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Longview

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Longview
Written by: Billie Joe Armstrong
Song length: 3:59
Release date: February 1, 1994
Album: Dookie
Mixed by: Jerry Finn
Produced by: Rob Cavallo
Single chronology
Previous single: N/A
Next single: "Welcome to Paradise"
Album chronology
Previous song: "Chump"
Next song: "Welcome to Paradise"
"It's about boredom, and smoking dope."
Billie Joe Armstrong[citation needed]


"Longview" is the fourth track of Dookie and the first single from the album. It is largely credited as the song that introduced Green Day to mainstream popularity. The song comes after "Chump" and is followed by "Welcome to Paradise".

"Longview" has the highest live performance count out of all of the band's songs; it was played over 750 times.[1] Additionally, during most shows in the 21st Century Breakdown World Tour and Revolution Radio Tour, Billie would pick a random audience member onstage to either sing "Longview" or play it on guitar.

Concept[edit | edit source]

"Longview" was named after the town of "Longview, Washington", where Green Day first performed the song, on May 3, 1992. Their roadie Kaz Hope suggested the song title.[2][3] In an interview on the November 1994 issue of Bass Player Magazine, Mike stated that he composed the well-known opening bass line one night when he was high on LSD.

In the May 2005 issue of Guitar Legends, Billie stated that living in Rodeo, California, a place he described as "real boring" and "nothing to do there", was an inspiration behind "Longview":

"I guess it was just living in the suburbs in a sort of shit town where you can't even pull in a good radio station. I was living in Rodeo, California, about 20 minutes outside of Oakland. There was nothing to do there, and it was a real boring place."
— Billie Joe Armstrong


Song meaning[edit | edit source]

Billie once mentioned that "Longview" is about boredom and smoking dope. In the song, the narrator describes his intense boredom at home; he does almost nothing except masturbate and smoke marijuana.

Other versions[edit | edit source]

Track list[edit | edit source]

Initial pressing

# Name Track length
1 "Longview" 3:59
2 "Going to Pasalacqua" (live) 4:12
3 "F.O.D." (live) 2:44
4 "Christie Road" (live) 3:49

Live tracks were recorded on March 11, 1994 at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Alternate pressing

# Name Track length
1 "Longview" 3:56
2 "Welcome to Paradise" (live) 4:05
3 "One of My Lies" (live) 2:28

Live tracks were recorded on March 11, 1994 at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Card sleeve

# Name Track length
1 "Longview" 3:59
2 "On the Wagon" 2:48
3 "F.O.D." (live) 2:44

Live tracks were recorded on March 11, 1994 at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Green Day: Ultimate Collectors vinyl re-release

Side A

# Name
1 "Longview"
2 "Welcome to Paradise"

Side B

# Name
1 "Coming Clean"
2 "Chump" (live)

The live performance of "Chump" was March 11, 1994 at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, Florida. It is also featured on the Live Tracks EP.

CD promo 1

# Name Track length
1 "Longview" (radio version) 3:55

CD promo 2

# Name Track length
1 "Longview" (very clean version) 3:55
2 "Longview" (clean version) 3:55

CD promo 3

# Name Track length
1 "Longview" (radio version) 3:55
2 "Longview" (album version) 3:59

Music video[edit | edit source]

"Longview" has a music video, which is the first one created by Green Day. The music video was directed by Mark Kohr, the cinematography was by Adam Beckman, and the editing was by Bob Sarles. The music video received frequent airplay on MTV upon release.

The music video takes place in a dimly-lit basement of a broken-down house in Oakland, California, where the band used to live in. The band members say that the look was intentionally grungy. In the video, Billie sits on a couch and watches television. At the end of the music video, he goes insane and tears up the couch, with feathers flying everywhere.

A common rumor states that Billie learned of Kurt Cobain's death from watching the same TV set a few moments before filming began. This was proven false, as filming for the music video began in January 1994 and Kurt's death was on April 5, 1994.[4]

The music video was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards in 1994: Best Group Video, Best Alternative Video, and Best New Artist.[5] The video is also included on the DVD International Supervideos!.

Lyrics[edit | edit source]

Main article: Longview/lyrics

References[edit | edit source]

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