Release Date: October 3, 2000
Length: 41:14
Studio: Studio 880
Label: Reprise Records
Producers: Green Day & Rob Cavallo (executive)
Mixing: Jack Joseph Puig
Engineer: Ken Allardyce
Artwork: Chris Bilheimer (art direction, photos), Marina Chavez (photos), Lance Bang (photos)
Additional Musicians: Benmont Tench, Gary Meek (saxophone), David Campbell (strings arrangement)
Dominatrix: Mistress Simone
Singles: Minority, Warning, Waiting
RIAA Certification: Gold (0.5 Million) – December 1, 2000
Billboard 200 Peak: #4 – 25 weeks on the chart
Notes: Recorded in April and May of 2000, Warning featured an acoustic folk sound across several tracks continuing the experimentation that began with nimrod. While many fans and critics praised the growth of the band, the album was the lowest selling major label album they had released to that point.
- Warning
- Blood, Sex And Booze
- Church On Sunday
- Fashion Victim
- Castaway
- Misery
- Deadbeat Holiday
- Hold On
- Jackass
- Waiting
- Minority
- Macy’s Day Parade
13. Brat (live)
14. 86 (live)
Track Info:
1. Warning
This song points out that in today's world we are surrounded by all kinds of warnings and instructions. It sometimes seems that people are considered to be completely brain-dead and unable to understand the most basic things. Warning says that one should have a mind of their own and do what they think is right and not what they are told. However, the song is not as much about breaking rules and ignoring warnings - it's about not being stupid enough to actually need those warnings. After all, the "Don't pour water on your TV" sign did not appear by itself - there was once a person who did water their TV; as well as there was a person who decided to dry their dog in a microwave, and someone who thought it would be fun to put a chocolate bar into their VCR. We laugh at warning signs that seem to be ridiculous, but then again there is always a chance that we'll do something that will cause another stupid warning to appear. This song tells us to think, question everything, and not be stupid enough to be a reason for more absurd warning signs to be created.
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
This is a public service announcement
This is only a test
Emergency evacuation protest
May impair your ability to operate machinery
Can't quite tell just what it means to me
Keep out of reach of children
Don't you talk to strangers
Get your philosophy from a bumper sticker
Warning - live without warning
I said Warning - live without warning
Without, alright
Better homes and safety-sealed communities
Did you remember to pay the utility
Caution: Police line: you better not cross
Is it the cop or am I the one that's really dangerous
Sanitation, expiration date, question everything
Or shut up and be a victim of authority
Warning - live without warning
I said Warning - live without warning
I said Warning - live without warning
I said Warning - live without warning
Without, alright
Better homes and safety-sealed communities
Did you remember to pay the utility
Caution: Police line: you better not cross
Is it the cop or am I the one that's really dangerous
Sanitation, expiration date, question everything?
Or shut up and be a victim of authority
Warning - live without warning
I said Warning - live without warning
I said Warning - live without warning
I said Warning - live without warning
This was a public service announcement
This is only a test
2. Blood, Sex And Booze
In this song the narrator expresses his slightly ambivalent attitude towards being the bottom in a BDSM relationship. But aside from that, the song could also be considered an illustration of a man's point of view on the possibility of dominance of a woman over a man. Historically women tend to be more submissive and let the men be in charge, while a lot of men want to be with a dominant woman that would not be afraid to take the initiative and be in control. In today's world of feminism and emancipated women, the scheme of a heterosexual relationship is still old-fashioned and society still perceives women as the weaker sex; while a lot of men (openly or secretly) are dreaming of a "girl called Kill".
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
Waiting in a room
All dressed up and bound and gagged to a chair
It's so unfair
I won't dare to move
For the pain she puts me through is what I need
So make it bleed
I'm in distress
Oh mistress I confess
So do it one more time
These handcuffs are too tight
You know I will obey
So please, don't make me beg
For blood, sex, and booze you give me
Some say I'm disturbed
It's what I deserve
Another lesson to be learned
From a girl called "kill"
My head is in the gutter
Thank you sir strike up another mandolin, of discipline
Throw me to the dogs
Let them eat my flesh down to the wood
It feels so good
I'm in distress
Oh mistress I confess
So do it one more time
These handcuffs are too tight
You know I will obey
So please, don't make me beg
For blood, sex, and booze you give me
Some say I'm disturbed
It's what I deserve
Another lesson to be learned from a girl called "Kill"
I'm in distress
Oh mistress I confess
So do it one more time
These handcuffs are too tight
You know I will obey
So please, don't make me beg
For blood, sex, and booze you give me
I'll show you a real time!
