Jesus of Suburbia (song)

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This article is about the second song on American Idiot. For information about the character himself, see Jesus of Suburbia (character).
Suburbia single.jpg
Jesus of Suburbia
Written by: Billie Joe Armstrong
Song length: 9:08
Release date: October 25, 2005
Album: American Idiot
Mixed by: Chris Lord-Alge
Produced by: Rob Cavallo
Single chronology
Previous single: "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
Next single: "The Saints Are Coming"
Album chronology
Previous song: "American Idiot"
Next song: "Holiday"

"Jesus of Suburbia" is the fifth and final single from Green Day's seventh studio album American Idiot. The single was released on October 25, 2005. The original song ran just over 9 minutes, which was considered to be unfriendly for radio appeal, so it was cut down to around 6½ minutes for the radio edit. The long version was still played on many album rock-oriented radio stations.

Track list[edit | edit source]

Australian single[edit | edit source]

  1. "Jesus of Suburbia" - 9:09
  2. "Are We the Waiting" (Live from VH1 Storytellers) - 2:57
  3. "St. Jimmy" (Live from VH1 Storytellers) - 3:07

10" vinyl[edit | edit source]

  1. "Jesus of Suburbia" - 9:09 (Side A)
  2. "St. Jimmy" (Live from VH1 Storytellers) - 3:07 (Side B)

Song meaning[edit | edit source]

Main article: Jesus of Suburbia (character)

Movements[edit | edit source]

"Jesus of Suburbia" has five movements:

  1. "Jesus of Suburbia"
  2. "City of the Damned"
  3. "I Don't Care"
  4. "Dearly Beloved"
  5. "Tales of Another Broken Home"

The song was also featured on the band's live album Bullet in a Bible.

Lyrics[edit | edit source]

Main article: Jesus of Suburbia/lyrics

Music video[edit | edit source]

The music video for "Jesus of Suburbia" was directed by Samuel Bayer. It premiered on October 14, 2005 in the UK and the 25th in the U.S. Two official versions exist: One is a twelve-minute edit, complete with dialogue while the other is a six and a half-minute director's cut, inclusive solely of the music itself and devoid of additives. The video stars Lou Taylor Pucci (of Thumbsucker and Crumbscrubber fame) as The Suburbian, Kelli Garner as Whatsername, and Deborah Kara Unger as The Suburbian's mother. Billie Joe Armstrong was originally intended to play The Suburbian, but this was altered during pre-production.

The plot of the video essentially follows that of the song.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • Coincidentally, Kelli Gardner also played Lou Taylor Pucci's love interest in Thumbsucker, which came out the same year as the "Jesus of Suburbia" music video.