Appears on: Dookie [1994], Live Tracks [1994], Basket Case [1994], Foot In Mouth [1996], International Superhits! [2001], Bullet In A Bible [2005]
Music by: Green Day
Lyrics by: Billie Joe Armstrong
Length: 3:59
Information
Green Day's first single.
There are four officially recorded versions of this song known in existance. The first being the version that appears on Dookie, the second being a live version recorded on March 11 1994 in Jannus Landing St. Petersburg, Florida that appears on Live Tracks, the Basket Case single and Foot In Mouth. A slightly different version with a faded intro that appears on International Superhits! and a different live version recorded on June 19 2005 at Milton Keynes National Bowl that appears on Bullet In A Bible.
It is said that the name of a song came about after the band took a trip to Longview, Washington where they first played this song. - according to Jim Baltutis, their press agent for the concert.
The band were hesitant about whether to release this track as their first single, Mike said: "[Reprise] was encouraging it and I thought that was really cool. So we went with it." 1
"When Billie gave me a shuffle beat for Longview, I was frying on acid so hard. I was laying up against the wall with my bass lying on my lap. It just came to me. I said, "Bill, check this out. Isn't this the wackiest thing you've ever heard?" Later, it took me a long time to be able to play it, but it made sense when I was on drugs." - Mike Dirnt, Rolling Stone Magazine, 1995.
In 1995, Green Day was nominated for Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance for "Longview".
Talking to VH1 Ultimate Albums, Billie later said this about the song: "Everybody shined on that song. Mike's bass-line is probably one of the most played bass-lines in Guitar Center history. There's a real menacing quality about it. I just wanted something that was schizophrenic, where there is this rolling bass-line and smooth feel and then, all of the sudden, it just blasts out." 2
Meaning
Billie told VOX Magazine: " [It's] about boredom and masturbation and smoking dope." 3
"I guess it was just living in the suburbs in a sort of shit town where you can't even pull in a good radio station. I was living in Rodeo, California, about 20 minutes outside of Oakland. There was nothing to do there, and it was a real boring place." - Billie Joe Armstrong, Guitar Legends Magazine, May 2005.
Billie Joe speaking to VH1 Ultimate Albums: "I was just in a creative rut. I was in-between houses sleeping on people's couches. It's a song about trying not to feel pathetic and lonely. I didn't think that masturbation was really seen from the point of view that I was looking at it. In songs like "Turning Japanese" it always seemed more about people pulling a pud or something. I was coming from a lonely guy's perspective: No girlfriend, no life, complete loser." 4
Video
Director: Mark Kohr
Cinematography: Adam Beckman
Editor: Bob Sarles
The video was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards in 1994: Best Group Video, Best Alternative Video, and Best New Artist.
A few minutes before filming started for the video, Billie Joe was sitting on the couch used in the video watching TV when the band learned of Kurt Cobain's death. 5
Lyrics
I sit around and watch the tube but nothing's on
I change the channel for an hour or two
Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit
In a house with unlocked doors and I'm fucking lazy
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored and going blind
And I smell like shit
Peel me off this velcro seat and get me moving
I sure as hell can't do it by myself
I'm feeling like a dog in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street
I locked the door to my own cell
And I lost the key
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored and going blind
And I smell like shit
I got no motivation
Where is my motivation?
No time for motivation
Smoking my inspiration
Ooh!
I sit around and watch the phone
But no-one's calling
Call me pathetic, call me what you will (what you will)
My mother says to get a job
But she don't like the one she's got
When masturbation's lost it's fun
You're fucking breaking
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise
I'm so damn bored and going blind
And loneliness has to suffice
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Oh slipping away to paradise
Some say quit or I'll go blind
But it's just a myth
Commercial Release
Tracks released on this release were:
* Longview
* Going To Paslacqua (live)
* F.O.D. (live)
* Christie Road (live)
* On The Wagon
* Welcome To Paradise (live)
* One of My Lies (live)
NOTE: 'Christie Road' is incorrectly titled 'Christy Road'.
