Green Day “Basket Case” charted

Basket Case Green Day

Writer(s): Billie Joe Armstrong (see lyrics here) Released: February 1, 1994 (as album cut) Released: November 29, 1994 (as single) First Charted: July 16, 1994 Peak: 26 BA, 23 GR, 20 RR, 9 AR, 15 MR, 7 UK, 12 CN, 85 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.2 UK, 1.88 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 370.30 video, 1023.99 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Green Day formed in 1987 in California. The punk rock trio exploded in 1994 with Dookie, their major-label debut that sold over ten million copies domestically. It churned out three alternative rock chart-toppers, all of which made the Billboard top 40 airplay chart as well. It was one of the decade’s most influential albums in how it introduced pop-punk to the mainstream. The album’s first single, “Longview,” captured the slacker ‘90s vibe and a sense of irreverence with its ode to boredom and masturbation. As the follow-up, however, “Basket Case” proved to be something more. “A supremely snooty – and supremely catchy – burst of radio-friendly punk that offered throw-yourself-around guitars and a breeziness that belied the fact that for once Billie Joe Armstrong wasn’t singing about masturbation. Instead, this was Armstrong in serious mode, wondering if the panic attacks he suffered meant he was cracking up.” XFM Armstrong was suffering from anxiety and what would be later diagnosed as panic disorders. He said, “The only way I could know what the hell was going on was to write a song about it.” WK He said he wrote the original lyrics while on crystal meth, but then discarded them and re-approached the song, leading to “a powerful anthem about mental health” SF and what he called “an anthem for weirdos.” SF British music critic James Masterson said the song “could potentially open the door for a flood of the post-Nirvana young American rock bands.” WK Music Week called it “the Generation X-flag-wavers’ splenetic slice of Bay Area punk.” WK Pierre Bouvier, from fellow-pop-punk band Simple Plan, said, “’Bakset Case’…took that style and really blew up in a way that had never been done before.” SF In 2006, BBC Radio 1 listeners ranked it the greatest punk song of all time. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Green Day SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia XFM Mike Walsh (editor) (2010). The XFM Top 1000 Songs of All Time. Elliott & Thompson Limited: London, England. Page 178. Related Links: First posted 4/10/2024.