3. Church On Sunday
There is nothing complicated or confusing about this song - it's a calm and quiet expression of one's feelings, charming in its simplicity. The song describes a point in a long-term relationship when you decide to stop faking and finally face your problems - after this, you can't pretend anymore. A kind of a point of no return ("first day of the rest of our lives"). Realizing his mistakes, the narrator offers his other half a compromise - "if you live with me, I'll die for you". And that might sound banal and exaggerated, but even the most trivial cliché can become honest and meaningful when it's coming from your heart. He admits that all the words about trust don't mean anything, but what matters is how much tolerance and faith in each other you have ("It's a song about when you're in a long term relationship with somebody, you have to keep reinventing it, and it takes a lot of compromise." - Armstrong). Compromising and helping each other out through the hard times is what keeps a relationship running, and this song just might be one of the best marriage-saving serenades ever written.
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives
Tomorrow is too late to pretend
Everything's all right now
I'm not getting any younger as long
As you don't get any older
I'm not going to say that yesterday never was
Bloodshot deadbeat and lack of sleep
Making your mascara bleed
Tears down your face
Leaving traces of my mistakes
If I promise to go to church on Sunday
Will you go with me on Friday night
If you live with me, I'll die for you
And this compromise
I hereby solemnly swear to tell
The whole truth
And nothing but the truth is what
I'll ever hear from you
Trust is a dirty word that comes
Only from such a liar
But respect is something I will earn
If you have faith
Bloodshot deadbeat and lack of sleep
Making your mascara bleed
Tears down your face
Leaving traces of my mistakes
If I promise to go to church on Sunday
Will you go with me on Friday night?
If you live with me, I'll die for you
And this compromise
4. Fashion Victim
In Fashion Victim the author describes how pathetically brainless people can become in their attempts to perfectly follow the latest fashion. Not only do they spend incredible amounts of money on things that are "in" ("as your credit card explodes"), but very often they choose things tastelessly, without realizing that an outfit that is considered the latest fashion might not even look good on them ("but she looks like hell to me"). They blindly follow the fashion like dogs follow orders, which makes "fashion victims" look like competitors in a pony show, trying to demonstrate how well they can do what they are told.
Aside from the lack of individuality caused by the desire to look like people from magazine covers, Fashion Victim also mentions the problem of trying to shape your body so that it looks like that of a supermodel. But the attempts to be "perfect" usually lead to health problems such as anorexia and bulimia, and the victims of a race for perfection damage their health without even realizing it ("Do the anorexic-go-go"). "Fashion victims" lose their health, their individuality, and "auction off their life for the most expensive price".
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
He's a victim of his own time
In his vintage suit and tie
He's a casualty dressed to the teeth
In the latest genocide
The new seasons come and go
At the dog and pony show
Gonna sit and beg and fetch the names
And follow the dress codes
What's in a name, hey
She's a scented magazine
Looking sharp and living clean
Living well and dressed to kill
But she looks like hell to me
So when you're dancing through your wardrobe
Do the anorexic go-go
Cloaked with style for pedophiles
As your credit card explodes
You auctioned off your life
For the "most" expensive price
Going once, going twice, it's gone
You auctioned off your life
For the "most" expensive price
Going once, going twice, it's gone
What's in a name, hey
What's in a name, hey
What's in a name
5. Castaway
A song about a man reminiscing on his teen years (I'm on a sentimental journey). 'Into sight and sound' are just more description of his memories. He remembers his recklessness and how he never really thought things through before doing them (A consciences objector to the War that's in my mind). He knows his teenage years will be robbed by nature soon and wants to do what he can (taking back what's mine).
As stated earlier, he continues to do things mindlessly without any real aim (I'm on a mission, In the destination unknown, An expedition, In the desolation road). The chorus shows that he is mostly alone on his 'journey' (going at it alone, now I'm on my own). And that his actions are usually dangerous (Lost and found, trouble bound).
