Writing and Composition
Much of the album's content was written by Armstrong, except "Emenius Sleepus" written by bassist Mike Dirnt, and the hidden track, "All by Myself", which was composed and written by drummer Tré Cool. The album touched upon various experiences of the band members and included subjects like anxiety and panic attacks, masturbation, sexual orientation, boredom, mass murder, divorce, hobos and ex-girlfriends.
The single "Longview" had a signature bass line that bassist Dirnt wrote while under the influence of LSD. He originally forgot much of it, but the remembered portions were included in the song. Armstrong stated that the song was mainly about boredom, masturbation, and smoking cannabis, as evident in some of the lyrics ("When masturbation's lost its fun/You're fucking lonely" (inaccurately quoted as "You're fucking breaking" in the liner notes)).
"Welcome to Paradise", the second single from Dookie, was originally on the band's second studio album, Kerplunk. The song was re-recorded with a less grainy sound for Dookie. The song never had an official music video; however, a certain live performance of the song is often associated as a music video. The video is located on Green Day's official website.
The hit single "Basket Case", which appeared on many singles charts worldwide, was also inspired by Armstrong's personal experiences. The song deals with Armstrong's anxiety attacks and feelings of "going crazy" prior to being diagnosed with a panic disorder. The music video was filmed in an abandoned mental institution.
The radio-only single, "She", was written by Armstrong about a former girlfriend who showed him a feminist poem with an identical title. In return, Armstrong wrote the lyrics of "She" and showed them to her. She later moved to Ecuador, prompting Armstrong to put "She" on the album. The same ex-girlfriend is the topic of the songs "Sassafras Roots" and "Chump".
The final single, "When I Come Around", was again inspired by a woman, though this time being about Armstrong's wife, then former girlfriend, Adrienne. Following a dispute between the couple, Armstrong left Adrienne to spend some time alone. The video featured the three band members walking around Berkeley and San Francisco at night, eventually ending up back at the original location. Future touring back up guitarist, Jason White, made a cameo in the video with his then-girlfriend.
Another song, "Coming Clean", deals with Armstrong's coming to terms with his bisexuality when he was 16 and 17 years old. In his interview with The Advocate magazine, he says that although he has never had a relationship with a man, his sexuality has been "something that comes up as a struggle in me".
Billie Joe Armstrong wrote the song "In the End" about his mother and her husband. He is quoted saying: "That song is about my mother's husband, it's not really about a girl, or like anyone directly related to me in a relationship. In the End's about my mother."
Armstrong also wrote the song "Having a Blast" when he was in Cleveland in 1992.
Bassist Mike Dirnt stated in an interview that although he used a Gibson G3 bass at the time, he recorded Dookie with varied Fender Precision Basses.
Read more about this topic: Dookie
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