"Jesus of Suburbia" is a song by American rock band
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
. It was released as the fifth and final single from the group's seventh studio album, ''
American Idiot'', and the second song on the album. With the song running for 9 minutes and 8 seconds, it is Green Day's second longest song (with the band's longest song being fellow ''American Idiot'' song "Homecoming", which runs for 9 minutes and 18 seconds) and the group's longest song to be released as a single. The studio version of the song was considered to be unfriendly for radio, so it was cut down to 6½ minutes for the radio edit. The long version was still played on many
album rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orient ...
and
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
radio stations. At most live shows on the first leg of the group's
21st Century Breakdown World Tour
21st Century Breakdown World Tour was a headlining concert tour by American punk band Green Day in support of the group's eighth studio album, '' 21st Century Breakdown'', which was released in May 2009.
The tour began with an eight-week leg thr ...
, the band would pick a member from the audience to play guitar for the song. The single has sold 205,000 copies as of July 2010. Despite its commercial success, the song is the only hit single from the ''American Idiot'' album not to be included on the band's greatest hits album ''
God's Favorite Band
''Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band'' is the second greatest hits album by American rock band Green Day, released on November 17, 2017.
Background
''God's Favorite Band'' features 20 of Green Day's previous hits, as well as 2 new songs: a new ...
''. The song has been described as a
punk rock version of "
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...
."
Background
''American Idiot'' is a concept album that describes the story of a central character named Jesus of Suburbia, an
anti-hero
An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...
created by Billie Joe Armstrong. It is written from the perspective of a lower-middle-class suburban American teen, raised on a diet of "soda pop and Ritalin." Jesus hates his town and those close to him, so he leaves for The City.
"Jesus of Suburbia" was the second multi-part song the group formed. Armstrong said it took "a long time" to write the song. Dirnt said that it came about from natural rehearsing between the trio.
The song was an extension of Armstrong's desire to write the "
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...
" of the future.
Also, the opening bars of "Jesus of Suburbia," with their guitar-voice call and response structure, seem evocative of David Bowie's "Moonage Daydream."
Because the song changes into different sections, Armstrong’s guitars were recorded differently. The musicians would "split the signal from the guitar and send it into an amp while simultaneously going direct with it," to achieve a sound reminiscent of "
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
" by
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
or the style of
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
guitarist
Mick Ronson
Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session music ...
. In addition, an overdrive pedal was employed to accentuate gain from the instrument, producing a "punchy" sound to each chord. For the first two sections of the song, Cool emulated
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...
and
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.
Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...
, two English drummers from the 1960s. For the final three, he drums in his style: "I'm tipping my hat to all these great drummers that I love, and then I kick the door down and do it … ''my style''." In addition to Watts, Cool pulled inspiration from
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Moon grew ...
and
Alex Van Halen
Alexander Arthur Van Halen (; born May 8, 1953) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the Rock music, rock band Van Halen. The band was formed in 1972 by Alex Van Halen, his younger brother Eddie Van Halen, Eddie, ...
.
The song was composed by
Green Day
Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...
(with
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for t ...
writing the lyrics), and was co-produced by
Rob Cavallo
Robert Siers Cavallo (born March 21, 1963) is an American record producer, musician, and record industry executive. He is among the biggest-selling producers in history, and has produced or had creative involvement in albums that have sold over ...
.
"Jesus of Suburbia" has five
movements
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
:
* I. "Jesus of Suburbia" (0:00 – 1:51)
* II. "City of the Damned" (1:51 – 3:42)
* III. "I Don't Care" (3:42 – 5:25)
* IV. "Dearly Beloved" (5:25 – 6:30)
* V. "Tales of Another Broken Home" (6:30 – 9:08)
Music videos
Two versions of the "Jesus of Suburbia" music video exist, directed by
Samuel Bayer
Samuel David Bayer (born February 17, 1962) is an American Visual arts, visual artist, cinematographer, and commercial, music video and film director. Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York. He graduated from New York City's School of Visual Arts ...
