For the second straight week we're going to the Bay Area, though Green Day hails from the east side. Formed in 1986 in Berkeley, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt would be joined by drummer Tre Cool in 1990 and have remained the same trio (rhythm guitarist Jason White was a fourth member for a time before returning to his role as a touring member) for the past almost thirty years. Of all the bands that came out of the 1990's Alternative movement, I'm not sure Green Day would have been one I would have guessed to have such a profound impact, but through the years they have built a quite impressive career resume. They've released twelve studio albums, three of which have hit #1 on the Billboard 200, and six more have hit the top ten. They've also had two top ten singles, and overall have sold more than 85 million records. They've won five Grammy Awards, had an album (the rock opera, American Idiot) made into a Broadway musical (which was nominated for three Tony Awards), and were voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. All in all, Green Day can certainly stake a claim to being America's most successful punk band, and one of its most influential as well.
"Pulling Teeth" was released on Green Day's breakthrough album, the aforementioned Dookie in 1994, though it was never released as a single. Dookie would go on to sell twenty million copies and was ranked #193 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."
Fun (if somewhat gross) Fact: "Dookie" was what the band called the diarrhea they frequently got as a young touring band from tainted food on the road....
Though it probably isn't the best song Green Day ever did, I chose "Pulling Teeth" because a) it was my favorite song on Dookie (come on...punk and pop--doesn't get much better than that), and b) I think it really shows the band's versatility (power pop, punk, instrumentation, sense of humor, lyrics, harmonic vocals, difficult subject matter) which is a good reason they've lasted as long, and been as successful, as they have. The song is a solid three chord rocker, with overlapping vocals, some tremendous drumming from Tre Cool, and in a just world would have been a top ten single hummed by millions. Of course, as a pop song about a man physically abused by his girlfriend it would have an odd song to be hummed by millions, but what the hell, it's pop music. One thing's for sure, though--if there's a rock and roll heaven, I'll guarantee you that the Ramones are smiling every time they hear this one.
Lyric Sheet: "Is she ultra-violent?/Is she disturbed?/I better tell her that I love her/Before she does it all over again/Oh god, she's killing me...."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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