Appears on: Kerplunk! [1992], Dookie [1994], International Superhits! [2001]
Music by: Green Day
Lyrics by: Billie Joe Armstrong
Length: 3:30 [Kerplunk!]
Information
Green Day's second single.
When asked if it was the band's idea to re-record 'Welcome To Paradise' for 'Dookie', Mike replied: "Yeah, fully. There's a bunch of songs on Kerplunk that we only knew for about a week literally, and that's one of them … That song in particular we felt we wanted to represent it as a really strong song. In 'Kerplunk!' there's a lot of spooky stuff going on in the middle…all sorts of weird stuff. We just wanted to show it as a solid song, and we thought it fit better with this album too." 1
The song reached #20 in the Official UK Singles Chart.
Video
'Welcome To Paradise' never carried an official video release as it was meant to be a bridge track (meaning to bridge the gap between the release of two singles - in this case 'Longview' and 'Basket Case'.)
Lyrics
'Dookie' version
Dear mother, can you hear me whining?
It's been three whole weeks since that I have left your home
This sudden fear has left me trembling
'Cos now it seems that I am out here on my own
And I'm feeling so alone
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it the slums, some call it nice
I wanna take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise
A gunshot rings out at the station
Another urchin snaps and left dead on his own
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For some strange reason it's now, feeling like my home
And I'm never gonna go
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it the slums, some call it nice
I wanna take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise
Dear mother, can you hear me laughing?
It's been six whole months since that I have left your home
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For sme strange reason it's now, feeling like my home
And I'm never gonna go
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it the slums, some call it nice
I wanna take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise
Oh paradise
Commercial Release
Tracks released with this single include:
01. Welcome To Paradise
02. Chump (live)
03. Emenius Sleepus