History, Lyrics, and Composition
"Geek Stink Breath" debuted live on December 3, 1994 during Green Day's first performance on Saturday Night Live. The word "shit" in the line "Wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which one gets filled first" was left uncensored since they could not understand the lyrics to the new song (closed caption typed it as "unintelligible lyrics"). The song was later recorded and released on the band's fourth studio album Insomniac (1995), and as the album's lead-off single.
The lyrics tell of the singer leading a "path of self-destruction" through the use of methamphetamine, and the effects of this drug on his body. The lyrics were inspired by Armstrong's own experiences, as well as the people around him that he saw lose control of their lives because of their addictions. Featuring a hard rocking three chord riff, the song pays homage to the band's 1970s punk influences, including the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. The song ended up being a moderate radio hit.
A live version of the song recorded on the band's 21st Century Breakdown World Tour in Saitama-Shi, Japan was included on the band's 2011 live album Awesome as Fuck and its accompanying bonus DVD.
Read more about this topic: Geek Stink Breath
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
“If I don’t write to empty my mind, I go mad. As to that regular, uninterrupted love of writing ... I do not understand it. I feel it as a torture, which I must get rid of, but never as a pleasure. On the contrary, I think composition a great pain.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)