The second verse is more of what he did during his teen years. Like how he would stay up late (night train) just to steal cars and drive them around town to get that adrenaline pumping in fear of getting caught (Testing my nerves). He can feel these actions taking a big toll on his mind (Spontaneous combustion on the Corners of my mind) but continues anyway.
The song fades out with repetition of how he wants to do whatever he can before he grows old.
- song meaning written by u/potlah on r/GreenDay
I'm on a sentimental journey into sight and sound
Of no return and no looking back or down
A conscientious objector to the war that's in my mind
Leaving in a lurch and I’m taking back what's mine
I'm on a mission
Into destination unknown
An expedition
Onto Desolation Road
Where I'm a...
Castaway - going at it alone
Castaway - now I'm on my own
Lost and found, trouble bound
Castaway
I'm riding on the night train and driving stolen cars
Testing my nerves out on the boulevard
Spontaneous combustion in the corners of my mind
Leaving in a lurch and I'm taking back what's mine
I'm on a mission
Into destination unknown
An expedition
Onto Desolation Road
Where I'm a...
Castaway - going at it alone
Castaway - now I'm on my own
Lost and found, trouble bound
Castaway
I'm on a sentimental journey into sight and sound
Of no return and no looking back or down
A conscientious objector to the war that's in my mind
Leaving in a lurch and I’m taking back what's mine
I'm on a mission
Into destination unknown
An expedition
Onto Desolation Road
Where I'm a...
Castaway - going at it alone
Castaway - now I'm on my own
Lost and found, trouble bound
Castaway
6. Misery
In Misery the author is proving his point by using examples - he describes several situations with different people whose actions and decisions led them to the state of misery. This is an ode to consequences that shows what can happen when you do something that you know is wrong. And when it's too late to change anything, all you can do is "get high when you're low", but this obviously won't make you happier. So, instead of regretting your mistakes and drowning your sorrow in intoxication, why not think of what you're doing before you make your mistakes? "It's not what you make, it's what you leave". Things that give you momentary satisfaction might screw you up in the long run, and that's what matters - they're not worth the misery.
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
Virginia was a lot lizard from F.L.A
She had a compound fracture in the trunk
It started when she ran away
Thumbs out on the interstate
She hitched a ride to misery
Mr. Whirly had a catastrophic incident
He fell into the city by the bay
He liquidated his estate
Now he sleeps upon the Haight
Panhandling misery
He's gonna get high, high, high
When he's low, low, low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams, "Why, oh, why?"
I said, "I don't know"
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
Vinnie was a hustler out of Amsterdam
He ran the drug cartel in Tinseltown
They found him in a Cadillac
Bludgeoned with a baseball bat
In the name of misery
Gina hit the road to New York City
Mysteriously the night Vinnie croaked
She stopped in Vegas to elope
With Virginia and the dope
And kissed the bride eternally
And they're gonna get high, high, high
When they're low, low, low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams, "Why, oh, why?"
I said, "I don't know"
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
Hellhounds on your trail now once again boy
It's groping on your leg until it sleeps
The emptiness will fill your soul with sorrow
Because it's not what you make, it's what you leave
We're gonna get high, high, high
When I'm low, low, low
The fire burns from better days
And she screams, "Why, oh, why?"
I said, "I don't know"
The catastrophic hymns from yesterday
Of misery
7. Deadbeat Holiday
"My cat really did get caught in the dryer in Deadbeat Holiday!"
- Billie Joe Armstrong
This song is full of bitter sarcasm and yet, in the end, it comes down to expressing quite a sentimental point. The lyrics describe a life so miserable and unsuccessful that it's almost not worth living. Everything is going wrong - "the house is on fire, and the cat's caught in the dryer". Gradually life's going down the drain; "celebrate your own decay" - it looks like everything has fallen apart and there is no hope. So, it just might be not worth the fight and the right way out might be to end it all - "there's a vacant sign that's hanging high on the noose over your home". But even when everything seems way too messed up, and you feel like dying, all you really want to do is not give up. Even during the most difficult times you want to look at the brighter side of life and hope that a change for the better will come soon - whether it will or not.