(who also directed the music videos for the first four singles released from the ''
American Idiot'' album). The official music video premiered on October 14, 2005 in the UK and on October 25, 2005 on the
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
network for viewers in the US. One version is a 12-minute edit, complete with a plot and dialogue; the other is a nine and a half-minute director's cut, inclusive solely of the music itself and devoid of additives. The twelve-minute version is censored, whereas the nine-minute version is not. The video starred
Lou Taylor Pucci
Lou Taylor Pucci (born July 27, 1985) is an American actor who first appeared on film in Rebecca Miller's '' Personal Velocity: Three Portraits'' in 2002. Pucci had his breakthrough leading role in '' Thumbsucker'' (2005), for which he won a Speci ...
as Jesus. Jesus' love interest (Whatsername) was played by
Kelli Garner
Kelli Brianne Garner (born April 11, 1984) is an American actress who has appeared in a variety of independent and mainstream films, television, and theater.
A native of Southern California, Garner made her feature film debut at age seventeen ...
. Jesus' mother was portrayed by Canadian actress
Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger (born 12 May 1966) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films '' Highlander III: The Sorcerer'' (1994), ''Crash'' (1996), '' The Game'' (1997), ''Payback'' (1999), '' The Hurricane'' (1999), ''White Noise' ...
. Although Armstrong was originally tipped to provide the acting role of the main character, this was altered during pre-filming.
The plot of the video essentially follows that of the song. Despite the fact it is the second track, the video reveals Jesus' and Whatsername's relationship before it is revealed in the story. The video pays homage to "
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
" by
Smashing Pumpkins
Smash may refer to:
People
* Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler
* Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above.
* DJ Smash, DJ and music producer
Art, ...
—it also made use of the
snorricam
A SnorriCam (also chestcam, body mount/bodymount, or bodycam) is a camera device used in filmmaking that is rigged to the body of the actor, with the camera facing the actor directly so that they appear in a fixed position in the center of the fr ...
which created the videos' notable up close shots in the convenience store and party scenes.
Live performances
It has been played at most of the group's concerts since its release. At many concerts on the
21st Century Breakdown World Tour
21st Century Breakdown World Tour was a headlining concert tour by American punk band Green Day in support of the group's eighth studio album, '' 21st Century Breakdown'', which was released in May 2009.
The tour began with an eight-week leg thr ...
the band picked an audience member from the crowd to play guitar to the song.
The song holds the record of the longest performance on the UK television programme, ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
'' at 9 minutes and 10 seconds on November 6, 2005.
Critical reception
Since its release, "Jesus of Suburbia" has received universal critical acclaim. ''
People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
'' magazine called the song "epic" and a "magnificent nine-minute rock opera." It is often recognized as one of Green Day's greatest songs. It was voted the greatest Green Day song of all time in a ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' readers poll in September 2012.
''
Magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
'' considered the song underrated, saying "the five-movement, nine-plus-minute song bobs and weaves its way through standard-issue
pop punk
Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...
(“Jesus Of Suburbia”), a piano-laced interlude (“City Of The Damned”), the slobbering, thundering middle section (“I Don’t Care”),
ndacoustic mid-tempo connective tissue (“Dearly Beloved”)."
In 2022, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' ranked it as one of the best emo songs of all time.
[
]
Credits and personnel
*Songwriting – Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool
*Production – Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Track listings
10"
Charts
Certifications
References
*
*
External links
Green Day plan ambitious video for next single
Think Green Day's "September" Clip Is Epic? Just Wait For "Jesus Of Suburbia"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jesus Of Suburbia
2003 songs
2004 songs
2005 singles
Green Day songs
Songs written by Billie Joe Armstrong
Music videos directed by Samuel Bayer
American Idiot
Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo
Music medleys
Songs written by Mike Dirnt
Songs written by Tré Cool
Reprise Records singles
Warner Records singles