Kerplunk

Rating: 4.2/5. From 183 votes. Show votes.
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Release Date: December 17, 1991
Length: 33:58
Studio: Art Of Ears
Label: Lookout Records
Producers: Andy Ernst & Green Day, John Kiffmeyer (executive)
Mixing: Andy Ernst
Engineer: Andy Ernst
Artwork: Chris Appelgren (cover art, disc art), Pat Hynes (artwork), Thadicus (art direction)

RIAA Certification: Platinum (1 Million) – August 8, 2003

Notes: Green Day’s second and final album on Lookout Records. The original vinyl-only release was followed by a CD/cassette release on January 17, 1992, which also included the songs from the Sweet Children EP. The album was hugely successful for an indie release and drew the attention of major labels. It has gone on to sell over a million copies.

  1. 2000 Light Years Away
  2. One For The Razorbacks
  3. Welcome To Paradise
  4. Christie Road
  5. Private Ale
  6. Dominated Love Slave
  7. One Of My Lies
  8. 80
  9. Android
  10. No One Knows
  11. Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?
  12. Words I Might Have Ate

Sweet Children EP

13. Sweet Children
14. Best Thing In Town
15. Strangeland
16. My Generation

Track Info

1. 2000 Light Years Away

Rating: 4.5/5. From 145 votes. Show votes.
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This is a song about missing someone you love, thinking about them all the time and dreaming of being next to them again.

The song was inspired by Armstrong's relationship with Adrienne Nesser, his future wife, who at that time lived in Minnesota, while he lived in California. Obviously, being so far away from her made him miss her a lot, and 2,000 Light Years Away is one of the songs that he wrote to express his feelings towards her. The number 2,000 is probably based on the actual distance between the lovers (it's also mentioned in another song about Armstrong's wife - Westbound Sign: "is tragedy 2,000 miles away?") - the actual location between their hometowns is a lot less than 2,000 miles*, but the author roughly approximated the distance because obviously, when you are apart from someone you love, it seems like they are worlds away, even if it's just a few hundred miles.

The distance between Minneapolis, MN and Berkeley, CA is 1575 miles (2535 km).

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

I sit alone in my bedroom
Staring at the walls
I've been up all damn night long
My pulse is speeding
My love is yearning

I hold my breath and close my eyes and
Dream about her
'Cause she's two thousand light years away
She holds my malakite so tight so
Never let go
Cause she's two thousand light years away
Years away

I sit outside and watch the sunrise
Lookout as far as I can
I can't see her, but in the distance
I hear some laughter,
We laugh together

I hold my breath and close my eyes and
Dream about her
'Cause she's two thousand light years away
She holds my malakite so tight so
Never let go
Cause she's two thousand light years away
Years away

I sit alone in my bedroom
Staring at the walls
I've been up all damn night long
My pulse is speeding
My love is yearning

I hold my breath and close my eyes and
Dream about her
'Cause she's two thousand light years away
She holds my malakite so tight so
Never let go
'Cause she's two thousand light years away

2. One For The Razorbacks

Rating: 4.0/5. From 115 votes. Show votes.
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"One for the Rbacks. A girl from Arkansas that became a good friend of mine. I wrote her a song. We listened to a demo of it in my car. 1991."

- Billie Joe Armstrong

The song tells a story about a girl named Juliet - her heart is broken and now she's not sure what she wants anymore. "Experience has got her down" and now she doesn't trust love anymore because she's realized that it's not always as great as you want it to be.

The narrator is a guy who believes that he can make Juliet happy. He knows that he's not perfect, but he wants to try and "bring her up again". He's willing to sacrifice his dignity and do anything for her, just so she opens up her heart again, because no matter how cruel and painful love can be - one can hardly be happy without it.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

Juliet's trying to find out what she wants,
But she don't know
Experience has got her down
Look this direction, I know it's not perfection,
It's just me
I want to bring you up again now!

