GUITAR WORLD: What's it like to have to live up to someone else's definition of punk? Or being told that you've betrayed that ideal?

BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG: I can't think of anything less punk than establishing a set of rules. I don't set any rules for myself. I don't live up to anybody's expectations. I'm totally self-sufficient. That's what punk is about to me, not some elitist attitude. I'm not an elitist at all. I have different kinds of friends. I'm into strange people and different lifestyles. Even if someone is a Republican, I could still sit down and have a discussion with him and talk about life. I think the elitist, maximumrockandroll punks are a lot more conservative than Republicans.

Taken from Guitar World, August 1996 without permission.

I was blown away when I read this. After so long of me standing there ripping on Green Day for being sellouts, I realize that I've been being hypocritical. In that little statement, Billie Joe expresses my views on the punk ideals almost to the letter. I'm going to simply say that I think he's totally right, and while I might take this opportunity to expand on my hatred of the elitist punk, I'm actually going to say a little something about Green Day, the band we all love to hate.

I know of the poseur tendency to say of just about any band, "I like their old stuff." Well in Green Day's case, I'm absolutely solid on that statement. 39/Smooth and Kerplunk are a couple of my favorite albums. Sure, there's not much to say about them musically, we all know the basic Green Day sound, "poppy, three-chord punk." Any of their songs could get stuck in your head, no matter how much you hated them, because they're catchy tunes. But that's not what I find so interesting about them.

Lyrically, Billie Joe is one of the most interesting songwriters I've ever heard in a punk band. I can often find one song or another from 39/Smooth that I can relate to at a particular point in my life. Yes, just about all (if not all) the songs are about rejection from girls. While I'm not a complete reject, we all know what it's like to have a friend we're really hot for, and how it is to find out they don't think of us like that. "I wish I could tell you / But the words would come out wrong / And if you only knew / The way I've felt for so long / I know that we're worlds apart / But I just don't seem to care / These feelings in my heart / Only with you I want to share ... If I could only hold you / That is all I want to do;" some lyrics from Only of You from their first album. They don't seem terribly masterful, but they're simple, to the point, and can easily be related to. That's how the whole of 39/Smooth is.

Kerplunk stays along similar lines, with songs like One for the Razorbacks; "I'm losing what's left of my dignity / A small price to pay to see that you're happy / Forget all the disappointments you have faced / Open up your worried world and let me in." Here Billie Joe seems to be a little more intelligent with his phrasings. He keeps the same basic attitude of telling girls of his feelings for them, but his expression has developed, and he doesn't quite sound so much like a little kid anymore. They also do a cover of Operation Ivy's Knowledge that is so silly it makes me laugh at spots.

The second two albums don't really appeal to me. Although he finally learns good poetic phrasing on Insomniac, they've dumbed down their music even more than it was, and all the lyrics seem to be about drugs and other such nonsense. Which brings up the question of the day:

Did Green Day sell out?

Selling out is another topic entirely, but I'll say this: Although their change in mood and style did come around with their big record contract, I don't think they knew what was coming. As far as they were concerned, they were going to be getting some real money for playing the music they loved, and as B.J. said, "It was already proven you couldn't become rich by playing punk." I personally don't see signing to a big label and becoming millionaires as being a "non-punk" thing to do, since punk means so many things to so many people. To Billie Joe, it means not making up rules for himself. So why adhere to the rule of staying on a small label when the big guys want you? And the change in their music can be attributed to the fact that all three of them have gotten married, and two have children. Their lives have changed both personally and professionally, and their inspiration is bound to change with it. Why write about how girls won't talk to you when your wife is waiting for you at home?

My bottom line is, you don't have to like Green Day, but the sellout remarks and accusations of them giving up on punk (even though I consider their music more like pop or "alternative" than punk nowadays) need to stop. They're doing what they want to do. If that's not punk, what is?