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
Wake up, the house is on fire
And the cat's caught in the dryer
Philosophy's a liar
When your home is your headstone
Icon is the last chance for hope
When there's no such thing as heroes
Your faith lies in the ditch that
You dug yourself in
Last chance to piss it all away
Nothing but hell to pay
When the lights are going down
Deadbeat holiday
Celebrate your own decay
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
On a noose over your home
Deadbeat holiday
Get on your knees and pray
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
But at least you're not alone
Christmas lights in the middle of August
Grudges come back to haunt us
Your oldest allies are your long lost enemies
Grounded in a duplex to find that
You're living on a landmine
Vacation hotspots is a cemetery drive
Last chance to piss it all away
Nothing but hell to pay
When the lights are going down
Deadbeat holiday
Celebrate your own decay
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
On a noose over your home
Deadbeat holiday
Get on your knees and pray
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
But at least you're not alone
Last chance to piss it all away
Nothing but hell to pay
When the lights are going down
Deadbeat holiday
Celebrate your own decay
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
On a noose over your home
Deadbeat holiday
Get on your knees and pray
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
But at least you're not alone
Last chance to piss it all away
Nothing but hell to pay
When all you want to do is
Not to...give up
Deadbeat holiday
Celebrate your own decay
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
On a noose over your home
Deadbeat holiday
Get on your knees and pray
There's a vacant sign that's hanging high
But at least you're not alone
8. Hold On
In this song we can see the pain of being left alone and having nothing and no one to hold on to ("nothing's left to cling on to"). The lyrics metaphorically describe the way from stepping "to the edge of the shadow of a doubt", to realizing that you need to make it through the night and even if it's not what you want, you know that you need to reach the break of day, and just wait for when it gets better. You need to hold on to yourself when there's nothing else left to hold on to because after all, the only thing you really wouldn't be able to live without is yourself.
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
As I stepped to the edge
Beyond the shadow of a doubt
With my conscience beating
Like the pulse of a drum
That hammers on and on
Until I reach the break of day
As the sun beats down on the halfway house
Has my conscience beating
The sound in my ear, the will to persevere
As I reach the break of day
When you lost all hope and excuses
And the cheapskates and the losers
Nothing's left to cling onto
You got to hold on to yourself
A cry of hope
A plea for peace
And my conscience beating
It's not what I want for it's all that I need
To reach the break of day
So I run to the edge
Beyond the shadow of a doubt
With my conscience bleeding
Here lies the truth
The lost treasures of my youth
As I hold to the break of day
When you lost all hope and excuses
And the cheapskates and the losers
Nothing's left to cling onto
You got to hold on to yourself
9. Jackass
Jackass is about people who consider themselves unbelievably funny, while they're really the only ones who laugh at their own jokes. The narrator's tone in this song is not as much angry as just irritated. He's tired of listening to stupid jokes that are not funny, to the "one-sided conversation", to all the lies made up to impress. The calm voice in which Armstrong sings "well, everybody loves a joke, but no one likes a fool" makes the lyrics sound even more sarcastic. The Jackass is trying so hard to be the center of attention, but all they really are is a "figment of their own imagination", because all the lies they tell to make themselves look so great and special will never come true, and it's all nothing but a waste of time.
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
To know you is to hate you
So loving you must be like suicide
I don't mind if you don't mind
I'm not the one that's going to die
I guess I just can't listen
To this one-sided conversation again
'Cause I don't care if I don't care
No one ever said that life is fair
Everybody loves a joke
But no one likes a fool
And you're always cracking the same old lines again
You're well rehearsed on every verse
And that was stated clear
But no one understands your verity
The center of attention
Got an honorable mention once again
Congratulations and salutations
You're a figment of your own imagination
Everybody loves a joke
But no one likes a fool
And you're always cracking the same old lines again
You're well rehearsed on every verse
And that was stated clear
But no one understands your verity
To know you is to bait you
And you fell victim to your own denial
I don't mind if you don't mind
If you're wasting all your time
10. Waiting
Waiting is a very emotional song filled with optimism and positivity. The narrator is describing his feelings about his future and opportunities. This moment that he's been waiting for is not something material, but simply the time when he feels he can start a new life, do something he wouldn't have dared to do before. He is now open to something new and willing to take risks, even though he has no idea what exactly he's going to do and what's waiting for him in the future. It's the "dawning of a new era", the narrator wants to make some major change in his life, try to do something big, something that will make a difference. He doesn't know whether he will succeed or fail, but this moment he's been waiting for is nowhere, "ready or not at all".
