Track This: Green Day's "Church on Sunday"
While listening to Green Day's recent BBC Sessions recordings, I rediscovered several of Warning's best tracks, including the profound "Church on Sunday," a song that feels like a panacea after Insomnia and much of Nimrod . Many people focus on the negativity and anger of Green Day's music, but even in the most negative songs, Billie Joe's lyrics engage through humor and hopefulness. At first, musically, the song feels like just another three-chord Green Day anthem of defeat and broken relationships. The version on the BBC Sessions includes a plaintive saxophone line that underscores, yet rebuts the challenge in Billie Joe's voice and breaks into full euphoric swing during later choruses. The call-and-response aptly resembles the tug and pull of aging relationships. "Church on Sunday" maintains its analysis of enduring relationships that grow despite stress and change. Compromise is key to success in most life connections, and Billie Joe apt...