I'm losing what's left of my dignity
A small price I'll pay to see that you're happy
Forget all the disappointments you have faced
Open up your worried world and let me in

Juliet's crying, cause now she's realizing,
Love can be, filled with pain and distrust.
I know I am crazy, and a bit lazy
But I will try to bring you up again somehow

3. Welcome To Paradise

Rating: 4.3/5. From 135 votes. Show votes.
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"It's about West Oakland, living in a warehouse with a lot of people, a bunch of artists and musicians, punks and whatever just lived all up and down, bums and junkies and thugs and gang members and stuff that just lived in that area. It's no place you want to walk around at night, but it's a neat warehouse where you can play basketball and stuff."

- Billie Joe Armstrong

The song is not only about a 'slum' that the author used to live in, it's also about leaving your parents' house. When you leave home and start a life of your own, you don't always get a house with 3 bedrooms and a swimming pool right away. In fact, most of the time you have nothing and have to live in some broken house with a bunch of friends. At first it scares you ("Dear mother, can you hear me whining..."), you panic and doubt you will ever succeed in this independent life you've decided to live, you think of quitting everything and going back home ("It makes me wonder why I'm still here..."). But people adapt to just about everything and soon you make friends and get used to your new living conditions. The new place becomes your home ("For some strange reason it's now feeling like my home").

"Some call it slums, some call it nice" - it's only slums when you look at it from a distance. But when you live and breathe it - it becomes nice because it is your home. Not your parents' home, but one of your own - and it's Paradise.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

Dear mother
Can you hear me whining?
It's been three whole weeks
Since I left your home
This sudden fear has left me trembling
'Cause now it seems that I
Am out there on my own
And I'm feeling so alone

Pay attention to the cracked streets
And the broken homes
Some call it slums
Some call it nice
I want to take you through
A wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise

A gunshot rings out at the station
Another urchin snaps and
Left dead on his own
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For some strange reason it's now
Feeling like my home
And I'm never gonna go

Pay attention to the cracked streets
And the broken homes
Some call it slums
Some call it nice
I want to take you through
A wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise

Dear mother
Can you hear me laughing?
It's been six whole months since that
I have left your home
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For some strange reason it's now
Feeling like my home
And I'm never gonna go

Pay attention to the cracked streets
And the broken homes
Some call it slums
Some call it nice
I want to take you through
A wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise

4. Christie Road

Rating: 4.5/5. From 134 votes. Show votes.
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"Christie Rd is off Hwy 4 between our hometown Rodeo and Martinez, CA. My brother hung out there first. Then my friends hung out there too."

- Billie Joe Armstrong

It's a common belief that this song is about a place where the author and his friends used to go to get high. However, this is only a part of it, and the lyrics are mostly not about smoking weed but simply about a place where you want to go when you need to be alone - a place that you can call home. The narrator says that Christie Road is a place where he feels comfortable and where he can relax. He goes there when he's stressed out because that's the place where he feels complete, where he can forget about the rest of the world and just be himself.

The song isn't as much about the tracks on Christie Road as just about the need to be alone. We all need that sometimes, and if you're lucky, you have a special place where you can go to get your thoughts together, relax and be yourself - your own Christie Road.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

Staring out of my window watching the cars go rolling by
My friends are gone I've got nothing to do
So I sit here patiently watching the clock tick so slowly
Gotta get away or my brains will explode

Give me something to do to kill some time
Take me to that place that I call home
Take away the strains of being lonely
Take me to the tracks at Christie Road

See the hills from afar standing on my beat up car
The sun went down and the night fills the sky
Now I feel like me once again as the train comes rolling in
Smoked my boredom gone, slapped my brains up so high

Give me something to do to kill some time
Take me to that place that I call home
Take away the strains of being lonely
Take me to the tracks at Christie Road

Mother, stay out of my way of that place we go
We'll always seem to find our way to Christie Road
Mother, stay out of my way of that place we go
We'll always seem to find our way to Christie Road

If there is one thing that I need that makes me feel complete
So I go to Christie Road, it's home, it's home
It's home, it's home, it's home

5. Private Ale

Rating: 3.7/5. From 101 votes. Show votes.
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The lyrics of this song are basically thinking out loud. The narrator is talking to himself as he's walking down a street alone and thinking about his life and future. He doesn't seem to care about anything and he just walks until he realizes that he's by the house of someone he's infatuated with. And he starts day-dreaming about them, letting his mind give in to temptation. He realizes that he'd rather think about this person than about his future that he doesn't seem to even care about.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

