"Longview" is the debut single by American

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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 fourth track on the band's third studio album, '' Dookie'' (1994) and their first single as a band. The song was the band's first single to top the ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart in the U.S. The music video for this song received heavy airplay on

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and is largely credited for breaking Green Day into mainstream popularity. The video was directed by the Bay Area music video director Mark Kohr who collaborated with the band on many music videos. In 1995, Green Day received four Grammy Award nominations, including Best Hard Rock Performance for "Longview". The song was ranked at number 3 on the list of the Best Singles of 1994 by '' Rolling Stone''.

Concept

The song describes intense boredom and frustration with an inability to self-actualize. Lyrically, the song is about a day spent sitting around the house, doing absolutely nothing of importance and masturbating until the days are no longer fun. Bassist Mike Dirnt has stated that the famous bass line intro to this song was written one night while he was high on LSD. The song is named after the city of Longview, Washington.

Reception

'' PopMatters'' listed "Longview" as the seventh best Green Day song, citing "This song didn’t become an instant classic of its genre merely because Armstrong said the word "masturbation" on the radio—it's all in the delivery." Entertainment Weekly placed it among their favorite Green Day songs.

Music video

"Longview" has a music video, which is the first one created by Green Day. The music video was directed by Mark Kohr, the cinematography was by Adam Beckman, and the editing was by Bob Sarles. The music video received frequent airplay on MTV upon release. The music video takes place in a dimly-lit basement of a broken-down house in Oakland, California, where the band used to live. The band members say that the look was intentionally grungy. In the video, Billie sits on a couch and watches television. At the end of the music video, he goes insane and tears up the couch, with feathers flying everywhere. The music video was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards in 1994: Best Group Video, Best Alternative Video, and Best New Artist. The video is also included on the DVD

International Supervideos! ''International Superhits!'' is the first greatest hits album by American rock band Green Day, released November 13, 2001, through Reprise Records. It collects all of the band's singles released between 1994 and 2000 as well as a rerecording of ...

Track listings

First pressing # "Longview" – 3:59 # "Going to Pasalacqua" (live) – 4:12 # "F.O.D." (live) – 2:44 # "Christie Road" (live) – 3:49 Total length: 14:44 1995 re-issue # "Longview" – 3:59 # " Welcome to Paradise" (live) — 4:05 # "One of My Lies" (live) — 2:25 Total length: 10:29 Card sleeve # "Longview" – 3:59 # "On the Wagon" – 2:48 # "F.O.D." (live) – 2:44 Total length: 9:31 * All Live tracks above were recorded on March 11, 1994 at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, Florida. 7-inch vinyl box set # "Longview" — 3:59 # "Welcome to Paradise" — 3:45 # "Coming Clean" — 1:35 # "Chump" (live from Stockholm, Sweden; Same version on ''Live Tracks'') — 02:39 Total length: 11:58 CD Promo # "Longview" (radio edit) – 3:55 # "Longview" (album version) - 3:59 Total length: 7:54 CD promo 2 # "Longview" (Very Clean Version) - 3:55 # "Longview" (Clean Version) - 3:55 Total length: 7:50

Personnel

*Lead vocals and guitar: Billie Joe Armstrong *Backing vocals and bass: Mike Dirnt *Drums: Tré Cool *Songwriting: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool *Production: Rob Cavallo, Green Day

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longview (Song) 1994 debut singles 1994 songs Green Day songs Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo Songs about cannabis Masturbation in fiction Songs about Washington (state) Songs written by Billie Joe Armstrong Songs written by Mike Dirnt Songs written by Tré Cool Reprise Records singles Warner Music Group singles