Though the albums Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997) and Warning (2000) did not match the success of Dookie, they were still successful, with the first two reaching double platinum status, while the last achieved gold. Green Day's seventh album, a rock opera called American Idiot (2004), found popularity with a younger generation, selling six million copies in the U.S. Their next album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in 2009 and achieved the band's best chart performance. It was followed by a trilogy of albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!, released in September, November, and December 2012, respectively. The trilogy did not perform as well as expected commercially, in comparison to their previous albums, largely due to a lack of promotion and Armstrong entering rehab. Their twelfth studio album, Revolution Radio, was released in October 2016 and became their third to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The band's thirteenth studio album, Father of All Motherfuckers, was released on February 7, 2020, and was their final album released by Reprise. On October 24, 2023, the band announced that their fourteenth studio album, 'Saviors', will come out January 19, 2024.
In 2010, a stage adaptation of American Idiot debuted on Broadway. The musical was nominated for three Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design, winning the latter two. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, their first year of eligibility. Members of the band have collaborated on the side projects Pinhead Gunpowder, The Network, Foxboro Hot Tubs, The Longshot and The Coverups. They have also worked on solo careers.
Green Day has sold roughly 90 million records worldwide, them one of the world's best-selling artists. The group has been nominated for 20 Grammy awards and has won five of them with Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown, Record of the Year for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording.
Whatsername
Green Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then it turned out to only be a dream
I made a point to burn all of the photographs
She went away and then I took a different path
I remember the face
But I can't recall the name
Now I wonder how whatsername has been
Did she ever marry old what's his face
I made a point to burn all of the photographs
She went away and then I took a different path
I remember the face
But I can't recall the name
Now I wonder how whatsername has been
Remember, whatever
It seems like forever ago
Remember, whatever
It seems like forever ago
The regrets are useless in my mind
She's in my head
I must confess
The regrets are useless in my mind
She's in my head
So long ago
And in the darkest night
If my memory serves me right
I'll never turn back time
Forgetting you, but not the time
In Green Day's song "Whatsername," the singer describes remembering a woman whose face he can't forget but whose name he can’t recall. He reminisces about their shared past and the path that they've both taken in life. The song's lyrics suggest that the singer has had regrets about how things ended and how he wishes that he could go back in time and do things differently. The chorus of the song emphasizes this desire for a return to the past with the lines, "Remember, whatever / It seems like forever ago."
The lyrics tell a story of a lost love and illustrate the pain that comes along with it. Green Day is well-known for their energy and punk rock attitude, but “Whatsername” is a deviation from their typical style. The song is a slow ballad with a melancholic mood that suits the tone of the lyrics. The song is an emotional and introspective piece that explores the longing for a lost love that was never quite forgotten.
The song's theme and lyrics are inspired by real-life experiences of Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong, who has said in interviews that he wrote it about a girlfriend who left him behind when she moved away. Armstrong has said that he still thinks about her from time to time and that the song is the result of those thoughts.
Line by Line Meaning
Thought I ran into you down on the street
I thought I saw you in person, but it was just a dream
Then it turned out to only be a dream
The sighting was only a figment of my imagination
I made a point to burn all of the photographs
I deliberately destroyed all the pictures of us
She went away and then I took a different path
After she left, I chose a new direction in life
I remember the face
I can visualize what she looked like
But I can't recall the name
However, I've forgotten her name
Now I wonder how whatsername has been
I'm curious about how she's doing these days
Seems that she disappeared without a trace
It appears that she left without a proper goodbye
Did she ever marry old what's his face
I wonder if she married someone else
Remember, whatever
I try to remember, but it feels like it happened ages ago
It seems like forever ago
The memories feel like a long time ago
The regrets are useless in my mind
Regretting the past is pointless
She's in my head
Despite this, she still occupies my thoughts
I must confess
I admit to still thinking about her
So long ago
It all happened such a long time ago
And in the darkest night
Even when everything is bleak
If my memory serves me right
If my recollection is accurate
I'll never turn back time
I know that I can't undo the past
Forgetting you, but not the time
I may forget about you, but I don't forget the memories we shared
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Michael Pritchard, Frank E Wright III, Billie Joe Armstrong
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
wylie
The reason I am commenting on this song is because I just listened to the entire playlist. I do indeed like the song. I think it comes with age, but everyone has a whatshername or whatshisface.
On the whole album though: I am delighted to hear what kids millenials thought of this album and their memories and experiences.
When this album came out I was 26 years old. I was fortunate enough to live the prime years of my life in the 1990's. As that decade came to a close a new millennium was on the rise. There was some fear, a little paranoia, but a whole lot of fucking fun! The economy was booming, attitudes were lax and it was very much an age of innocence.
We thought it would go on forever.
