"X-Kid" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 is the fifth track on their eleventh studio album, ''

¡Tré! ''¡Tré!'' (stylized in all caps) is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Green Day. It is the third and final installment in the ''¡Uno!'' ''¡Dos!'' ''¡Tré!'' trilogy, a series of studio albums that were released from September ...

'' (2012), and was released as the second single from the album on February 12, 2013, and is the sixth and final single from the ''

¡Uno! ''¡Uno!'' (stylized in all caps) is the ninth studio album by American rock band Green Day, released on September 21, 2012, by Reprise Records. It is the first of three albums in the ''¡Uno!'', ''¡Dos!'', ''¡Tré!'' trilogy, a series of stu ...

¡Dos! ''¡Dos!'' (stylized in all caps) is the tenth studio album by American rock band Green Day. The album was released on November 9, 2012, in Australia, November 12 in the United Kingdom and on November 13 in the United States through Reprise Reco ...

'' trilogy.

Background and release

"X-Kid" was released as a single on February 12, 2013. On December 19, 2012, a video was released to Green Day's official YouTube channel showing "X-Kid" playing on a cassette tape.

Theme and composition

According to

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

, "X-Kid" has "a rousing intro degenerates into a hybrid of two songs from the band’s 1991 album '' Kerplunk'', “Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?” and “One Of My Lies.”"

Song meaning

“X-Kid” from ''¡Tré!'' deals with the suicide of a close friend of the band's. “I don’t really want to get into it,” Armstrong says. “It’s too heavy.” This song was written in response to the 2009 suicide of a close friend that Armstrong grew up with in Rodeo, CA. However, the song is as much about the entire "

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

" (those born from roughly 1965–1980) as it is about this one specific tragedy. Billie Joe has repeatedly identified himself as an "Ex-Kid" in recent interviews. The narrator is able to relate to his late friend, in that they were both "Ex/X-kids." But, he was able to push through the struggles that came with growing older, while his friend was not. His friend, unfortunately, found an escape in suicide, thus the line "Here goes nothing, the shouting's over." The narrator sees facets of himself in his late friend. He feels as if, sadly, there wasn't much that could have been done to help his friend, though he wishes someone could have found a way to help him before it was too late.

Credits and Personnel

*Songwriting: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool *Production: Rob Cavallo, Green Day

Critical reception

Ray Rahman of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'' named "X-Kid" as the best song on ''¡Tre!'', above "Brutal Love" and "Missing You".

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 2013 singles Green Day songs Songs written by Billie Joe Armstrong Warner Records singles Reprise Records singles 2012 songs Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo Songs about real people Songs written by Tré Cool Songs written by Mike Dirnt