For anyone who doesn't listen to a music artist religiously, you probably only know them for one or a few of their big hits. Those who do though probably have a good amount of deep-cuts (songs that aren't released as singles or don't get airplay on the radio) that you think should've been singles. I have a bunch of songs like that for each of my favorite bands, but for this list, I thought I'd give the focus to my favorite band; Green Day. As usual, this list is my own personal opinion, and doesn't reflect a generalized consensus. The songs are also in no particular order.
List Rules
Any song released as an official single will not be considered for this list. Promotional singles however, are fair game.
I wanna be fair to each album, so I'm limiting choices to 1-2 from each album (If not, too many would come from Dookie & American Idiot).
Christie Road
For their first three albums, Green Day probably wrote almost all of their songs while completely stoned. Naturally, it would only make sense then that they write a song about their pot-smoking habits. "Christie Road" was the name of the street where Billie Joe Armstrong & Mike Dirnt would go to get away from their boring lives and get high while listening to the nearby trains go by. It's a song that can easily sum up the band's early years, and can also tell you a bit about why they named their band "Green Day."
King For A Day
Since its release on Nimrod, "King For A Day" has become a stable at Green Day's live shows, and is usually followed by a cover of The Isley Brothers' "Shout". It's one of the few songs where Armstrong discusses his bisexuality, and does so in a grandiose fashion. Unlike most of the band's songs, "King For A Day" features an energetic selection of horns, and goes for a more wacky feel rather than aggressive. If you ever want the energy of a Green Day song and want it to be really fun, this is the song for you.
Whatsername
I'll be totally honest when I say that this is my favorite Green Day song. American Idiot is an amazing ride from start to finish, but the grand finale is truly amazing. Most of the album is pretty fast and loud, but "Whatsername", for the most part, is a soft and touching end to the wild and crazy story that was the youth of the Jesus Of Suburbia. The song also has some very diverse structure compared to most of the songs (excluding the song, "Jesus Of Suburbia", & "Homecoming"), as the first half is that soft portion, which is followed by some more of the album's aggression, and concludes with that soft stuff. It's truly a great listen for not just Green Day fans, but for anyone.
Pulling Teeth
While it has a more upbeat tone, "Pulling Teeth" stands as one of Green Day's darker songs. The instrumentals make you feel like relaxing on the beach, but the lyrics tell the story of a man in a relationship with his physically abusive girlfriend. Surprisingly, the two pieces mesh together really well, and having another slow song on Dookie besides the also awesome "When I Come Around" is a nice touch.
¡Viva la Gloria!
In their rock-opera era, Green Day gave birth to many different characters, such as the previously mentioned "Whatsername". Next to her, my favorite comes in the form of "¡Viva la Gloria!". Armstrong wrote the song about loss of innocence with age, and the song is able to communicate that meaning with both its lyrics and instrumentals. It begins with a beautiful and soft piano piece before charging into Green Day's more aggressive style, and feels like it speaks to the themes. In all honesty, I think it might be the best song on 21st Century Breakdown.
Stuart And The Ave.
I'm trying my best to not be biased towards my favorite songs, but I had to put "Stuart And The Ave." on here. Obviously, the best bass line that Mike has written for Green Day is "Longview", but I will gladly say that this is number 2. It's not the most complex, but the speed at which you play it makes it hard to play, and is one of the reasons that this is my favorite fast-paced Green Day song.
Amy
There's only a few songs that Green Day has written about death, and "Amy" is one of them (the others being "Wake Me Up When September Ends" & "X-Kid"). Just on a whim, Armstrong felt the need to write a song about the late Amy Winehouse, and the result was one of the few songs on ¡Dos! that didn't feel like a Foxboro Hot Tubs song. For an album that had so much energy, a soft acoustic track was a nice way to end it.
Deadbeat Holiday
I personally don't care what other people say about Warning; it was a good album, and "Deadbeat Holiday" was one of the best songs on it. The title pretty much sums up the meaning of song; just spending a holiday/vacation in a shit-hole of a place and not really doing anything special. Paired with the more upbeat instrumentals, this song will make you just want to have a fun time just staying at home and doing nothing that stands out as memorable.
Uptight
I'm not gonna lie, this song seems a little tricky to wrap my head around. "Uptight" is a song that mainly hints at themes of suicide, and might also talk about some form of addiction. However, not much has been said about the song's meaning over the years. What I can tell you is that it's one of the darker songs on Nimrod, but at the same time, can still feel somewhat positive with its instrumentals. It's kind of like what I was talking about with "Pulling Teeth"; the combination just seems to work.
Letterbomb
In a great story, there's that point where the hero hits their all-time low. For the Jesus of Suburbia, that was "Letterbomb"; a song that sees him dumped by Whatsername after seeing the monster that he's become. Probably the most memorable group of lyrics on American Idiot is the opening of "Letterbomb", which is sung by Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna. Green Day hasn't featured many guest singers on their music over the years, so getting this was like icing on an already amazing cake.
And there you have it; 10 of Green Day's best deep-cuts. There's still a lot I wanted to include on this list, so I might do another list for them in the future. Otherwise, hope you liked these songs as much as I do.
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