Whatsername Song Review

Whatsername by Green Day is a song so sad it almost hurts to listen. It is a continuation of the song Jesus Of Suburbia which is about St. Jimmy, a character Jesus created to heal the pain of a lost girlfriend. 

 In the end of Jesus Of Suburbia Billie Joe Armstrong sings "Running away from the pain when you've been victimized¨. This is the part where Jesus gives up on his home and can’t take anymore of the pain from the girl he lost so he leaves. He doesn't know where he will go but he knows he needs to leave this place he calls a home and start over to live a new life elsewhere. A couple songs later the band finally introduces Whatsername, the final song of the American Idiot album. It starts with this gentle percussion with calm sounding guitar and vocals with heartbreaking lyrics attached. The starting lyrics make him seem disappointed and sad that it wasn't Whatsername (¨Thought I ran into you down the street, Then it turned out to only be a dream¨). The song is about Jesus remembering Whatsernames face but not being able to remember her name because many years have passed since the time he left. 

What makes this a punk rock song is how the guitar starts off with this clean sound then later all instruments become distorted. Because of the distorted instruments, the vocalist (Billie Joe Armstrong) has to start shouting out the lyrics. The song has a topic to sing about which is the heartbreak and process of moving on. This is almost out of the ordinary considering punk rock songs are usually considered aggressive and confrontational. Green Day released this album in 2004 where it talked about issues with our politics, how people are selfish, and lastly a story of Jesus’s heartbreak. I think this song in particular doesn’t get enough attention it deserves, the creative writing for this fictional character is heartbreaking and to some people it’s relatable. This song made me think about an individual I had once known before. It made me sad thinking of the memories I had with them, but I had already accepted long ago to overcome these feelings and move forward. That’s what the song makes me think and feel, the sadness and process of moving on.

Overall the band members did a good job building up the story for Whatsername, because it wasn't just Jesus of Suburbia then to Whatsername. There were more songs that built on top of eachother like Saint Jimmy, Give Me Novacaine, and She's A Rebel to build up to the final song of the album. If you ever want to hear an album tell a story, American Idiot is an album worth giving a listen.