I wander down these streets all by myself
Think of my future now
I just don't know
I don't see to care

I stop to notice that
I'm by your home
I wonder if you're sitting all alone
Or is your boyfriend there

Because I feel so right
Let my imagination go
Until you're in my sight
And through my veins
Temptation flows

So I sit down here on the hard concrete
Think of my future now
I just don't know
I don't seem to care

So I sit across the street from your home
I wonder if you're sitting all alone
Or is your boyfriend there

6. Dominated Love Slave

Rating: 3.1/5. From 116 votes. Show votes.
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This is one of the most deviant songs Green Day have ever released on an album. The song includes a variety of sexual dreams and descriptions of BDSM role playing which the narrator is offering his partner (or potential partner) to engage in. He's expressively explaining how good it would make him feel if his wishes came true and how passionate he is about fulfilling his desire to be a "dominated love slave".

Unlike most other Green Day songs, Dominated Love Slave has no hidden meaning or concealed implications. It's nothing but the love of kinky sex.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

I want to be your dominated love slave
I want to be the one that takes the pain
You can spank me when I do not behave
Smack me in the forehead with a chain

Cause I love feelin' dirty
And I love feelin' cheap
And I love it when you hurt me
So drive those staples deep

I want you to slap me and call me naughty
Put a belt sander against my skin
I want to feel pain all over my body
Can't wait to be punished for my sins

Cause I love feelin' dirty
And I love feelin' cheap
And I love it when you hurt me
So drive those staples deep

7. One Of My Lies

Rating: 4.2/5. From 113 votes. Show votes.
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"One Of My Lies was written at a warehouse on 7th st in West Oakland. I lived there with 15 roommates. Lucky Dog got me the room. RIP Lucky. Its the same warehouse 80 (Adrienne) visited me from Minnesota. 1991."

- Billie Joe Armstrong

Like many other songs on this album, One of My Lies is about the doubts and realizations associated with growing up. The narrator admits that he used to have naive self-centered views on life, he thought that he was the most important thing in the world and his life was priceless. But now he's realizing that he's just as small as everyone else and has the same flaws and doubts - he's not special, and now he's woken up to understand it. In his rage caused by these realizations, he's stating that no one else is special either - we're all small and disposable, and no one knows the answers to his questions.

All these realizations lead the narrator to another serious question, and that is whether there is a God, whether there is someone or something that actually knows the answers to eternal questions. Like so many others he was praying at night because he'd been told that this was the right thing to do. Now he's reached the time when he starts questioning whether he believes in that himself - so far he has no answers. And he's wondering if he's just been lying to himself all along.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

When I was younger
I thought the world circled around me
But in time I realized I was wrong
My immortal thoughts turned into just dreams of a dead future
It was a tragic case of my reality

Do you think you're indestructible
And no one can touch you?
Well I think you're disposable
And it's time you knew the truth

Cause it's just one of my lies
And all I wanna do is get real high
Well it's just one of my lies

Why does my life have to be so small?
Yet death is forever
And does forever have a life to call its own?
Don't give me an answer cause you
Only know as much as I know
Unless you've been there once
Well I hardly think so

Do you think you're indestructible
And no one can touch you?
Well I think you're disposable
And it's time you knew the truth

Cause it's just one of my lies
And all I wanna do is get real high
Well it's just one of my lies

I used to pray all night
Before I lay myself down
My mother said it was right
Her mother said it too...
Why?

8. 80

Rating: 4.3/5. From 109 votes. Show votes.
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"(The song) '80' was written in Portland on the beginning of our 91 tour. Summer."

- Billie Joe Armstrong

The first verse is about the feeling of love. How the author's senses are numbing (My mental stability reaches its bitter end and all my senses are coming unglued) from the ecstasy of love (wow, such cheesy). He begins trying to find ways to fill the 'hole in his heart' (Is there any cure for this disease someone called love) but realizes the hole/pain will not go away until he confesses his love (not as long as there are girls like you)

The chorus begins the description of the girl and how she is making him lose control of himself. He tries to tell someone about his crush but no one listens to him (If anyone can hear me slap some sense into me but you turn your head and I end up talking to myself) and becomes more and more of a nervous wreck (Anxiety has got me strung out and frustrated, So I lose my head or I bang it up against the wall).

