3:41
¡Tré!, 2012
Written by Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool
The title of this initially serviceable power pop number is the first hint at the darkness underneath Armstrong's ebullient chords and sing-along chorus. The "meaning" of a song is rarely very simple, of course, but most sources agree that this song commemorates a friend of Armstrong who committed suicide: "And you were searching your soul / And you got lost and outta control / You went over the edge of joking / And died of a broken heart." That tension between bright, almost carefree music and deeply wounded lyrics is what lifts "X-Kid" a lot of its brethren on the oft-maligned trilogy. The song works whether you hear it as a lament for a lost friend, a reflection on aging and the disappearance of youthful recklessness, or a broader meditation on transitional moments when identity fractures under pressure. What might otherwise land as mid-tier Green Day gains weight and resonance through its emotional honesty, ultimately one of the band's more affecting late-career moments.
No comments:
Post a Comment