ooh) Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed?
(Ooh, ooh) Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
(Ooh, ooh-ooh) For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse
Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh
[Part V: Tales of Another Broken Home]
To live and not to breathe
Is to die in tragedy
To run, to run away
To find what you believe
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
I lost my faith to this
This town that don't exist
So I run, I run away
To the lights of masochists
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
And I've walked this line
A million and one fucking times
But not this time!
I don't feel any shame, I won't apologize
When there ain't nowhere you can go
Running away from pain when you've been victimized
Tales from another broken
Home
You're leaving
You're leaving
You're leaving
Are you leaving home?
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Jesus Of Suburbia
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