A/n: Okay ...So I decided to post this just because I just found it and me and my friend worked so hard on it! Hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: Green Day owns the album and all the songs. This is just an interpretation of what My friend and I think.
"21st Century Breakdown" Breakdown
-Song of the Century: A radio broadcast; Intro/ overview of the album
-21st Century Breakdown: Sung by Christian/Narrator/No One-Narrator's introduction-he grew up in a slum town; not content with what he had, searching for more; his generation stopped working for the American dream (or vice versa?); pressures of the 21st century are causing him to have a breakdown; possible 9/11 reference ("Video games to the Tower's fall…"); might work for the governmentàis recognizing the corruption in government (FINALLY)àhe knows; class of 13 is a reference to an unlucky number/group of people?; "era of humility": irony?; "No One"àlost his identity, became a "son of America"; possibly a soldier; he put effort into his job-believing it was for the greater good; his gotten married, watched her die, & is waiting for death, as well…sarcasm: "freedom to obey"; warning-"don't cross the line…"; his dreams are hopelessàAmerica, carry on his dreams for him & follow their dreams; don't believe the government's cover-ups & trust your instincts.
****Possibly Christian looking back on this period of time in his life****
-Know Your Enemy: Sung by Gloria-Gloria preaching; Asking people if they truly know who their enemy is; the common enemy-government; Only way to win is to riot; Her plan is to gather an "army" of people to overthrow the government; Voice your ideas; Silence is the enemy against her plan/revolution; Tries convince people that they will not be alone in this act once it has started; Ignore "lies" government puts out; Violence is the only way to get freedom "from now to eternity"; Let it out!
***Choir refers to the people*****
-Viva La Gloria! : Sung by Christian/No One-Asking Gloria if she's getting what she has wanted; she is trying to preserve the country to how it was & its principles of when it was founded-but he believes it's impossible; but he accepts her plans (eventually) & supports her "slogan"/idea for war/revolution; the only reason I'm doing this is because I love you, & there's no turning back now-the war has been waged; "Long Live Gloria"; she's on the fence about the war, but she's continuing; she has made a sanctuary in the war, they can't go back to how it was before this; she is the savior/supporter of all rejects, rebellions, etc.; he is telling her not to give up!; don't be discouraged by her failed rebellions; don't abandon all the people who have chosen to fight this with you, & keep going; send out orders & take control of the revolution; he is trying to understand her more & her reasoning behind her actions.
-Before the Lobotomy: Sung by Gloria; confiding in someone (East Jesus Nowhere?); After telling Christian the story of her life, she dreams/thinks about her family; Realizes how badly she screwed up; Thinks of her younger dreams and considers returning to them; People who are fighting are dying and Gloria is starting to feel it just isn't worth it; She abandons hr rebellious dreams because she does not see the point them anymore; She leaves Christian, feeling her love is gone; She knows he will be mad that she's destroying both their dreams (written in a letter); Christian only follows her out of love, not out of a shared belief; She turns to drugs and alcohol to forget what she has done; She believes that she can't love Christian because she's so screwed up; She sees herself as a runaway and feels she has to hide; Reality is something she can't deal with anymore-it would keep her from being able to dream of what she wants to be.
-Christian's Inferno: Sung by Christian: He receives Gloria's letter & is infuriated; the "seasons" they have spent putting into the rebellion is no wasted/useless; this fury is changing his entire outlook; decides that he is going to take over Gloria's position as leader of the revolution; he's going to take care of this the way he wants to-in a much more dramatic way; returning America back, into its original "free" state; the rebels accept Christian as their new leader.
-Last Night On Earth: Sung by Christian; After his rage, he attempts to contact Gloria in a reply letter; He tells her he still loves her and that he still honors her and her dreams; He tells her that the only reason he's here on earth is to be with her; He wonders if he lost himself in his "inferno" and hopes that he "made it through"
-East Jesus Nowhere: Sung by East Jesus Nowhere-trying to broadcast his opinion of the rebellion: Refers to Gloria as a "sacrificial suicide"-she's messed up; he's putting together his own army & join him, not Christian, & everything will be fine; Christian is the blasphemer; he is broadcasting Gloria's confession to him, to prove the other rebellion is weak, & that Gloria is on his side; makes her believe that she will be in control, but "I never asked you a god damned thing!"-He will really be running the show & is using her as propaganda; asserts his authority as leader.
-Peacemaker: Sung by East Jesus: Plans to use Gloria as a "peacemaker"; She is a disposable pawn and using her will help him get rid of Christian and his army; He will divide the righteous (Christian) and the meek (Gloria); "Holy parasite" –Christian; Has a vendetta against Gloria and feels he should've taken Gloria's spot and not Christian; Caretaker/undertaker/peacemaker-Gloria
-Last of the American Girls-Sung by East Jesus Nowhere-attempting to flatter her in an attempt to convince her to go along with his plan: He flatters her; but says she won't cooperate; "she will come in 1st the end of western civilization"-she will be the 1st to die in the battle between Christian East Jesus.
***Parts of the song are thought in East Jesus' mind-the parts that aren't flattery/show his plan***
-Murder City-Sung by Gloria: Murder City is where the events are occurring; "Clock strikes midnight" means that her time is up and she has to make a choice between Christian and East Jesus; She is watching the riots from her apartment and remembering when she was once part of it "our anguish"; A rueful laugh(instead of drinking "a bottle of her favorite poison") helps her cope with the occurring events; "We are the last call" means that they were the last chance of salvation yet they are "too pathetic" because they are fighting against each other and causing more problems than they started with; Christian is falling apart and Gloria feels she is the cause because he changed for her and she gave up on "salvation"; They've made it so far and they screwed up so much and it's obvious.