He starts getting lonely thoughts and how he's alone with no SO to talk to. (Sometimes I wonder if I should be left alone and lock myself up in a padded room). He eventually begins getting panic attacks from his immense thoughts on 80 (I'd sit and spew my guts out to the open air, no one wants to hear a drunken fool)

The interlude comes in with the author admitting he actually likes feeling love despite the pain he gets since its been so long already (I do not mind if this goes on, Cause now it seems I'm too far gone). The song ends by stating how the two end up as a couple (80 please keep taking me away).

- song meaning written by u/potlah on r/GreenDay

My mental stability reaches its bitter end
And all my senses are coming unglued
Is there any cure for this disease
Someone called love
Not as long as there are
Girls like you

Everything she does questions my mental health
It makes me lose control
I just can't trust myself
If someone can hear me slap some sense in me
But you turn your head and I end up talking to myself
Anxiety has got me strung out and frustrated
So I lose my head or bang it up against the wall

Sometimes I wonder if I should be left alone
And lock myself up in a padded room
I'd sit and spew my guts out to the open air
No one wants to hear a drunken fool

Everything she does questions my mental health
It makes me lose control
I just can't trust myself
If someone can hear me slap some sense in me
But you turn your head and I end up talking to myself
Anxiety has got me strung out and frustrated
So I lose my head or bang it up against the wall

I do not mind if this goes on
Cause now it seems I'm too far gone
I must admit I enjoy myself
Eighty please keep taking me away

9. Android

Rating: 3.8/5. From 102 votes. Show votes.
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"Android was named after (producer) Andy Ernst. It was about a homeless man walking down college ave. I was drinking coffee with Tre.

- Billie Joe Armstrong

In this song, the narrator is wondering what will happen to him when he grows older. He starts off with thinking about an old man he saw - he sees that his man didn't succeed in life and realizes that this can happen to anyone. He wonders what this man was dreaming of when he was younger. Everyone has dreams of a great future, but it doesn't mean those dreams will come true - in fact, you might end up "wearing woman's shoes and being crazy" like this old man.

And so the narrator starts going deeper into his thoughts of what will happen to him when he grows older, and whether he will grow old at all. He thinks he's wasting too much time on things that won't get him anywhere and it scares him because he realizes how quickly the time will pass. He knows that time goes by fast and the more time you lose the fewer chances you have to succeed in life - "it's crazy".

The title of the song might be referring to the narrator's opinion that we often live life without thinking about our future, we "hide away from hopes behind a smile and smoking dope" - we act like we are not human, but only resemble humans, while inside we are a lot more like robots that have no real plans or ambitions, and hence no future.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

Hey old man in woman's shoes
I wonder if he knows I think he's crazy
When he was young did he have dreams
Of wearing woman's shoes and being crazy?

It makes me wonder when I grow to be that age
Will I be walking down the street begging for your spare change
Or will I grow that old?
Will I still be around?
The way I carry on I'll end up
Six feet underground
And waste away...

When the old man was in school
Did the golden rule make him go crazy
Or did he hide away from hopes
Behind a smile and smoking dope
It's crazy

It makes me wonder when I grow to be that age
Will I be walking down the street begging for your spare change
Or will I grow that old?
Will I still be around?
The way I carry on I'll end up
Six feet underground
And waste away...

It seems so frightening
Time passes by like lightning
Before you know it you're struck down
I always waste my time on my chemical emotions
It keeps my head spinning around.

10. No One Knows

Rating: 4.0/5. From 107 votes. Show votes.
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"Mike had this beautiful bass line he wanted to turn into a song. I wrote lyrics for it. Song is No One Knows."

- Billie Joe Armstrong

The narrator in this song expresses his fear of growing up and turning into someone who has to plan out everything they do. He sees that his friends are ageing and realizes that this will inevitably happen to him too. He doesn't express a certain opinion - he simply looks at both sides of the problem and tries to figure out what to do. He's saying that he doesn't want to live a planned out life, but wants to stay spontaneous and have fun for as long as he can. Yet, he's saying that sometimes he unintentionally hurts people with who he is, and that makes him wonder whether he should somehow change, have a plan for life, grow up. He's wondering whether what he's doing with his life is right.

