Green Day

I just watched some of Green Day's special on MTV2 entitled "Bullet in a Bible" and I must say I was impressed.  With what I'm impressed I'm not quite sure.  Maybe it was the sheer spectacle of the event, maybe it was the band member's honesty, maybe it was the emptiness that is clearly behind their lyrics, and maybe it was the fact that I think they may be on to something (don't ask me to define this something though, because it's beyond me right now).  Below I've copied some of the lyrics from their most recent CD "American Idiot" (I have no permission to do this, but I don't think that'll matter because they are, after all, punks, plus I got them from www.lyrics.com):

                                              Wake Me Up When September Ends

                                                   Summer has come and past.
                                                    The innocent can never last.
                                                Wake me up when September ends.

Like my fathers come to pass,
Seven years has gone so fast.
Wake me up when September ends.

Here comes the rain again,
Falling from the stars.
Drenched in my pain again,
Becoming who we are.
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost.
Wake me up when September ends.

Summer has come and past.
The innocent can never last.
Wake me up when September ends.

Ring out the bells again.
Like we did when spring began.
Wake me up when September ends.

Here comes the rain again,
Falling from the stars.
Drenched in my pain again,
Becoming who we are.
As my memory rest,
But never forgets what I lost.
Wake me up when September ends.

Summer has come and past.
The innocent can never last.
Wake me up when September ends.

Like my fathers come to pass.
Twenty years has gone so fast.
Wake me up when September ends.[x3]

A while ago I too wrote a poem about September and I wonder now, am I as disenchanted as the world around me?  Am I as negative and unsure of God's interest in my life, or does the last line here "redeem" what came before (something I see as lacking in any of Green Day's lyrics, or any interviews I've seen with the band members).  In any event, I think I'll pray for Green Day because they seem to be close to something, maybe to recognizing this world's emptiness.  Below I've copied my poem "Foolish September" if you're interested in reading the two in close proximity.

Foolish September

Foolish September rises and falls.  Life is before me now though hidden over hills too far to see.  My world is here and there. . . and fear builds every minute.  I lay awake with eyes open wide and stare into the back-lit morning.  Life's too foolish to carry on, but I'm to much the fool to care.  Here and there; lost and found; home but on the bus still waiting for a stop.  Foolish September bleeds the hope right from me.  Still. . . dawns come every morning with their music and perfumes.  Set outside of glory sleepy morning breaks in on me, and foolish September dies out the sunset window; drowning as the deep Pacific boils to take it in.    

Comments

[Dan Lowe]

Kasey,

The only thought that came to me was that Fall begins at the end of September. Maybe life is sometimes like waking up and realizing that the world around us has fallen, but I'm not sure I'd want my alarm clock set for the end of September unless, as you pointed out, there is hope to be had. By the way, Normal just died.