-Viva la Gloria!(Little Girl): Sung by East Jesus: "why are you crying?" is him asking why she deserves to cry, when everyone is doing work? "blood is surging," means she is angry. He is saying, "Just runaway, like you always do & don't confront your fears, like always." She's drunk/on drugs-she's going to find herself in the gutter(possible reference to Edgar Allan Poe?) She's a runaway from Christian's army(salvation army), Nowhere's army is her "home," when she has no place to go. Her old life is calling her back again & is being called back by her former army & the government. It's the end of the road, & she can't hide behind her lies & preaching anymore. There's no reason for her to have started this in the first place. Your exhausted eyes will show us the truth behind her lies. She's a phony & a "walking contradiction." She can't hide & runaway from everything anymore. She's a danger to herself & the people around her. Sung by Christian-same meaning-he's still mad with her.
-Restless Heart Syndrome-Sung by Gloria: thinking about going back to Christian but she is unsure if he will take her back again; Working everything out in her head; She is high and trying to convince herself that everything is okay and that she's "elated"; That there is a "cure" to how she feels; "You'd be surprised what I endured. What makes you feel so self-assured"-Her talking to East Jesus and wondering what makes him better than her; She decides that Christian will help her "hide" from East Jesus, who might be killing people and making it look like suicide/accidents; East Jesus was "satisfying" her by giving her what she thought she wanted, but in the end it was only "crucifying" her; She realizes she needs help and the only way to get that help is to go back to Christian and how she was before; She begins to preach to the "choir" again by declaring that "you are your own worst enemy, know your enemy" This is a reference to her original message in Know Your Enemy
-Horseshoes and Handgrenades-sung by Gloria: She's back preaching with Christian, ready, & twice as strong as ever. Maybe Nowhere is the runner up, he's going to be the first one to lose the race. "Almost" only counts in games, but this isn't a game, it's life. She is going to take back control & do whatever she has to, to accomplish this. She's serious, so don't mess with her. She's going to "push her luck," meaning she's going to do whatever it takes to break the seal. She wants to choose one path, Christian, & is not going to go back to Nowhere. She's going to get rid of this "age old contradiction," the contradiction being herself & her conflicting personalities & the government(the original reason for waging this war).
-Static Age-Sung by No One; As the battle between the two sides gets closer, the media is consumed by it and the people in between cannot avoid it; Love-Christian and Gloria; Religion, Blasphemy-East Jesus; War and Peace-fighting a war to bring peace; Slogan on the brink of corruption-"Know your enemy"; They want a straight answer, not lies that are given to them to ease them; All they want is to have their own opinions and not be run by ideas given to them; "What's the latest way that a man can die, screaming Hallelujah?" – Foreshadowing of East Jesus' Death?; "Dawn's Early Light'- Reference to national anthem?; The people are forgotten by Christian, Gloria, and East Jesus. They are now fighting for the sake of having the title of Victor; Many people have died; Christian, Gloria and East Jesus are slowly becoming something that they wanted to destroy.
-21 Guns-Sung by Christian: He's asking her if she knows what she is getting herself into? Will she know when to stop, before her rage kills her? Is she going to run away, again? Is she going to know when to give up when they are outnumbered? But when she gives up, he is going to stand by her-"you & I." When she is at a dead end & she doesn't know what she's doing, when she begins second-guessing herself, & her need to fight is broken. When she's stuck in a moment & she can't get out of it(hehe-pach). Whatever happens, the regime they are trying to bring to an end will eventually fall-"nothing's ever built to last." Then he asks her about what she did when she gave up, prior(look to Lobotomy), when she tried to run away. She tried to hurt herself, in order to repent-"like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone." When there's nothing left to hold on to, you lose part of yourself-she's "in ruins."
-American Eulogy
a. Mass Hysteria-Sung by No One: Looking back; References to all that has happened so far; the battle has started and there is "Mass Hysteria"; there is a red alert for war and everyone is panicking and the littlest thing can set off the fanatics; The welfare is adding to the mass confusion; It's making everyone crazy; The government is laughing at the people who are fighting each other when they should be fighting them; East Jesus is misleading the choir-his followers; East Jesus' followers are people who are looking for outlets; East Jesus is blaming other people for what is going on; Someone is trying to call for Christian and Gloria to help them; America is falling; No One's (Christian and Gloria's) message.
b. Modern World-Sung by East Jesus and his army; East Jesus is making himself seem better than he is; There is no longer a common ground for the rebels and everyone is fighting to be on top; He is going to expose the people for who they are; "I don't wanna live in the Modern World"-He wants to create a world in his image and not the one he is living in presently. He wants to be king; He knows everything and he doesn't care; Only in it for himself
At the end of the song the 2 armies meet.
-See the Light-Sung by Gloria: She crossed the river in peacemaker, but fell into greater problems, where she was able to surpass expectations. She almost broke down, completely, when she ran out of options. She wants to see all the work she put into the resistance be put to good use. But, she doesn't want to lose who she is in the process & she wants to know what is worth the fight(reference to 21 Guns). She was a junkie("pills & alcohol"). She turned to East Jesus at one point. Then she started the war("set a fire"). The she went through a change-"reaching higher ground"-having a clearer mind about everything. Then, she tried to expose Nowhere for who he really was, a liar. Nothing is ever to far out of reach-"never too late." But, the ending is not in her control, it's in the "hands of fate."
-It's basically a summary of all that she went through.
THE END! :3
-End-
A/n: I hope this helped some of you see the album in a different light or help you understand it a bit! Please PM me or email me at if you have any other ideas for what this album means! I'll add to it! :D Thanks! Review and let me know what you guys think!