This kind of insecurity could be caused not only by facing the inevitability of entering adult life but also by doubts about one's carrier or love life. At some point in life, most people wonder whether they should change their course in life - whether they should still reach out for their dreams or settle with a steady job, whether they should have a steady partner or search around for new relationships and experiences. Whatever the inspiration was for this song, the author didn't find the answer to his questions - after analyzing all of his doubts and feelings, the only conclusion he could come up with was "I don't know".

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

Why should my fun have to end?
For me it's only the beginning
I see my friends begin to age
A short countdown to their end

Call me irresponsible
Call me habitual
But when you think of me
Do you fill your head with schemes
Better think again
Cause no one knows

I don't want to cause no harm
But sometimes my actions hurt
Is there something I should find
To make plans for forever

Call me irresponsible
Call me habitual
But when you think of me
(Does it seem like all your memories fade)
Do you fill your head with schemes
(You soak up knowledge to fill the space)
Better think again
(And still my answer remains)
Cause no one knows
(I don't know)

11. Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?

Rating: 4.6/5. From 123 votes. Show votes.
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Holden Caulfield is a character from a J. D. Salinger book Catcher in the Rye, which served as an inspiration for this song.

In this song, the narrator is trying to recall what he was going to say but realizes that he can't remember what it was. And just like his lazy mind, he himself can't get motivated and is becoming more and more idle and frustrated. He wants to do something big and meaningful, "make a stand" - but he doesn't have enough will or strength to fulfill that desire, and so he ends up almost forgetting what it was that he wanted to do.

As the author mentioned, the reason for the frustration might be the obligation to do what your parents tell you to - first you have no motivation for doing what they want you to do and you want to rebel, but then you realize that you have no motivation for rebelling either and you just might "end up quitting". As a result, you're doing nothing and drowning in your own apathy.

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

A thought burst in my head and I need to tell you
It's news that I for thought
Was it just a dream that happened long ago?
I think I just forgot

Well it hasn't been the first time
And it sure does drive me mad
I just wanna say

There's a boy who fogs his world and now he's getting lazy
There's no motivation and frustration makes him crazy
He makes a plan to take a stand but always ends up sitting
Someone help him up or he's gonna end up quitting

I shuffle through my mind
To see if I can find
The words I left behind
Was it just a dream
That happened long ago
Oh well, never mind

Well it hasn't been the first time
And it sure does drive me mad
I just wanna say

There's a boy who fogs his world and now he's getting lazy
There's no motivation and frustration makes him crazy
He makes a plan to take a stand but always ends up sitting
Someone help him up or he is gonna end up quitting

12. Words I Might Have Ate

Rating: 3.8/5. From 110 votes. Show votes.
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"Words I Might Have Ate was about Nina. She broke my heart. I was a shitty boyfriend. The 'school grounds' was a school we hung out at and smoked weed and made out and stuff. Oh to be young."

- Billie Joe Armstrong

In this song, the narrator is admitting the mistakes he's made in a relationship with someone he really loved. He confesses that this was "something real" that he could have had, but he lost it and it was solely his own fault. He has the best memories about the girl he loved and he regrets that he didn't try hard enough to keep what they had together, but now it's too late and all he can do is "take the pain".

The song is filled with the spirit of the album expressing the difficulties of realizations of one's mistakes and self-deception. The narrator takes the blame for his actions and admits everything he's done wrong - but he can't change anything, and once again he's left without an answer to the one question that keeps dwelling in his mind: "Why?"

- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net

Now it seems I can't keep my mind off of you
My brain drifts back to better days we've been through
Like sitting on the blacktop of the school grounds
The love I bitched about I finally found

But now it's gone and I take the blame
So there's nothing I can do but take the pain
Why?

Now I dwell on what you remind me of
A sweet young girl who sacrificed her love
As for me, I am blind without a cause
And now I realized what I have lost

It was something real that I could have had
Now I play the fool whose stable soul's gone bad
Why?

Tell me the words I might have said
That's pumping pressure deep inside my head
Was it bad enough to be too late?
Just tell me the words I might have ate.