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
I've been waiting a long time
For this moment to come
I'm destined for anything at all
Downtown lights will be shining
On me like a new diamond ring
Out under the midnight hour
No one can touch me now
And I can't turn my back
It's too late
Ready or not at all
I'm so much closer than
I have ever known
Wake up
Dawning of a new era
Calling don't let it catch you falling
Ready or not at all
So close enough to taste it
Almost I can embrace this
Feeling on the tip of my tongue
I'm so much closer than
I have ever known...
Wake up
Better thank your lucky stars
I'm so much closer than
I have ever known
Wake up
Better thank your lucky stars
I've been waiting a long time
For this moment to come
I'm destined for anything at all
Dumbstruck
Color me stupid
Good luck
You're gonna need it
Where I'm going if I get there at all
Wake up
Better thank your lucky stars
11. Minority
Being a minority is hard. The discrimination and persecution that go with it often scare people out of expressing beliefs and opinions that would make them a part of a minority. They suppress their individuality for the sake of public acceptance as well as out of fear of being intimidated.
Minority tells us to stand for our beliefs and not jump on the bandwagon at the expense of our own individuality. No matter how many people will give you their "for crying out loud" furious lectures, you're still "your own sight" and shouldn't let authority make up your mind for you. So many people hold back their beliefs ("the silence of a thousand broken hearts"), while you're really better off being who you are even if that will make you a part of a discriminated minority, than lying to yourself and pretending to be the moral majority that you really don't belong to. After all, we all have the same rights - "a free for all, fuck them all!"
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority
I pledge allegiance to the underworld
One nation under dog
There of which I stand alone
A face in the crowd
Unsung, against the mold
Without a doubt, singled out
The only way I know
I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority
Stepped out of the line
Like a sheep runs from the herd
Marching out of time
To my own beat now
The only way I know
One light, one mind
Flashing in the dark
Blinded by the silence of a thousand broken hearts
"For crying out loud!" she screamed unto me
A free for all - fuck 'em all
You are your own sight
I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority
One light, one mind
Flashing in the dark
Blinded by the silence of a thousand broken hearts
"For crying out loud!" she screamed unto me
A free for all - fuck 'em all
You are your own sight
I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority
I want to be the minority
12. Macy's Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with its huge helium character balloons has been an attraction for thousands of New Yorkers every fall ever since its appearance in 1927. In the song, the Parade is symbolizing modern society's tendency to put material values over emotional ones. The song shows how we always look for bargains from the cradle to the grave and get so consumed by materialism that we sometimes forget about the one thing that makes us human - feeling.
And then the song gradually flows into a story of growing up and realizing that you have to make difficult choices, and even though you will have to stumble over lies and disappointments you will still have to move on. And you might never get everything you want, but in the end, you will see that all you really need is a little hope.
The video is quite uncomplicated and flows calmly like the song itself - the leading character simply walks through life exploring, choosing which way to go, sometimes stumbling and sometimes walking on water, or choosing to walk around it - you'll make it through everything as long as you have hope.
- song meaning courtesy of GreekStinkBreath.net
Today's the Macy's Day Parade
The night of the living dead is on its way
With a credit report for duty call
It's a lifetime guarantee
Stuffed in a coffin 10% more free
Red light special at the mausoleum
Give me something that I need
Satisfaction guaranteed to you
What's the consolation prize
Economy sized dreams of hope
When I was a kid I thought
I wanted all the things that I haven't got
Oh I learned the hardest way
Then I realized what it took
To tell the difference between thieves and crooks
Lesson learned to me and you
Give me something that I need
Satisfaction guaranteed
Because I'm thinking about a brand new hope
The one I've never known
'Cause now I know
It's all that I wanted
What's the consolation prize
Economy sized dreams of hope
Give me something that I need
Satisfaction guaranteed
Because I'm thinking about a brand new hope
The one I've never known and where it goes
And I'm thinking about the only road
The one I've never known and where it goes
Because I'm thinking about a brand new hope
The one I've never known
'Cause now I know it's all that I wanted