Green Day - Jesus Of Suburbia
Green Day - Jesus Of Suburbia


Green Day - Jesus Of Suburbia Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: American Idiot
Released: 2004

Jesus Of Suburbia Lyrics


I'm the son of rage and love
The Jesus Of Suburbia
The bible of none of the above
On a steady diet of
Soda Pop and Ritalin
No one ever died for my
Sins in hell
As far as I can tell
At least the ones that I got away with

And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me

Get my television fix
Sitting on my crucifix
The living room in my private womb
While the Moms and brats are away
To fall in love and fall in debt
To alcohol and cigarettes
And Mary Jane
To keep me insane
Doing someone else's cocaine

And there's nothing wrong with me
This is how I'm supposed to be
In a land of make believe
That don't believe in me

At the center of the earth
In the parking lot
Of the 7-11 where I was taught
The motto was just a lie

It says home is where your heart is
But what a shame
Cause everyone's heart
Doesn't beat the same
It's beating out of time

City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care

I read the graffiti
In the bathroom stall
Like the holy scriptures of a shopping mall
And so it seemed to confess

It didn't say much
But it only confirmed that
The center of the earth
Is the end of the world
And I could really care less

City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care

I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't
I don't care if you don't care

I don't care

Everyone's so full of shit
Born and raised by hypocrites
Hearts recycled but never saved
From the cradle to the grave
We are the kids of war and peace
From Anaheim to the Middle East
We are the stories and disciples of
The Jesus of suburbia

Land of make believe
And it don't believe in me
Land of make believe
And I don't believe
And I don't care!

Dearly beloved are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure

Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse

To live, and not to breathe
Is to die, in tragedy
To run, to run away
To find, what you believe

And I leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
I lost my faith to this
This town that don't exist
So I run, I run away
To the lights of masochists

And I, leave behind
This hurricane of fucking lies
And I, walked this line
A million and one fucking times
But not this time

I don't feel any shame
I wont apologize
When there ain't nowhere you can go
Running away from pain
When you've been victimized
Tales from another broken home

Oh you're leaving
You're leaving
You're leaving
Are you leaving home?

Writer/s: MICHAEL PRITCHARD, FRANK E., III WRIGHT, BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG
Publisher: Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Jesus Of Suburbia
  • Jesus Of Suburbia is the main character of American Idiot. He's a kid who hates his family, friends, and home.
  • This song is broken down into five sections:

    Part I. Jesus Of Suburbia: This is an introduction of the character and tells about his home life.

    Part II. City Of The Damned: This takes place in a 7/11 parking lot where he got into a fight and first realized he hated his friends and home: "The 7/11 where I was taught, the motto was a lie, it says home is where the heart is, but everyone's heart doesn't beat the same." The lyric, "At the end of another lost highway," refers to the group of kids who hang out under the highway where once again he doesn't fit in.

    Part III. I Don't Care: This is where he becomes an outcast hating everyone and everything, and also in the story this is where St. Jimmy (a character Jesus created to heal the pain of a lost girlfriend) ties in, saying he hates everything now. This is where he considers leaving home.

    Part IV. Dearly Beloved: Not much is known on this part. It's believed to be the peaceful, yet hard twilight between anger and happiness where you are content.

    Part V. Tales From Another Broken Home: This is where Jesus just gives up and leaves. He doesn't know where he's going, but he's just going far away: "Running away from pain when you've been victimized." This is where he's leaving everyone that hated and hurt him, sort of starting over and beginning a new life.
  • Billie Joe Armstrong stated on VH1 Storytellers that the line, "While the mums and Brads are away" means that in this day and age children speak to their step parents on a first name basis.
  • In the video, the Jesus of Suburbia character has tattoos similar to Billie Joe Armstrong: a skull and crossbones on his upper arm, and "EPBM" on his left wrist. The actor who played Jesus of Suburbia is Lou Taylor Pucci, who appeared in the movies Fifty Pills and Thumbsucker.
  • This song was somewhat of a rebirth for the band. Armstrong explained: "It broke every rule people thought Green Day were supposed to be. Lyrically, it's everything about my past, but at the same time, written on the outside as well. That song is like purging everything, throwing it out."
  • "Right after I came up with [the phrase] 'American Idiot,' I came up with [the album's protagonist], 'Jesus of Suburbia,'" Armstrong told MTV. 'I felt like it crossed that line between church and state or politics and religion. I thought, 'How would I interpret the Bible even though I've never really read it?' So, there's no burning bush, but there's burning towns and ethics."
  • Armstrong felt like the band reached a point of no return after creating the track. He told VH1 Storytellers: "'Jesus of Suburbia' took a long time. We were driving back, because we were in the studio up in Oakland, and the only thing I could think of was like, 'holy s---t, I can't believe we just made this thing,' and there was this fear, like there's no looking back now."
  • American Idiot was adapted into a stage musical in 2009, including an expanded storyline following three disenchanted youths living in suburbia set to music from the album and other Green Day offerings. The band didn't appear in the production, but Armstrong did occasionally participate as the St. Jimmy character.