I don’t know how you guys feel about Green Day, if you love them or hate them, but they are one of my favorite punk bands ever, and i’m bored so i felt like listing my five favorite Green Day songs

5.. Longview – Dookie (1994)

What teen would not love this song? It’s about boredom, jerking off and getting high.

4.. She – Dookie (1994)

It’s a song about a girl, it’s also one of the first Green Day songs i ever heard, so it warrants a special spot in my top 5

3.. Wake Me Up When September Ends – American Idiot (2004)

This song is just so bittersweet, you can’t just help but love it despite the meaning of it, easily the most personal song Billie has ever written

2.. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) – Nimrod (1997)

Come on… who doesn’t know this song? I’m pretty sure everybody has heard this song whether it be a school dance, a high school graduation or the ending to Seinfeld, It’s phenomenal

1.. Basket Case – Dookie (1994)

Who didn’t think this would come in at number one? This is the definitive Green Day song, the definitive punk rock song, anybody with anxiety can relate to it, it’s perfect

Alright so that’s my list, what do you guys think? Too cliche? Too many well known songs? I’d love to see everybody else’s favorites.

Great List!

I’m partial to Welcome To Paradise myself. I wonder what @ChristianPaz thinks?!

A

Here’s links to the above songs:

Longview
She
Wake Me Up When September Ends
Good Riddance
Basket Case

Thanks for putting this list together. I would’ve loved to have this conversation with the 97' version of me that felt let down after hearing Nimrod. But all things considered, here’s my top 5:

1) Basket Case – the song that introduced me to Green Day and the rest of the Dookie album.

2) When I Come Around – one of the first music videos I grew to appreciate for the artistic value of it. After re-watching it some 15 years later I realized it was filmed in San Francisco.

3) Walking Contradiction – The closing song to Green Day’s last good punk album (in my opinion). Sarcasm comes to mind when I really dissect this song. BJ maintains a punk mentality which is ironic considering how pop they’ve become. He recently appeared on The Voice and the contestant addressed him as ‘Green Day’.

4) Good Riddance- Somehow became the graduation song of all graduation songs (not the post break up song that he had intended). It was the first major step towards mainstream and while I love the Green Day from my childhood, I can’t blame them for making a sound that’ll catapult them into relevance and superstardom. Keepin' it real don’t keep the lights on.

5) Boulevard of Broken Dreams- I’m listing this here because when I heard the song I was in a transitional phase. I went to college without any of my high school friends and joined a fraternity which I would eventually leave after a year. That whole “walking alone” theme speaks to the introvert in all of us.

honorable mentions:
2,000 light years away- the breakup song of all break up songs

Burn Out – Dookie is one of my all time greatest albums and it opens with this song that hits you like a bat out of hell.

I love Green Day! Glad to see some other fans on the site.

5) Brain Stew – The guitar riff on this song is great. A song Billie wrote dabbling in insomnia when his kid kept him up all night. This song will never sound old to me.

4) Longview – One of my favorite songs to hear live. Teenage boredom isn’t exactly unique theme but this song was the anthem of Green Day’s “punk brat” image.

3) Holiday – Whether you hate American Idiot because of the direction it sent the band in or love it for what it was, the album is the reason anyone even remembers the band today. This was the first CD I ever made my parents buy for me, and this scathing anti-war track has always been my favorite.

2) Basket Case – What hasn’t been said about the song already?

1) Hitchin' A Ride – Not the best Green Day song lyrically but it has always stood out as my favorite. The energy and guitar in this song just capture a moment in the bands career when they were all about making punk music.

I’m not upset that the band grew up and has gone in some directions that I don’t totally agree with, but I definitely miss the old Green Day.

Not a massive fan but here’s some songs I enjoy listening to (no particular order):
21 Guns
21st Century Breakdown < Probably my favourite.
Wake Me Up When September Ends Meaning of the song is sensational.

I don’t listen to them much but when you say Green Day those are the songs I will listen to.

Ok…i thought about this list a lot. here’s my top 5.

5) F.O.D – I remember when we first figured out the final lyrical breakdown. A punk rocker i knew in Jr.High school approached us with the revelation and we flipped (“Royal figured out the lyrics to the end of FOD!”) Remember this @Maboo and @BigKalifa ???? Haha

4) Brain Stew/ Jaded – Originally appeared as one track when Insomniac came out. It just flowed from one to the other and i always liked Jaded more. (i also just added ‘Jaded’ cause it wasn’t on the site. A lot of this album is missing :-/

3) In the End – Nothing compares to Dookie. The cadence of this track is just fucking perfect. It’s just a lyrical explosion that rests on Tre Cool’s bomb ass drums throughout.

2) She – So smooth and bomb. Every 90’s teenage bro longed for “She”. (Can you tell i’m a fan of Dookie?)

1) Welcome To Paradise – I remeber the first time i heard this song was on SNL. I was in 7th grade english class and talking to a buddy about this jame and Basket Case This is positively one of the definitve songs of the 90’s and BY FAR my fave Green Day song.

Shout to @ChristianPaz for being the #1 Green Day scholar. 1,500 IQ? That’s impressive yo.

Feels like a HuffPo blog post is in order here. Top 10 Green Day songs. Holler at me if you’re interested!

LOL Royal!!! Damn dude I hadn’t thought about that guy in years. Def the most punk dude I ever knew.

I haven’t really listened to their early stuff properly (except Dookie, though even then…). American Idiot was the first proper album I listened to though, so that’s had a big impact on me.

Basket Case and Good Riddance would be on my top 5.

Then I’d add three songs from American Idiot:
1) Holiday- “sieg heil to the renegade gas man!” I can get down with anti-Bush songs.
2) Homecoming- ambitiously structured, and I think they pulled it off
3) Letterbomb- actually this is far from my favourite song on the album but it is my third favourite that I can definitely spell. I prefer the two slower ones.

Honourary mentions from the newer songs: 21 Guns, Kill the DJ (I love playing this after Panic).

These songs are from the pre-American Idiot era cause it’s the only legit list you can in this case

1) Welcome to Paradise
2) Warning
3) Stuck With Me
4) Hitchin a Ride
5) Minority

Haven’t listened to them as of late but:

• geek stink breath

• longview

• 409 in your coffeemaker

• she

• nice guys finish last

1) Waiting
2) Good Riddance
3) Longview
4) Boulevard of Broken Dreams
5) Wake Me Up When September Ends