Released: September 20, 2004

Songwriter: Tré Cool Mike Dirnt Billie Joe Armstrong

Producer: Green Day Rob Cavallo

[Part I: Jesus of Suburbia]

[Verse 1: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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
At least the ones I got away with

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In the land of make-believe
That don't believe in me

[Verse 2: Billie Joe Armstrong]
Get my television fix
Sitting on my crucifix
The living room on 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

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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

[Drum Solo]

[Part II: City of the Damned]

[Verse 3: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt]
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

[Verse 4: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt]
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]

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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!

[Verse 5: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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;

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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

[Post-Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
And I don't care! (Woo, woo, woo)
I don't care! (Woo, woo, woo)
I don't care! (Woo, woo, woo)
I don't care! (Woo, woo, woo)
I don't care!

[Part IV: Dearly Beloved]

[Verse 6: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh

[Verse 7: Billie Joe Armstrong]
(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

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Ooh, ooh, ooh

[Part V: Tales of Another Broken Home]

[Bass Solo]

[Verse 8: Billie Joe Armstrong]
To live and not to breathe
Is to die in tragedy
To run, to run away
To find what you believe

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies

[Verse 9: Billie Joe Armstrong]
I lost my faith to this
This town that don't exist
So I run, I run away
To the lights of masochists

[Chorus: Billie Joe Armstrong]
And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
And I walked this line
A million and one fucking times
But not this time

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge: Billie Joe Armstrong]
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

[Outro: Billie Joe Armstrong]
Home
You're leaving
You're leaving
You're leaving
Are you leaving home?

Green Day

Formed in East Bay, California in 1986 and still going strong today, Green Day is one of the biggest punk rock acts in the world. Along with other punk bands in California such as The Offspring, Sublime, Bad Religion and Rancid, they have been credited with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S. in the 90s.

First starting in 1986 as Sweet Children, longtime friends Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar and lead vocalist) and Mike Dirnt (bass guitar) teamed up with John Kiffmeyer to produce their debut EP 1,000 Hours. They eventually dropped the name Sweet Children and called themselves Green Day due to the band members' fondness for cannabis (it even inspired a song featured on their first album) and for their second studio album Kerplunk they replaced Kiffmeyer with German-born drummer Tré Cool, who had been drumming since the age of 12 in a punk band, The Lookouts.

It was their 1994 record Dookie that sent the band to stardom and gave them mainstream success. Dookie, alongside their following albums Insomniac (1995) and Nimrod (1997) were certified double platinum. Eventually, the band started to fall in popularity with their 2000 record Warning which only reached gold.