How wrong we were.
On September 11th 2001, I remember my wife and I had went walking on a nature trail and at one point stood less than four feet from a deer. As that peaceful moment was happening in our little space, we came home, turned on the tv and saw the destruction that was happening in another space halfway across the country.
I knew that the world would never be the same. I also knew that at that same time as death was happening that life was being born. I remember thinking these kids will never know the world that I knew. The party was over and the innocence was lost.
It saddens me to think that people here have grown up under surveillance, that what was once considered funny pranks could now be considered illegal, where living in a time of war whether on the battlefields of the middle east or here at home in our schools are all considered "normal".
This entire album was one who's time had come. At that point we were just starting to know what it was like to see our rights be taken, we were only a little over a year in the "new" (read same old crap) war that some of us knew was misled due to our cynicism, others still wanted to believe we were at war for the "right" reasons, but we could all agree had absolutely no end in sight.
For those of us who still held firmly to the ethic of questioning authority (something anyone should always do) this album had the guts to bring to the forefront what was on all of our minds.
To those of you who weren't old enough to remember that September, I can tell you that some of us tried to resist and save some part of the past for you. I also would tell you to never give up hope and when something doesn't seem right never be afraid to question it. Dare to think about all things and question. Reach your own conclusions and make your dreams happen. From what I have seen your generation has the hearts and the minds to turn things around. There are some who fear or are jealous of the power that you possess. Don't fall for those who would have you believe that you don't. All you need to do is fully embrace it and tap into it.
Blood? Blood.
There was this boy I met back in September. He came into class late on the first day, and sat in the desk behind me. I remember seeing him for the first time, and all I could think was "wow". He just caught my attention, and I'm not even sure why.
I was terrified of talking to him, as he didn't look like the type to just participate in conversation, but I was wrong. He was a sweetheart. I forget the first time we talked, but the earliest conversation we had was him complimenting the curliness of my hair, saying something along the lines of it looking like "Mother Nature". I don't quite remember.
We grew close soon enough, loving the same shows and whatnot, and in December he asked me out by sneaking an envelope in my backpack while I wasn't looking, along with a handmade necklace.
It was the most a guy has ever done for me when asking me out, and I fell for him even more.
A short time later, things just fizzled out somehow, and I worry that he had just lost interest in me. Not the first person to do that, even still, it killed me when he left.
It's been months, and I miss him. I still very much have feelings for him, and I feel that in our short time together, he understood me better than anyone ever has. I can't explain how genuinely happy he made me. I just wish that I could forget about him, and he would once again become whatshisname to me.
Jason Pallini
There’s nothing more painful than having someone you associate with this song
Modeling STNA Britt
It sucks
Matt Perry
Preach man. Preach it .... Shes been long gone for atleast 6 years and she still pops in my head and fucks me up
I Worship
@Matt Perry The expulsive power of a new affection always works for me
menchacajacob
never had anyone in mind, but I'm still drawn to it after all of these years
Furnabulax1
Since last year, i associate this song (amongst others) with a girl i knew, albeit only briefly since fall 2019. i liked her cuz she was the ideal kinda girl i wanted: a beautiful black haired, grey/hazel eyed goth stoner kinda vibes that i can only really describe as an IRL version of the aged up Sam Manson from Danny Phantom fan drawings. i even told her she was just my type when we met, but at that time she has a BF so we were just friends. they broke up after a bit, and i found out about it when we spoke right before Covid began. but apparently what happened was i was too direct in my approach, and she (for whatever reason) doesnt like that shit and i just didnt know. so like im messaging her every few days and being flirty, and she ghosted me. so around the end of September last year, i called her out on it and she blocked me, without even trying to talk it out at all like rational ppl. i tried apologizing for being too harsh thru a mutual friend, and just got ignored. shes blocked all my socials pretty much, minus TikTok. i think about her every so often, and a while ago i messaged a friend of hers that im best friends with, and was like "hey can u try talking to her and telling her i'm sorry bout all that shit and wanna start over fresh?", but i never heard back from my friend about it. i just simply assume that my "whatsername" and me just never were meant to work out at all.
Dark Lown
When i was in my teens I thought this song was about a girl named “whatshername”
When I got to my 20s I thought it was about a girl whose name you couldn’t remember
And now As I enter my 30s I see this song is a about a girl that left an everlasting mark in your heart and soul so much that’s is painful to even evoke her name as you’ve moved on with life but are constantly reminded of all yesterdays.
Cheers to the ladies we loved and the ladies we’ve lost 🍻
Counter
I think I am just realizing a girl I know now is going to be stuck in my head for the rest of my life lmao, I hope it doesn’t suck too much.
psn screamokujo
I felt this post...
Mick Berry
Beautifully said. Thank you!